Having done this writing gig for a couple of years now, I have racked up more than a few interesting yarns and chased down stories for a multitude of reasons. Great people, interesting vocations – even just right time, right place.
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Occasionally I get very superficial and chase down a story purely based on looks. I know the old adage ‘Looks aren’t everything’ and as a man unencumbered by the standards of beauty, I am a huge advocate of that saying — most of the time.
Today though, I am throwing it all out the window because I have gone all the way to Belgium to grab a story, based solely on looks. Yes, it sounds superficial — because it is.
Well, at least it started out purely superficial. I saw the stunning Holridge Scanias – the colour scheme, the detailed artwork, the custom straps. They just looked 11/10 and I knew I needed to photograph them.
It was a huge bonus that the owner of these trucks, Nick Wright, also turned out to be an awesome, generous guy whose love of trucks matched my own and whose passion for the Scania, Scania V8s and old school T-cab Scanias rivalled that of the hard-core Super-Liner and SAR fans here in Australia. Thankfully Nick was more than happy to fill me in on his transport pedigree and shoot his immaculate trucks.
Oh wait – seeing as this is a UK-based story, in this write-up I am going to try and adhere to the correct colloquial dialect. Forget the term ‘truck’ – for this story we’ll be going all pommy and using the term ‘lorry’. However you refer to it, the Holridge Scanias are stunning- looking trucks and well worth a European journey.
The back story
First things first, I’ll ease up on the dramatic license a little. I didn’t go all the way to Belgium purely for these trucks. I did happen to time my European holiday with when Nick Wright would be in the country with a couple of rigs from of his stunning fleet, though. It just sounds more jet sett-y if I proclaim I travelled nearly 30 hours just for an article. The origins of this story go back to 2023, when I first met T-cab enthusiast Nick Wright.
I was indulging in my maiden journey to the incredible Truckstar festival. Surrounded by a couple of thousand outstanding lorries, it was Nick’s S660 Scania that first drew me in. Nick was at Truckstar debuting his beautifully restored T-cab Scania and was flat out networking with the thousands of fans that were snapping pictures and firing questions at him.
The crowds around the T-cab meant that I was bucking the trend and getting all smitten with his cabover whilst Nick was fawning over the truck he had spent seven years rebuilding and a lifetime yearning for. Although our adoration was focused on different vehicles, our dual appreciation for the big Swedish icons was very much aligned.
During a little break in Nick’s fandom, I managed to grab his attention and find enough time to introduce myself and meet the man who would become a very good friend. I expressed my appreciation for his stunning-looking lorries and we agreed that next time I was over his way we would sit down and he could tell me all about his T-cab obsession, his love of all things Scania and how it feels driving a right-hand drive lorry in a left-hand drive world.
Roll on 2024 and I was heading back to Europe for another truck show. I reached out to Nick and we agreed to catch up. On a dreary overcast day, I found my way out to the tile factory in Belgium that is a second home to the Holridge trucks and caught up with the little Englishman with a big appetite for Scania and a massive love of lorries.
“I’ve been a lorry driver since before I was old enough to drive them,” laughs Nick, sounding very relatable with a confession like that. “You had to be 21 to get your Class 1 back then, and I started working for a guy when I was 20.”
That eagerness stems from a childhood growing up around trucks and spending as much time as possible near them.
Nick recalls that a lot of his teenage years were spent in the passenger seat of one of his mother’s mate’s lorries.
“I remember going with mum’s mate Bill, he was a bit rough around the edges but had a heart of gold,” says Nick. “He had an old-school DAF, an old 3300 and some old 2028 Mercs.”
Nick’s favourite lorry he drove was a flat roof F12.
“The lorry was a mess. I used to polish the dash and stuff. Back then, in the late ’80s it was a lot of running on red diesel, a bit bent kind of thing if you know what I mean.
“Bill would work round the clock, and I loved it. At night, I’d have to keep asking him if he was OK as he was starting to drift off.
“I never needed any money. Bill would give me food and fags, all sorts.” Now, I understand I probably shouldn’t be quoting the supply of cigarettes to minors in my story – however it is England, and it really paints a picture of the era that Nick grew up in. It’s also worth noting the relationship with Bill that started Nick’s love of lorries would see Nick attend three of Bill’s weddings – one as the best man, and the third marriage being to Nick’s mum.
From those early days Nick developed the work ethic that would see him and his wife Louise finally getting the opportunity to start their own company in 2011.
“It was an ambition I’d had all my life, and at 37 we decided to give it a go.
“I sold my house and bought a 480, straight six-cylinder Scania. It had the old paper Tacho and I worked that around the clock. I knew I couldn’t afford to fail, so I just worked.”
Those teenage experiences paid dividends as Nick got his company established and after about 18 months, found his workload expanding. The need grew for a second truck in the Holridge fleet – this time a 105 DAF.
“I really wanted a V8 Scania, right from the start, but I just couldn’t afford one. I knew I had to work a bit more before I could afford one of them.”
The first V8
That Scania V8 dream would eventually come through though. With Nick’s work ethos ensuring he was never short of a load, it meant it only took a couple of years before his goal was achieved.
“A guy from our local Scania dealer rings me up, says ‘I’ve got a lorry right up your alley. I know you’ve wanted a V8. A one-owner operator for a lot of years and the guy’s just passed away’,” says Nick.
“It was a 164, 16 litre 480. I paid 14 grand for it. I ran that truck for eight years; it was the hardest-working lorry I’ve had, and I sold it for 24 grand a couple years ago.”
That first injection of V8 power only drove Nick onwards, leading to several more V8s until he ended up with the S660 he has now – my personal favourite, as you can see by the number of photos I took of it.
He also has a stunning R730 and an old-school R620, still working hard throughout England.
The majority of Nick’s work revolves around the cartage of tiles. I caught up with Nick over in Belguim, where he often picks up the tiles to distribute around the UK. It is a complicated but efficient system Nick has set up.
Nick will leave from his home in Lincoln and take a load of tiles south to deliver, then he travels a little further south to Folkstone where he drives his lorry onto the train. Yes, that’s right – he drives his lorry and trailer onto a train, which shoots 24 miles underneath the English Channel and pops out in France. From there it’s a quick hour and 45 minutes and he’s in Belgium loading Belgium-made English roof tiles. If you look at that in the big picture, that’s three countries in a little under three hours.
Back to the tile tale. Whilst Nick is making his way over to load the tiles, he will also have a couple of his other trailers crossing the North Sea via ferry and getting dumped at a port only an hour away from the tile factory in Belgium. This means Nick can drop his loaded trailer, pick up the empties and head back and get up to six trailers loaded and returned to England over the course of a couple of days. Whilst he is loading and returning trailers via the ferry, his local trucks are busy delivering the loads that Nick has already sent back.
It is a pretty smooth operation and one that has allowed Nick to keep food on the table and follow his passion for Scania trucks. Which leads us to the other stunning Scania featured in the photos – the T-cab Scania.
“I have always loved T-cabs, something about the 16 Litre 4 Series T-cabs I just loved,” he says. “I’d never driven one but always loved them. They’re probably second nature to you guys in Australia, having the nose, but I’d always loved them. Even just the look of them. Some people love the 143s, I just always wanted a T164.”
The T-Cab story
In 2016, with the Holridge Company’s reputation ensuring his trucks were being kept busy and with the blessing and support of his amazing wife Louise, Nick finally indulged his final Scania fantasy, getting his own T-cab.
“Of course, I wanted a V8 but couldn’t find one. I eventually found a six cylinder one. It was 2003, 6-cylinder 470 T-cab,” says Nick, as he began to explain the seven-year project that has resulted in this incredible family tribute truck.
“The six-cylinder wasn’t bad, but it was nowhere near good. I bought an Irish motor, a 4-series V8 and we got the entire engine, as well as the wiring looms. We just completely replaced the old six-cylinder 470.”
As we start to unravel the extent and effort put into this stunning T-cab, there are two things to keep in mind. Nick will attest to the fact that nearly 80 per cent of the original lorry ended up in the bin. He also admits that if the work wasn’t done by Nick himself, then you can bet anything that his head was on the left shoulder of whomever was undertaking the job.
get loaded again
The whole engine got rebuilt. Pistons, liners, oil and water pumps. All main and bottom end bearings. You name it, it got replaced or refurbed. Even down to the window wiper motor. A whole new bonnet was sourced, and all the airlines, hoses and wiring were replaced. It became a whole new truck.
Inside got exactly the same treatment, with a new Scania dash and panels. The floor walls and seats were all reupholstered. It was starting to sound like the 20 per cent he held on to was merely the chassis rails. The end result was a transformation from a tired old T124 Euro 3 470 into a state-of-the-art T164 580 6X2 twin wheel tag bull nose.
With the interior revamped, the powerline souped up and the truck as good as new, the only thing left was the aesthetic dilemma.
Thankfully Nick opted to paint the truck in the company colour that works exquisitely on his S660 and R730, deviating only with the addition of some personal artwork.
“I grew up with my grandma and grandpa. I spent a lot of time with them and wanted to honour them on this truck. I’ve called it ‘Lady Annie’ as that was my grandma and the photos on the side are of my grandpa.”
I should add in here that the Holridge name is actually an amalgamation of his grandparents’ names, Annie Holgate and Ernest Ridgill.
The more I learnt about Nick during our catch up, it was obvious that this seven-year project was a complete labour of love for a man that has an immense passion for his trucks and his family.
Nick is also happy to admit that he wouldn’t have achieved it without his wife Louise, who has spent more than any wife’s allotted time behind the tools and polishing clothes. His son Thomas has also become quite the YouTube star with his channel, Holridge_Tom, featuring a lot of the progress story behind this truck.
Although this was meant to be a short feature, it is hard to cull back a story when you sit down with someone with as much passion as Nick. It is also heartwarming to realise that trucking passion is a universal affliction – whether it’s Kenworths or Scanias, bonnets or cabovers, we all suffer the same. Normally with a loaded garage, an empty wallet and a stack of photos.
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