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Pimp my

18th March 2010, Page 42
18th March 2010
Page 42
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Page 42, 18th March 2010 — Pimp my
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

truck!

CM's sister title, Truck & Driver, is turning its hand to pimping truck pimping, that is. T&D editor Will Shiers has the story...

,Ainroc. Wilt Shiers Here's the plan: we get our hands on a truck, we pimp it. and when it looks like nothing else on the road, we auction it off and donate the profit to the Help for Heroes charity, Sounds simple, doesn't it? And it probably would be, if we had as much cash to play with as MTV's popular Pimp My Ride show. In comparison, our budget is tiny... well, non-existent, in fact!

So. if we are to end up with a head-turning truck that will raise lots of money for this worthwhile cause. we are going to have to rely heavily on the generosity of others.

In other words. I've had to put on my best Anneka Rice voice. get on the phone and do some serious 'chugging' (charity mugging), I've contacted some of the UK's best afterrnarket accessory manufacturers, component suppliers and customisers, armed only with a begging bowl and the promise of some publicity on these pages and on our blog: www.roadtrausport.corn/pimpmytnick

For this project to work, the truck will need some decent rubber, fancy rims, some serious exhaust stacks. killer paimwork and the sort of ICE that will turn every I7-year-old Citroen Saxo-driving speed freak green with envy,. Plus, of course. it will have to light up like a Christmas tree.

Despite the fact that it's early days, I'm pleased to report that we've already got a long list of prestigious companies wanting to take part, including: Keltruck, Michelin. Eminox, Kelsa, SB Components, CRS, Tyretracks, Cole and Sons. CDC, Powertrucks and LA & RW Piper. And I've still got plenty more calls to make... But first we needed a truck

I irst port of call was Dave Watts, of Stoke-on-Trent-based DW Vehicles, who immediately liked the idea.

Ile wasted little time in getting dealer friends Jim Warburton from J&I. Commercial Vehicles and Chris Hart and Paula Jefford, from Trucks2Go. involved in the project. The three dealers agreed to supply us with a donor vehicle and invited us up to Trucks2Go's new Warrington site to see if anything took our fancy.

"Care to point me in the right direction?" I asked Chris. hoping he'd give me sonic idea as to what my budget was. "What about that?" he asked, indicating a 2005 DA F CF85 430 Space Cab. It looked fantastic but it wasn't an XF!

Or what about that?" he asked. walking me over to a four-year-old lveco Stralis 430. It looked good, too, but you can count the number ol'hlinged" Ivecos that appear at Truckfest on one hand.

After expressing my reservations, Chris gave US one more option. a 2002 Mercedes-Benz Actros 2543. It might have been the oldest of the hunch, but it had the Megaspace cab, which counts for a lot in the pimping stakes.

Just then Chris's mobile rang it's Jim Warburton. the boss of

J&L Commercial Vehicles. They chat, Chris hangs up and says: "There is one other option. Jim's got a 2002 Scania 124 420 Topline coming in next week as a part-exchange.take it,I say.

The ideas

Over the past few weeks. I have had a number of brain-storming sessions with some of the key *pimpers' in an attempt to decide what to do with our truck.

One thing we all immediately agreed on if it's going to raise some decent cash for Help for Heroes this truck is going to have to look incredible.

We also know we need to avoid it being just another customised Scania tractor. There are already thousands of amazing Scanias out there.and for us to compete in terms of quality, we would have to spend tens of thousands of pounds, which we don't have. What we need is something that is going to turn heads but built on a tight budget. So how do we do that?

One thing is for sure the fifth wheel will need to be covered up or removed. By doing this, it would no longer he classed as a commercial vehicle, and assuming that the finished product has a GVW of less than 75 tonnes. it can effectively he driven by anyone with a car licence (assuming they passed their test before January 1997). This would increase the potential customer base, and, in turn, guarantee more money.

Longline One serious idea we have had is to turn it into a Longline Scania. But to our knowledge. Scania only ever sold two of these impressive left-hand-drive trucks in the UK, and not even Keltruck has a secondhand cab kicking about.

We considered the possibility of fabricating one ourselves, hut decided that it wouldn't look right.

Cabriolet

What about cutting the badly dented roof off altogether, and turning it into a cabriolet? This immediately captured our imagination, with thoughts of recreating the legendary Leyland Roadtrain Cabriolet of the 1980s. Or, better still, something like the Svempa-built Red Pearl (left). But we were brought back down to earth with a bump by Andrew, who pointed out how difficult (and costly) it would he se strengthen the sides of the cab.

Pickup truck

We also discussed turning it into a huge 1950s stepside-style American pickup truck with fabricated flared wheel arches and a wooden flatbed. . . While there's no doubt that this would look incredible, it certainly wouldn't be cheap to build.

But maybe we could ask SB Components to design an aluminium body. That might he worth considering...


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