COLES CUSTOM: A HOBBY GONE MAD?
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When Gary Coles bought his first T-cab Scania for £75,000, he didn’t tell his mother Denise, joint founder of Coles Transport. “When she found out what I’d blown on it, she went bonkers,” says Gary.
The intervening 15 years have shown that it was not only a good investment, but that it also gave birth to a vital part of the business: Coles Custom. Gary started customising his own trucks and various bits of equipment that didn’t make sense to anyone else started appearing in the workshops. They included a Promecam 100-tonne press brake that can consume three metres of checker plate or stainless steel, a guillotine with a 6mm plate capacity, a plasma cutter for steps, assorted stud guns and welding kit and hand rollers to get those curves right. There is also the kit to make glass-fibre cupboards for interiors and sun visors.
“I took one of my early creations to Truckfest and people asked who had done it, so I started picking up some useful extra work doing up other people’s trucks,” says Gary. Operators in search of something eyecatching now come from all over the UK to get that special custom look and Gary has some impressive names in his hall of fame. John Templeton’s Scania R620 ‘Avatar’ (due to feature in the December issue of Truck & Driver, sister title of Commercial Motor) made its way down from Ayrshire for the Coles custom treatment, but JC Haynes (T&D January 2012) only had to come from
Newport Pagnell for a customisation.
Coles Custom has also worked its magic on T&D’s Pimp My Truck Scania, which is on the verge of being sold to raise money for Help for Heroes.
“The exteriors are probably the easy part,” says Gary. “When we get down to the cab interior the serious work starts.” Specialising in Scanias, but able to take on any truck, Coles has also given a number of R-series facelifts to Scania’s normal control T-cab, now no longer in production. This, along with a Highline or Topline cab roof, transforms the vehicle.
Coles takes specific care to stay away from any interference with the cab’s structural integrity, but the interior work involves a strip-out to the ‘tin shell’. The dismantling of dashboard components for painting is time-consuming, but there are enough operators out there with the cash to spend. “One guy left his truck here with a list of work, together with 10 grand, telling me to call him when it had gone,” says Gary. Clearly, a haulier who has negotiated some good rates.
We were amazed to find that a staff of just four turn out these machines and considering that this is not their main business, the workshops and custom parts store compare with many bigger operations.
It’s not just heavy tractors either. When we dropped in, Jason Perry was wielding the gas axe, fabricating a rear stainless steel bumper on a Dodge Ram pick-up. Word is spreading. Some specialised work is subcontracted to a few hand-picked artisans and Gary guards their identities carefully. “We had a guy in Coventry who was great with leather for the interiors, but I think we mentioned his name to a few people and he was flooded with business to the extent that he often now can’t fit us in.” Coles now uses “a leather guy from Manchester”. No names are forthcoming. Between them, Coles and the airbrush supremo Matt from Hinckley seem to be the current UK stars of customisation. Form an orderly queue please.