BIRD'S EYE VIEW
Page 42
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BY THE HAWK
• From his vantage point at truck stops around the country, the Hawk regularly spots drivers jumping from their premium hi-spec sleeper cabs clutching (along with their copy of CM of course) a fistful of rum truffles and hefty bottles of luxury foam bath.
While truck manufacturers have been quick to respond to the need for a comfortable environment for drivers (some cabs even have heaters these days!), the Hawk was worried for his van-driving friends. Until now that is . .
When CM's technical team tested the VW Transporter Crewcab Syncro in November 1986, they found its trim tough, practical but spartan. Realising that some owners simply won't contemplate a pickup without decent carpetting, those nice people at VW have created the Tristar — a go-anywhere vehicle for those who wipe their feet before climbing into a cab.
Starting with the humble Transporter Syncro, VW has added such luxuries as the aforementioned carpet, tweed seats, power steering and twin headlights. With these essen tials, the Tristar would be ideal for the Queen to take the Corgies for a cross-country jaunt round the Balmoral estate.
With a 2.1-litre 83.5kw (112hp) fuel-injected boxer engine providing plenty of power, and the effective Syncro system getting all the power down on the ground in tricky conditions, the Tristar has the performance to match its macho looks; only a disturbing tendency towards lift-off oversteer spoils the ideal.
There is a price to be paid for such high-profile transportation, however: the E20,000 (including VAT) asking price is a bit beyond the Hawk's reach, but the horse-box-towing leisure fraternity VW has in mind are presumably not poor.
If your building site buddies are demanding something with a bit more style than their present battle-scared pickups, consider the Tristar. On the other hand, a new tartan rug for the back seat would be cheaper . .
MAll entries are now in for the 1989 Commercial Motor Livery Competition and the results will be announced in our 21 September issue.
One vehicle livery which did not compete is the one on our new promotions vehicle, a Chevrolet Astro van which you might have seen at Truckfest in May.
The livery was dreamt up by CM art editor Steve Gale and produced by Mitcham-based Focal Displays, which used a computer to produce a design
• Accountant Price Waterhouse reckons it is often possible to predict the financial standing of a company by watching out for certain signals, such as A fish tank in the boardroom; a company flagpole; directors with military titles; beautiful new offices; personalised number plates on the chairman's Rolls Royce; fountains in the forecourt; beautiful secretaries; and an obsession with tax avoidance.
Price Waterhouse says that the most common cause of business failure is the concentration of management power in the hands of a single chiefexecutive.
The Hawk is sure there must be other danger signals to watch out for — satellite dishes on the company's trucks, or an obsession with seating arrangements in the company canteen?
If you know of any other sure-fire danger signals please be sure to drop a line to the Hawk. conforming to the contours of the vehicle. The effect was achieved using self-adhesive vinyl, which can be peeled off without trace after use.
The Hawk is very pleased with the look of his "Hawkmobile", but a swift glance at this year's competition entries shows there are some equally stunning liveries operating every day on full-time working vehicles.
See CM's special livery issue on 21 September for the pick of this year's crop.
• Only last month (CM Headlines 6-12 July) hauliers were berated for wasting fuel by Department of Energy mandarins. Now, however, the National Audit Office has criticised the very same mandarins for their profligacy.
Apparently, the Energy Department has spent 222,500 producing 7,500 copies of a leaflet entitled Energy Savings with Home Improvements. So far it has sold 19 copies.
• HGV driver Dennis Reddings abandoned his Volvo FL10 truck for a week recently and took to the wheel of a 210,000 Aston Martin Volante V8.
Reddings, who drives for Taylor Barnard of Felixstowe, won the use of the car for a week in a lubricants competition run by BP in which he had to link five photographs of exotic cars with pictures of stately homes. He took a week's holiday to appreciate the convertible — quite a change from the family's Austin Maxi.