MIIREM Proof Europeans do it so much better It's not
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often that we get to put an American truck around our test route, but in July 1991 that's exactly what we did. The one-year-old Mack Ultraliner, purchased by Somerset-based Paul Maggs Transport from UK distributor Western Truck, was lent to us in the hope that it would dispel a few "myths and prejudices that have grown up around US trucks". But did it?
This particular 6x4 Ultraliner (which remains a regular at UK truck shows to this day) was bought in 1990 for £64,000 to haul 12m tri-axle semi-trailers for French company SCAC. It was specified with a 'Europeanised' 350hp version of Mack's 11.1-litre engine (normally reserved for emission-conscious California), matched to a nine-speed range-change constant-mesh gearbox.
We were bowled over by the spaciousness of the cab, but were less excited by the overall internal appearance. "When it comes to designing cab interiors, American truck makers have a long way to go before they can match the Europeans," we wrote. "The Ultraliner's ugly dog-legged dashboard is a mixture of random dials and old-fashioned switches that would leave a Euro designer wondering what decade he was in." We weren't fans of the "tacky steering wheel" or the gearlever that looked like "the end of a broom stick" either.
We concluded that contrary to Mack's sales literature, the Ultraliner wasn't "the ultimate cab-over". It's safe to say that bugger-all myths or prejudices were dispelled!
Happy fourth of July.