A Basil Quiz

Baz - As regards question number 13 .. are we talking about the first private import of an Oshkosh, without any dealer input?

Or .. are we talking the period when Oshkosh officially appointed Australian distributors, and sold new Oshkoshes with service and parts backup? (in the latter case, Wigmores Tractors were the W.A. Oshkosh agents .. and I seem to recall that Cat dealers were the Oshkosh agents in the other States as well).

Cheers - Ron.

Howdy,

Everyone has done well.
Ron, the question is aimed at the the first official Westrac Oshkosh.
Highwheeler is correct in some early ones being imported also.

Here are the ones answered correct

1.In what year did Great Western Consolidated sell its share of Mack Trucks Australia To Mack inc ?
1979

2. Which well know Australian truck manufacturer marketed a 5 ton truck in 1983 with a model prefix N1630 ?
International Harvester Australia

3.Where were Volgren Industries based ?

4. Kurt Johannsen won a tender to cart how many ? empty 44gal drums from old army and air force bases throughout the NT to Alice Springs.
63,000

5.Whats the next high gear in a Quadbox after 4th high split ?
5 high split

6.In 1981 Buntine Roadways ceased operations. Two years later Noel Buntine formed which company ?
Road Trains of Australia-RTA

7. What type of geartrain is found in a Foden epicyclic gearbox ?
Planatary

8. Who founded Vawdrey in Australia ?
Mick Vawdrey

9. Who in Alice Springs has an OAM ?
Liz Martin

10. What year did TJ Richards open his bodyworks in Adelaide ?

11. Which Australian truck builder marketed a cab known as the Sundowner ?
Leader

12. In what year was the first 4 lane section of the Hume highway in Craigiburn constructed ?

13. What year did the first Official Oshkosh arrive in Australia ?

3, 10, 12 & 13 are still out there.

Basil

O.K. - well, a small correction .. it was Wigmores Tractors, not Westrac, who officially introduced the Oshkosh road truck to Australia .. because Westrac was not formed until 1991, after the disastrous Alan Bond fraud involving Bell Group & Bell Resources, that saw Wigmores Tractors and its subsidiary companies destroyed, when Caterpillar whipped the Cat agency off Wigmores in 1989.

I'm dredging the depths of my last few working memory cells here, but I'll say 1968, for Question 13.
The first Oshkosh's imported were powered as standard by 245 HP, 1673B Cat engines, the automotive version of the 4.5" bore D333 engine, as fitted to the D5, D6 and the 966 front end loader.

It wasn't too long before the standard Oshkosh power plants were changed to the 270 HP, 4.75" bore, 3306 engines. The 4.75" bore, 3300 series engine line first appeared in 1970, and comprised the 4 cyl. 3304, and the 6 cyl., 3306.

Question 10 is a little obtuse, when you ask about when T. J. Richards "opened his body works".
T. J. Richards & Co., advertising as a "Wheel Wright & Coach Builder", established himself as a manufacturer of buggies and sulkies, in Mitcham, in 1885.

The Richards business was re-named T. J. Richards & Sons by around 1910-11, and T. J. Richards built his first motor-car body in 1913.

3. Dandenong?

Re question 3 - My information tells me that Volgren were established in 1977, as a Joint Venture between Volvo and Grenda's Bus Service of Dandenong.

The Volgren manufacturing operations moved into a new factory in North Dandenong, and Volgren produced their first bus, on a Volvo B58 chassis, in 1979.
This first production bus was used as a demonstrator for several months before entering service with Grenda's Bus Service.

i think that 270HP cat engine was turbocharged to boot ??...or were the road going jiggers all turbo'd

Detective - Every Cat truck engine produced, since Cat got back into the truck engine market in the early 1960's, has been turbocharged.

The only Naturally Aspirated, Cat truck engines, were the very earliest Cat truck engines .. the 6 cyl., 4

I think volgreen are based in brisbane

Ron, close but no prize, (unusual for you), you've forgotten the 1150/1160's and 3208.

Aussie L Plate, Volgren had a manufacturing branch up here years ago (in the same steet as me) but they are Victorian, as Ron stated was a jiont thing with Volvo and Grnda's hence the name Volgren. I think one of the reason's they had manufacuring here was they won a council contract. In fact I think the Brisbane City Council may still build there own bodies on a Volgren design, I sort of recall seeing it on the back of a bus, something like this Vilgren bus proudly made by the BCC workshop. Someone can correct that probobly.

Detective - Every Cat truck engine produced, since Cat got back into the truck engine market in the early 1960's, has been turbocharged.

The only Naturally Aspirated, Cat truck engines, were the very earliest Cat truck engines .. the 6 cyl., 4