Aussie Peterbilts and owners

Hi xspanrman .. after 50 odd years, some old Aussie Petes had a lot of luck...others had no luck at all...this one amazingly had a lot of luck!...

...R A Robinson of Paddington purchased this sleeper cabover 4x2 new in 1965 (ch/no 18544). He unfortunately died at Bulli along with his young son on school holidays, and also an ol' mate in the cab along for the trip ...it was a complete mess with the cab parting from the chassis, although amazingly the chassis and mechanicals looked barely scathed by the whole ordeal, which was at that stage configured as a 6x2...

...the wreck (less cab) was purchased and proudly rebuilt by Jim Fenech with a replacement (RHD?) Peterbilt cab complete with modified KW style mudguard skirts and made into a 6x4... then passing through to Charlie Fenech before eventually being traded at Kenworth Lansvale....

...a couple more owners, another cab replacement after yet another prang ...this time into the back of a schoolbus....(subsequently fitted with the cab from ch/no 18129....ex Alan Pierpoint)..... but all up she now still survives with a crook 335 and parked up by a great bloke out at Mudgee for about the last 20 years...

Found this photo on Lost Wollongong FB of the accident at Bulli Pass. You can see potatoes in this photo that the truck was carrying.

Re. .Elson Bros (W J Elson) changed the business name on the shift to Sydney to "Redwood Traders"... corner of George and Allen St Waterloo...apparently sharing the yard with Blair and Reiber who had two Peterbilts of their own at the time...

When Jack Elson came to Sydney Blair and Reiber had already gone broke and lost all their trucks and trailers. Jack Elson moved into the yard and teamed up with Jack Blair to form Blair & Elson. Elson brought 2 R Models and maybe a B model and a Cab Over Pete to the yard. Gerry Hallows drove the Pete for a while, Derm Karl (that's how it sounded) drove the green R Model I think. Bobby Riebe stayed for a while. Jack bought a new F Model painted in NQX colours and was killed in Carcoar when the driver ran out of brakes and missed the bridge. The load of bags fell over Jack and he suffocated. Other names that come to mind are Pommie Reg Ward, Teddy Jones. At some time Blair & Elson became Redwood Traders and a couple more I can't think of.