Aussie Peterbilts and owners

Why did Peterbilt lose out to Kenworth in Australia, was it cost or some other factor?

I don't really know a lot about trucks (except the AWSOME Vbus ) but I were sent these pics the other day it's a WA Pete that is coming to our show in April anyone know anything about it ?








MH, Almost...., having attached the photo you then need to INSERT .... Sarge

I reckon that is the Ridolfo owned Peterbilt that was at the Alice Springs Hall of Fame event last August.

Geoff

Yes Geoff you are on the ball today.
This was at Alice 2015



It has the same bar on as the older photo but missing off the timber jinker one


So other than that Massey H I can't help you out with imformation

Colin

'Tective,
Once again got waylaid by old postings of the immortal Pete's.
Remember someone once telling me a bit of a yarn about two LHD 6X6 (cabovers?) Pete's used by some Frog( French) company on oil and gas exploration way the hell out the back of Birdsville or somewhere out in the stix! Anyone know anything about them at all? Never even seen a piccy.

Same person who relayed the story also told me that they were having some sort of mechanical trouble, and that Laurie O'Neill himself flew up there to put things right. I can't vouch for the veracity of the yarn, thought they MAY have been imported directly by the Frogs, still being LHD and obviously a special build. Seeing as how the O'Nell's dealt more with on-Highway type trucks.
Would be interesting to know a bit of their history and whatever became of them. Maybe it was simply a case of the Pete's, whatever their origin, were held in such high regard that Peterbilt Australia jumped in helped the owners out??
Other thing I thought was of interest was that they didn't mind mixing and matching components. "Stock" units would appear at first sight to be Cummins (220 OR 250), Spicer 4X4 and Rockwells on Hendricksons. When you started digging, all sorts of variations started appearing, Cat engines, G.M.s, R/Rangers, Airglide and rubber block, even Page and Page suspensions, not to mention either steel or alloy chassis. I'm only referring to when they first started being imported up to a few years later, not the more modern "one-off' imports.
Been quite a bit written about the fateful decision by Paccar to jump one way and not the other, which resulted in the demise of these great machines. Obvious to many that they still hold a special place in Oz trucking history.
Still remember one old timer telling me the line, "They only ever made two types of trucks, Peterbilts and 'pus-buckets'.
No doubt there will be many who agree and just as many disagree!

Dave_64

RE:_ POSTING # 167086

Been several postings on this particular subject,(even on these forums if you do a bit of searching), varying opinions. We are all hoping that sooner or later someone will get enough time to put all these stories,postings and references into some sort of book form.
Would make fascinating reading!

Hi Dave .. French Petroleum ordered two off highway 6 X 6 Peterbilts through Peterbilt Australia for oil exploration work in outback Australia....powered by 8V71 Detroit Diesels, they were used extensively on oil search programs and carried out many "missions" to that end. The "French" line in the Simpson Desert was so named because of this firms activities, and the outcome for us manifested itself in the many Total service stations that were dotted around the country. Both still survive with one at Neil Mansell Tpt in Toowoomba fitted latterly with a Cummins inline 6, and the other retaining the 8V71 albeit fitted out with a home made wooden cab and in recent years has gone to ground....??

Phil,
Thanks for that update, seeing as they were originally supplied by Peterbilt Australia, any chance that a line setting ticket, or build sheet survived intact? Hopefully someone may have a photo they can post also.

So, we now know they were originally fitted with 8V71 Screamers, BTW, cabover or conventional? Any indications of running gear, etc?
Quite a few blokes like myself like to know a bit about the mechanicals as fitted to some of these rarer breeds. Had you heard anything about Laurie O'Neill personally taking charge of repairs to those French Line Pete's? Or has it become a bit of folklore, like a lot of things, embellished over the period of time?
Thanks again, Dave_64

Got a few recent pics of the 8-71 French Petroleum wreck Dave64 .. and she's certainly not a pretty sight. I can take a photo of a photo so I'll see if permission is OK to put 'em up (as well as a bit of an operational timeline on these old girls)

Also dave I'll go through the build sheets and put up their specs from when they were delivered new out here.

...P.S .. keep the bloody stories of these things coming fellas before the stuff I know all jumps outta my head ! Lol

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationSpotted this one on fleabay.







Flebay link.