Morley says...

WHAT A GREAT photo. I love this sort of thing… not a happy snap of the day dad bought it home from the dealership, but a proper record of a vehicle’s working life. And yes, Eric, I can well imagine the racket it must have made hauling tons and tons (and it was tons back then, not tonnes) of timber up a steep hill in low-range with that two-stroke diesel hammering away at full chat.

What continues to amaze me is just what hard yakka it must have been driving a fully loaded truck back then on the goat tracks that passed for Australian highways. And freeways? Forget it! And although the Commer Knocker was known for being a pretty powerful unit in its day, hauling all those tons with just 105 horsepower under your right boot must have involved plenty of gear changes. I guess the engine’s real strength was its torque (which is what counts anyway, right?) and with 366Nm available from just 1200rpm, the Knocker was a proper slugger. Still, with no air-con, no synchromesh and pretty much zero in the way of creature comforts, the job of being a truckie must have called for plenty of grit.