Surprise, surprise!
ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S LEADING LOGTRUCK operators, Mark McCarthy, was treated to a surprise 60th birthday party by his family – with 200 guests….and a brand-new Kenworth K200, complete with a retro-look paint job.
The 8x4 2.3m flat roof K200 was painted to match an early-’70s K series that was one of the first Kenworths Mark drove, back in the 1970s.
The K200 has an Eaton Roadranger 18-speed manual gearbox and Meritor 46-160 diffs with full cross-locks, on Hendrickson Primaax air suspension.
Cosmetic touches include old-school bullet roof lights and round air horns, a lower grille panel, wheel-arch flares, headlight trims, mirror covers and exhaust shrouds bearing the words “60TH EDITION.” Its rego plate, appropriately, is MJM60.
Inside, extras include factory-fitted leather-trimmed seats, McCarthy Transport branding and an 18-inch, four-spoke woodgrain steering wheel.
McCarthy is renowned for popping up unexpectedly at McCarthy Transport and supplier premises, so the family went to great lengths to keep the new truck a secret.
That included ordering the 600-615-horsepower Cummins X15
left) engined K200 with a plain white cab…and having it signwritten with a dummy name – Blue Duck Logging Company…just in case Mark walked in on a supplier working on it.
Haddock Spray Painters in Whakatane did the paintwork, while Patchell Industries fitted the cab guard and twin exhaust stacks and air cleaners….
And Mark’s wife Dianne organised a seven-day holiday, allowing time for the truck to be whisked to Whanganui, where the McCarthy inhouse engineering shop fitted its log bolsters and did paint touchups.
The final finishing work was done back in Rotorua – with striping, scrollwork and MJ McCarthy signwriting, to match the old K.
The truck was back at Whanganui Raceway, hidden behind a building, when Mark arrived for what he’d been told was going to be a small family birthday dinner…
And found instead the scores of guests…and two of his favourite Kenworths – Fleet # 1, his first T650, and a later-model T659 – awaiting his arrival.
He was just getting over these surprises when son Matt drove around the corner of the building with the new K200…with Mark’s grandchildren inside. Job done.
T&D