Deals on Wheels #464

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George stands proudly
with his beloved
tractor carter
et’s start with a bit of an admission
here. I’ve been really excited about
doing this story. I first spotted this
awesome-looking F600 at the Gatton
Mack Muster back in the day. For those
unaware, there used to be a time when
we were able to have things called ‘Truck
Shows’ – glorious events where people
would bring their pride and joy to display.
Fans from far and wide would come to
appreciate some exquisite machinery.
Sharing laughs, taking photos, spilling half
the sauce from their dagwood dogs down
the front of their Kenworth shirts. It was a
simpler time. A happy pre-Covid time.
One of these long forgotten ‘Truck Show’
events was a Mack Muster up in Queensland.
For a Bulldog fan like me it was heaven. From
all around Australia Macks mustered, filling
the Gatton showgrounds with Bulldogs
galore. Amongst the big-bonneted Bs and
sharp Superliners was a hard-to-find and
immaculately presented cabover Mack, the
old F-600. I grew up with my uncle driving a
cabover Mack back in NZ and they are a bit of
a rare sight over here in Australia.
So yes, I got a bit stalkerish, eventually
tracking down its owner, George Proctor, and
lining him up for a photo shoot and story. I
was super keen, then the world went Covid
crazy and everything got stalled. It took a
long wait, some prayers to the weather gods
and some perfect timing between border
closures but I finally made it to Eungai Creek
down in NSW to catch up with the man
behind the wheel of the ‘Survivor’.
THE ‘SURVIVOR’
George is the man who painted the name
‘Survivor’ onto the front of this very special
F-609RT and with justifiable reason. The
truck is now over 50 years old and without
the effort of several folk it would most likely
have ended up a rusted-out shell in the
back corner of a scrap yard well before now.
Instead, it has survived.
What makes it extra special is that there
were very few 609Rs in Australia, only 20 in
fact. They were right-hand drive F models,
built in the United States and imported
directly over here. This one was the second
in the country, though technically it was the
first to hit the road over here.
When it landed in Australia, the singledrive
tractor unit, sporting a lovely red paint
job, was factory fitted with the infamous
END711 engine. When you consider the
Mack had a 6.36 ratio diff and a double-overdrive
quad box, pairing it with the 711’s 211hp
(157kW) would be like tying Usain Bolt’s
shoelaces together before a race. Though on a
single-drive cabover maybe that’s a safe idea,
reel those long legs in.
If I had more time, or slightly better
investigative journalism skills, I might be
able to fill in the truck’s history a bit more.
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