Deals on Wheels #464

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Simple and shiny –
that’s the look Jarrod
wanted and that’s what
RC Metalcraft delivered
et us begin today’s lesson by breaking
down the variations in truck class.
Many of you are aware of the different
truck classes, however allow me to
remind you. You have your MR class,
medium rigid. You have your HR class,
heavy rigid. You then move up to you HC,
or heavy combination and finally there
is your MC, multi combination. That is
where it used to stop.
Now, however, there is an extra class,
known as your OD class, or ‘oh damn’! It’s a
rare class but designed for specific trucks, like
the Burgundy Heights Kenworth C509.
Trucks like this redefine ‘big’. It’s got a
sleeper that could hide all contestants of the
‘2021 World Hide and Seek Championship’. Its
wheelbase is longer than Sergei Bubka’s 1994
pole vaulting record. It’s got the power to pull
the truth out of a used car salesman and it just
looks cool – seriously, monstrously cool.
This C509 has shown up at several local
truck shows, turning heads so fast that local
physiotherapists were documenting a huge
spike in strained neck muscle injuries the
very next day. It’s massively distracting –
massive being the operative word. So you will
have to forgive me if this story is a little light
on information.
As I sat listening to Jarrod Smith, son of
Burgundy Heights’ founders Dennis and
Shirley Smith, my eyes kept wandering to the
larger-than-life Kenworth that was waiting
patiently for me to snap shots of. Even now
I’m writing this with disturbing levels of drool
dripping onto my keyboard. Ok folks, I’ll focus.
Let us get informed.
I was one of those guys that strained their
neck when I first saw this huge unit at the
popular Casino Truck Show. Saw it, loved it
and had to track it down. The first person I
stalked was the big man behind the wheel,
Paul Watts. Paul’s been driving the C509 since
it first pulled into the Burgundy Heights yard
south of Coffs Harbour. An extremely friendly
guy, Paul had the truck looking immaculate
to the point I figured the Kenworth was brand
new. He was more than happy for me to do a
few shots, then offering directions so I could
catch up with Jarrod, the man in charge of
Burgundy Heights. So as soon as Covid would
allow, I packed up my little Hyundai i30 and
went for a tiki tour down south, eager to learn
more about this big brute of a truck and what
it does.
Upon arrival at Burgundy Heights’ yard in
Bonville I went straight for the offices to track
down Jarrod. Lesson number one; Jarrod is
not that kind of boss. You have to search the
workshops or the trucks to find him.
What’s in a name?
Jarrod grew up in the company his parents
started back in the 1980s and has worked in
every part of it. Though he makes the big calls
now, like speccing up the big C509,
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