Owner/Driver #339

“The engine delivers
power to the wheels
via a five-speed Spicer
crash gearbox.”
THE ONSET OF COVID-19 has no doubt driven a surge in
the already booming historical truck movement over the
past couple of years. The preference for staying at home
and limiting social interactions on any sort of scale has
undoubtedly led to much more ‘shed time’ for those midprojects
and resulted in some others previously relegated
to the back burner for some time slowly but surely rolling
their spider web-covered cabs out from their dusty caverns
of ‘blokedom’.
Even so, with so many projects on the go, I really don’t know
where Charlie Borg, current custodian of this 1958 Kenworth, finds
the time.
Among Charlie’s other toys and projects are a White Road
Commander named ‘Lizzy’, a Kenworth SAR, a Kenworth S2 in the
build, a restored 1956 Austin that was originally a Resch’s brewery
truck, a W-model Kenworth and a White 3000 part way through
restoration.
Upon approaching Charlie’s 1958 Kenworth – official model
classification CC925C – my curiosity was immediately piqued by
the inscription on the door – ‘Lebanon Truck Service’. As many
would, my mind immediately thought of that far off Middle
Eastern country adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea, a land of
kebabs and falafel. I wondered how many Kenworths made it to
the Middle East, I naively thought to myself.
After initial introductions, obviously one of my first questions
was, surely this truck is not from Lebanon, is it Charlie? “Yes,” he
proclaims. Lebanon in the USA to be more specific.
Charlie informs me that there are several towns named Lebanon
in the US and, as indicated by the build sheet he has for this
particular truck, Lebanon, Oregon is where this truck hails from.
A little post-interview Googling revealed there to be anything up
to 47 Lebanons in the US!
Lebanon Truck Service of Oregon unfortunately didn’t reveal
much from Google searches and, apart from the build ticket
information and address, not much is known to Charlie about the
truck’s obviously well-lived life prior to coming to Australia.
Lebanon is a small town in north-west Oregon with a
population of around 17,000 residents and was once famous for
its strawberry production and timber industry. The once thriving
local timber industry eventually petered out in the 1980s. Perhaps
Charlie’s Kenworth was originally used for timber transport or, as
the name on the door references, “truck service”. Maybe it was used
as a recovery or salvage truck for a truck repair business? Charlie is
determined to find out some day.
As for recent history, Charlie can trace it back around five years
Top: Charlie and his best mate
Lu-Lu, who also enjoys a ride in the
classic Kenworth
Above: The original Cummins
220hp in-line six-cylinder
turbocharged engine still powers
the ’58 Kenworth
ownerdriver.com.au
APRIL 2021 25