Owner/Driver #339

“If you see something you like and you have
the money to buy it, then buy it”.
resides proudly on the hood. Charlie goes on to explain: “My dad
used to have a poultry farm and while on the delivery runs he
would like to go to an old scrap yard at Yennora, which was on the
way. I’m nearly certain he would have found her at that scrap yard.
“We would go on these runs in his old Bedford and the brass
woman eventually found her home on the front of that truck. The
woman then found herself in my brother’s possession before he
gave her to me. I was going to put her on a Kenworth S2 model I’m
also restoring but I decided she would be better placed on the ’58
model as the bonnet doesn’t tilt forward and pose a risk of walking
into her,” he says.
“I have had a few trips to the USA and on the last trip I tried to
find out a bit more on this truck’s history without much success.
“I have the build ticket and know that it came from Lebanon,
Oregon, but that’s where it stops for now. I’m keen to try again
someday.”
According to Charlie, the Lebanon painted on the door often
creates confusion.
“I had a group of Middle Eastern guys come here for business
one day and one of them noticed ‘Lebanon’ on the door and
he became a little abrupt, questioning why I – obviously not
Lebanese – had this on the door.
“After some explaining he settled down and took a photo of the
truck to show his mates,” Charlie laughs.
After getting the truck on the road, Charlie visited his mate
Bernie to show it off. He says Bernie had always regretted selling
the truck but was happy to see it up and running. While there,
Charlie took Bernie’s wife for a drive in the truck. Now yarns can
be spun and truths sometimes get in the way but, as Charlie tells it,
Bernie’s wife didn’t want him to sell the truck either and after the
drive she didn’t talk to him for two days.
Charlie says his dad used to say to him: “If you see something
you like and you have the money to buy it, then buy it.” That must
have sunk in as that’s exactly what he did with this truck. He
could see the potential in it and, with his skills as a body builder
and fabricator he has been able to save a lot of money on its
restoration by doing the majority of the work himself.
Resisting the urge to paint her up pretty, Charlie is sticking with
the age-weathered Patina look for the ’58 Kenworth, holding on to
the scars and ageing that stand testament to its 63-year life of toil
and adventure spanning two continents.
The icy grey winters of North America it would seem, are far
behind this little truck now, with a life of semi-retirement Down
Under befitting of any hard-working 63-year-old assured.
Top: Charlie Borg gives the old Kenworth a rinse after a leisurely drive
Above left: A brass woman, a relic from his father’s scrapyard visits, adorns
the Kenworth’s bonnet
Left: The Kenworth’s hydraulic tilt tray has been added to haul Charlie’s
Mini Cooper race car
28 APRIL 2021 ownerdriver.com.au