Rebuilding cars can be a thankless money pit of stress and doom at times, so you’ve got to hand it to the folks who tinker with trucks. I mean, think of how much car project basics cost – engine rebuilds, brakes, fluids, suspension, tyres, etc – and supersize that for a truck build! Even the sheer volume of paint required to do a truck respray eclipses what us car folks have to deal with – not to mention the initial purchase price. 

First published in the October 2026 issue of Street Machine

The sight of a cool truck has always brought out my inner child, and recently I made my annual pilgrimage to the Heritage Truck Association Show, held at Rocklea on Brisbane’s southside. The variety on display is always outstanding, but more importantly, these vehicles embody Australia’s transport history. 

A couple of owners at this year’s show combined that sense of historical preservation with a love of vintage pop culture iconography. How can you be of a certain age and not get the warm-and-fuzzies at the sight of a replica of the Kenworth Aerodyne that played a starring role in the early-80s TV series BJ and the Bear. Or a re-creation of the ‘Earth’ Mack R-600 that stole the climactic scenes of Mad Max 2. I got so bloody excited that my wife Kylie had to put me down for a nap when we got home, and I could still be heard muttering “I’ll drive that tanker” in my sleep!

My all-time favourite truck is a beautiful black-and-red International Transtar owned by Brisbane’s Doug Bryer. It was a Truckin’ Life magazine ‘Rig of the Month’ winner back in the mid-80s, and I swear that poster – which I still have to this day – was ripped out and Blu-tacked on my bedroom wall before my dad even got to read the issue.

Doug’s ‘Detroit Devil’ Transtar was one of a number of semi tippers that beat a well-worn path across Brisbane delivering clay to the PGH brickworks, and it wasn’t uncommon to catch an eyeful of this chrome-encrusted beauty as it roared through suburbia. To a truck-obsessed 1980s kid like myself, it was like spotting a movie star.

I randomly posted a photo of Doug’s truck on my Instagram, and not long after, I bumped into my mate Dave, who had spotted the pic and revealed he also fondly recalled the Detroit Devil from his school days. Now, Dave and I go back nearly 20 years, and this was the first time anything remotely ‘truck’ had been raised between us, so it seemed an uncanny coincidence.

“You’d hear that awesome 8V92 two-stroke diesel pulling up the hill from a mile away,” Dave recalled, before dropping a bombshell: “I used to call him up from the school oval on my UHF walkie-talkie.”

What the hell? Needless to say, I was suitably impressed – what a perfect Gen X kid statement! What child would even think to do something comparable nowadays?

“Oh, for sure,” Dave agreed. “Doug would say ‘g’day’ back, and then it was like something reminiscent of a game of Red Rover – 50 kids hurtling to the school fence to give Doug the arm pump, hoping he’d rip on the horns. And it wasn’t just the boys; the girls would get in on it too. He’d give those air horns an almighty blast and we’d all be stoked for the rest of the day. My mates and I would try to draw that exact truck; it left such a strong impression on us.”

My most recent sighting of Doug’s truck was 20-odd years ago. A Transtar semi tipper rolled up to my work, and although it was now painted plain white, it bore all the hallmarks of having once been the Detroit Devil. The Lawnton sleeper box, bubble windows and chromed spider hubs were instant giveaways, and the name ‘Bryer’ in subtle hardware letters on the side sealed the deal. Sure, to many it probably looked like just another old truck, but I was starstruck once again. I hope it still lives on happily in some form.

As for my own automotive pursuits, recent time-sucking house renos have thwarted much progress on our Delta XL Falcon project, but we are still trying to chip away on a daily basis, sorting even the most minor of tasks or forward-planning in order to keep things moving. The right sill was absolutely shot – especially as a second outer sill had been rivetted straight over the rusty original during its 1990s ‘rebuild’. Even I’m not that rough, so I have cut it all out and started welding in fresh metal from scratch. It’s pretty normal Falcon rust for its era though, so once I get all this menial stuff done, I can begin tackling the more exciting custom-based repairs.