Red Horse

How about this Rhode Island truck- Ron Rossi's 1955 B-71 Pictures don't do it justice.

Guys Any opinions on this. I was told if you have antique plates, you can't carry anything. I'm always hauling a Load of stone or loam for friends or family-I'm lucky if I get my fuel cost for doing this. So I have commercial plates on my 56 B. I'm paying around 1900 a year and that includes insurance on a 14' Peque skid steer trailer. I don't pull that with the Mack but rather with my Ranger if I'm moving my Z Trak mower. If I'm moving something heavier, I borrow a one ton. Any thoughts for a cheaper alternative? I'm in Mass. by the way.

Another one of those..............."if the track shifts north, blah blah. we shall see.

If not the actual truck, I would hope that some of their engineering experience will eventually show up at Avon Lake. I have been led to believe that the recently introduced 2016 650-750 is an interim vehicle designed to bridge the transfer from Bluediamond to in house. KSC will I'm sure have an opinion on this. Did you note the comment on the Turkish brass pressuring Bill Ford? tghat is a good thing as I believe Bill Ford was not a fan of the 98 decision to bail out of class 8. Also not the relationship with the Koc goes back to 1928. I think from time to time, old relationships have a value in a "family" business. Probably wishful thinking on my part but perhaps that is why I'm such a "Ford guy". Ford is something more than a corporate entity to some people. I can recall my old uncles talking about what "He" was going to do next- the "He" being Hank the Deuce (I'm not that old that they were referring to Henry!

Note this guy Roy's title PRESIDENT of Sales and Marketing. To me this says a lot about the Mack organization. Usually, sales and marketing is a key business unit that reports to a president. And typically this guy would have the title of VP or Senior VP or Executive VP. likewise there would be similar titles for the other functions that report to the President-like Engineering, Manufacturing, etc. Just a wild guess but I read this as Engineering, Product Development etc will be top down from "mother Volvo. And another point-this guy Roy is NOT a nuts and bolts truck guy-as I gather from KSC's posts.. If you asked him what a Unishift, "6-71", "220" or "534" was you would get a blank stare. A guy like this tends to concentrate in his "comfort zone"-don't bother me with technical stuff. Hmnn -kind of like the guy in the White House? -Great at "community organizing and entertaining the Hollywood crowd"-getting in the trench? No way.

The more I hear about this truck, the more I believe it is going to get its share of business on price- the in house engine and trans should allow them to be very aggressive with their pricing. A dealer friend of mine thinks the all Ford powertrain is a plus. He has nothing but confidence in the engine and trans plus as he sees it-"no more fingerpointing between Cummins and Allison evertyime there is an issue. Again, not thrilled with the idea of no choice but I can see their point where it will be an attractive alternative to some-in particular if price is right. Seems to me though this makes the thought of a tandem "F-800 doubtful. Agree with KSC-when are they going to bring that 9 liter Duratorque here???

I like the video-except maybe a few more "heavy" Mack footage instead of wimpy highway tractors? Like a big Granite-with spokes for us old Northeast guys-hooked to a lowboy that has a Cat 345 on it-okay make that a Volvo. As for the logo? Agree-is the dog taking a dump or is it a birth defect?

KS-You hit the nail on the head- I just posted this on the Ford "loyalist site: IMO, very disappointing. They stole a page from Henry's book-"Any color as long as its black". The press release says it all...."F-750 tractor for heavy towing"..Huh-who writes this stuff? Its a TRACTOR- it pulls trailers! But guess what, It won't be pulling any 27' pups that say..ABF, or Old Dominion or UPS or Coca Cola etc. etc. Rather it will pull Reginald's polo ponies, or tow Harry's camper trailer etc. Bottom line those who said this was nothing but a gift to the UAW for the last contract are probably correct. Are they bringing class 6 and 7 back to the US? Yes-contract paid in full. Will this half assed approach increase sales? Certainly not to the degree that it would have had they given buyers a reasonable choice-like a real truck diesel, a real choice of transmissions etc. Notice no mention of .."up to class 8? I guess that means the 37,000 lb option is dead- can't imagine a Power Stroke/Torqueshift combination at 37,000lbs getting out of warranty before it grenades all over the road. I'm sure a 6.7 Power Stroke/Torqueshift will satisfy some classes of trade. But I'm sure the marketers at Paccar, Navistar F'liner and even Hino are resting easy tonite SOS from Ford. Have to admit, the headlights are gorgeous! Headed to the barn to sit in my B-61X!

KS-Word is big announcement today, 5PM at the National Work Truck Show in Indiannapolis. Looking at the show website, of the truck mfgs., Ford's area looks like largest. I thought announcement would be today at ConExpo in Vegas-they have a good amount of floor space there too- we shall see at 5PM. some of my fellow Ford "followers" have suggested they in essence will just continue with the Navistar components but in their own plant -part of the UAW contract deal- while others say-no way-like Firestone, Navistar is on the "never again" list. Any opinion? By the way, Mack too has space at the Indy show-must be pushing the Cummins powered Granite.

After surfing Boston channels tonite, looks like Conn, RI, Mass so. shore/Cape Islands up to 5". Of Course they still hedge by saying 50 mile shift North could have big impact.

Well KSC, you usually have all the news. Todays Detroit News has piece saying Ford will announce on Friday details of return of class 6 and 7 production to US from Mexico (Bluediamond) Any bets on what that will be?

EJ This will bring a tear to your eye: -N. J. Dondi -L. G. DeFelice -D.V. Frione -Edgewood Construction

Sounds good-and I agree with others who say give the guy a chance. I still say, it will be a matter of time and the minute the economy REALLY tanks and things get tough, the bean counters in Sweden will ask the same old question....namely..." why do we have all this duplicated overhead?" Remember guys-all of us "old Mack guys" are just that-and getting older. The older the customer base gets, the easier it is to make the case to have one truck brand. Hope I'm wrong

Provan long gone- black and yellow.

Right on the R-700's I think they were quad boxes. I also think they had some Mack V-8's

Two more NYS bulk carriers, Frontier Delivery- Buffalo, and Provan Transport- Newburgh

Are we to assume this is the first consolidation since losing the Ford Power Stroke business?? If so, no wonder they have financial issues

Adley Express, New Haven All Mack B's for road tractors and Fords for P & D Holmes Transportation, Framingham Mass-

Matt- Shame on you......Cumberland Farms- B's, U's, R's

I also wonder about the test route. Granted if the same route was used for the base truck, a legitimate comparison. But my bet is the route is flatter than a pancake. How about doing a test say from Portland Maine to Burlington VT. Shortest route, and at 80,000 lbs. That is a real test.

Hmnn. Not surprising. Isn't Roger somehow involved in the Hino distributiuon process with some sort of ownership stake?

Agree-truck specing 101-but at those very high GCW's I find it hard to believe that these engines have any kind of life?? they have to be constantly at max RPM. Would the emissions stds in these countries make these engines more durable than what we expect? I can't imagine specing a tractor in this country with 9-11 liters and pulling a set of turnpike doubles from Buffalo to Boston-for any length of time. Perhaps the 9L Ford Duratorque has a future in Ford's future US plans.

KSC As you are an old Mack guy and speaking of big loads and Australia, I have saved all my Mack Corp calendars over the years and I seem to remember a Mobil Oil road train (R model) in one of the years-any memory? Can't seem to find it.

I hear you-that is what surprises me-No CUBIC INCHES!! Their life cycle must b e very short! By the way-does the VW side profile look an awful lot like a Cargo or is it my imagination? Maybe there is a Budd/Shellar Globe Co. in SA??

8.9L? 9.5L? 139,000lb GCW??? What do they do in SA or China that is different than US-Operate only when tailwinds prevail???