Jump to content

Right hand drive Macks outside of Australia and New Zealand


Recommended Posts

It seems most of the world drives on the right side of the road which are the pre-requisite for left hand drive vehicles. Most countries that drive on the other side tend to mostly have right hand drive vehicles for similar reasons, especially countries that are or were former part of the British Commonwealth.

Were brand new right hand drive Macks exported from Australia to countries that drive on the left or were right hand drive Macks also exported from the U.S? Were Macks made in Australia for export at all ( except to NZ) ?  I remember seeing trucks at Macungie while on a tour that were going to South Africa but I don't remember them being right hand drive.

I remember seeing a beautiful blue right hand drive R model Mack in Jamaica years ago that belonged to a Bauxite Company ( Alcan). I never forgot it because it is was the first and probably the only right hand drive heavy duty American truck I ever saw in person. Always curious what happened to it or how they would get parts for the steering or front end. Those companies tended to buy only brand new vehicles, so with Jamaica being one of those countries that drive on the left I figured it must have been a special order.

As an international Aussie Rules football (AFL) fan, I hope to one day see plenty of right hand drive Macks when I visit Australia to attend AFL games and vintage truck shows :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A year or so ago there was a Mack built for (I think) a Malaysian sultan or something along them lines. That’s the only one that pops in to my head immediately. 

It was quite impressive and I believe is the most expensive Mack to be built in Australia. 5D178306-9BA3-4D23-88F8-BF2317EB9E4C.jpeg.d51d286f108d8337e2248f18ed6d58f7.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Japan also. With the exception of South Africa and India and another dot in the map I don’t recognise, most countries that drive on the left are islands. 

Funny rule here in Aus, if your car is over a certain age (30 years I think) you can legally drive LHD. Although personally I’d hate to, overtaking would be a nightmare with a passenger. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

75 countries in the world still drive on left including 3 in South America, Faklins, Guyana and Suriname.

"OPERTUNITY IS MISSED BY MOST PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS DRESSED IN OVERALLS AND LOOKS LIKE WORK"  Thomas Edison

 “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit, what a ride!’

P.T.CHESHIRE

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Timmyb said:

Funny rule here in Aus, if your car is over a certain age (30 years I think) you can legally drive LHD. Although personally I’d hate to, overtaking would be a nightmare with a passenger. 

Lol as it often is in Jamaica as there are no restrictions on importing a left hand drive vehicle and the roads can be quite narrow and winding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, 41chevy said:

75 countries in the world still drive on left including 3 in South America, Faklins, Guyana and Suriname.

I always figure it most be weird if you are driving in country like Guyana and then you cross over the  border into a country like Brazil or Venezuela that drive on the right and you then have to switch over. I think years ago in Sweden people drove on the left and then they switched over to driving on the right like the rest of continental Europe.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, B MACK said:

Is that nice looking babe in the black skirt standard equipment that comes with that red, white and blue mack???

Only if your Bank balance is comparable to a Sultan....:thumb:

"Be who you are and say what you feel...
Because those that matter...
don't mind...
And those that mind....
don't matter." -

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Timmyb said:

Japan also. With the exception of South Africa and India and another dot in the map I don’t recognise, most countries that drive on the left are islands. 

Funny rule here in Aus, if your car is over a certain age (30 years I think) you can legally drive LHD. Although personally I’d hate to, overtaking would be a nightmare with a passenger. 

Here in Russia there is no prohibitation to import left-hand drive car or truck. Government tried to put it but had to pass because of huge protests of people living at Far East. Japan as a neighbour helped (and continue to) filling up the roads with relatively cheap and mostly reiable cars so the most of Russian East drives them. Regardless the roads are tight and hilly in that areas. I have never been to there but as I was told about 50% or so vehicles down the road are LHD. You can even find some in Moscow region. They're sure notably cheaper than RHD ones in the same condition. Also Japanize build many special models for their internal market of good specifications you can't order RHD. Nissan Skyline for example. Some some people attend owning and using them. In a case of having a shift lever on the wrong side automatic transmissions use to be a choice. And you even could find many middle-heavy RHD trucks in Moscow region. The reason was behind a cab mounted crane units on them. Twice cheaper than a similar setup to be imported from Europe. Sure all that have some stupid matters since the right way would be producing enough quantities of cranes or cars and truck chaiis' here inside the country instead. But you know a production or general economy planning is a State-level question which is ruled by some big boys.

Никогда не бывает слишком много грузовиков! leversole 11.2012

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

My father drove that blue Mack from it was brand new in 1989 until he migrated to the USA in 1998. The regular front end parts from the left hand drive such as tie rods ect. worked on it as well. It however had an unusual length camel spring on the rear end that had to be a special order when it broke a spring blade once.I think they had to source that blade out of Australia. That Mack was an R690ST which came with the Maxidyne engine and 7 speed Maxitorque gear box which was later changed to a 10speed Maxitorque. It's old now but now retired at the company.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, keeturbo said:

My father drove that blue Mack from it was brand new in 1989 until he migrated to the USA in 1998. The regular front end parts from the left hand drive such as tie rods ect. worked on it as well. It however had an unusual length camel spring on the rear end that had to be a special order when it broke a spring blade once.I think they had to source that blade out of Australia. That Mack was an R690ST which came with the Maxidyne engine and 7 speed Maxitorque gear box which was later changed to a 10speed Maxitorque. It's old now but now retired at the company.

WOW! Thank you! I remember hoping to see that truck if I went to Mandeville. Do you have any pics and is it still around?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...