RACING CERTAINTY

You’ll like this – it’s a good one. We thought we’d heard it all but hand on heart, we reckon you’ll never guess where A639 OUD spent a chunk of its life – and how the heck it was discovered. Yes, we’ve heard all manner of ‘barn find’ stories or even tales of wrecks dragged out of hedges to be rebuilt into time warp stunners. We’ve even told you about a special version of Atkinson cab being shipped across the world from Australia just so it can re-create a piece of Yorkshire transport folk-lore, but we reckon the story to this Roadtrain just takes the biscuit.

In the ‘80s, the top of the range Leyland T45 model could be seen here, there and everywhere as this 4x2 32/38 tonner was a favoured workhorse for many. However, 40 years on, they are something of a collector’s item on the preservation scene and we imagine, that Roadtrain devotees across the land regularly surf the net hoping they might encounter such an offering for sale. But don’t give up, because the huge grin on Diesel Dickson’s face will tell you that like him, you might win the lottery and discover your own dream of a machine.

In fairness, Diesel – the nickname has been part of his life since he was a teenager – would never have thought of searching the Swedish equivalent of e-bay for such a UK registered machine. The accolade for taking such an avenue goes to David Beatt who earns a crust by operating a specialist drilling concern in Sweden.

But to understand why such a business man is linked to a Scottish based long-distance