More about my Oz Adventure.....

Bondi Beach, Sat in a bar, 32deg, drinking ice-cold Boags, and what stops in front of me ...?

CLICK the Pic... Does it get any better ?

I returned on November 25th, from a 6 week adventure to Australia.

4 flights, 15 hotels, 3 hire cars and an 11.5 hr train journey...

The reason for the trip was to see :

1. Australia, which I have been waiting to do for many years.

2. Its people, who are amazing and must be some of the friendliest anywhere.

3. Its wildlife and extremes of weather, landscape and lifestyles.

4. To learn more about the Australian trucking scene.

The fact that I was able to do all the above and also rediscover some Aussie cousins who I have

not seen for over 40 years, made this a very memorable trip.

I made a point of not going to see things I could see in the UK, and my itinerary was to say the

least, unusual.

How many visitors to Australia do you know, who had planned the following items ?

Visit the Iveco Australian MotoGP in Phillip Island, for all races and practices.

Go to a large Steam Fair near Ballarat.

Go to a large show of historical commercial vehicles, preceded by a Spit Roast the night before

with 70 odd truck fans, in a transport yard on the outskirts of Melbourne.

Go on a conducted tour of the IVECO truck factory in Dandenong.

Well I did all this and packed in the Great Ocean Road driving experience,

10 days driving around the Northern Territory, in 40-50 deg.C

A Yellow Water Crocodile cruise, visit to Aboriginal rock paintings.

4 days in Sydney with visits to Manly and Bondi Beach.

I also visited several amazing museums.

I have now added some NEW Australian links to my links page.

* As many of you know in 1965 Magirus Deutz changed the designation of all models from the then familiar Planet name system to a different Alphanumeric layout.

I have now put a full list on the site, which is available by going to 'history' and then down to 1965.

I hope this list is useful to many site visitors.

* I am getting many parts requests from people who are restoring Maggies.

If you have any useful items please let me know.

* I really feel I have acheived completion of a project I have been working on for some time.

I have put together a reasonably comprehensive list of the Deutz engine codes for many models of Magirus Deutz, including most of the older models dating back to 1949.

There are over 300 variations weight/engine variants listed. When you consider that most of them were available in different wheelbases and many of the later models had numerous cab options I cannot even begin to work out how many different versions were made.

I have even included many Bus models, and the legendary Kranwagen models.

Go to the 'deutz' page for link details. I hope you find it interesting

* Amongst my increasing stock of memorabilia, I have found a UK dealer list from 30 years ago. Go to 'winsford' and see if it sparks any memories.

* I have recently received more information about the Strathclyde Magirus Deutz fire vehicles.

See the 'fire' page for an update.

* At last.... There are pictures of Maggies currently working in England on 'maggies work'

The site has now been going over 3 years and I have just got my first pictures of maggies earning money in England ! There must be more, but where are they ?

* I've done it again, I have found another old photo. Its over 32 years old and includes many friends of

Magirus Deutz from 1976. Are you included in the pic ? go to 'factory' and find out.

 * In the matter of a few weeks I received emails from a large construction site in Iceland, and Roberto in Italy about his Sahara Trek vehicle.

So from Cold to Hot, but both Deutz powered.

Roberto actually apologised for his truck not being a Maggie... so its on the New 'Driven by Deutz' section as mentioned below.

* Its not only Magirus Deutz trucks that have benefitted from the amazing Deutz engine.

The most popular section on this website is 'deutz' so I have introduced a NEW feature for you to send in details of other Deutz powered items.

* I've made some more additions to the site, with details sent to me.

There are more pics from Alan in Scotland, and François in France, go to 'world maggies'

There are some fire vehicles from Israel, on 'maggies work', and a unique looking S3500 recreation

vehicle from The Netherlands on 'world maggies', in the truck trekking section

As a result of the house move I have found a few more old photos.

Have a look at 'winsford' you might be in the picture !

* A site visitor reminded me of a very limited edition 310 which was available in the'70s.

The 310D19FFS Pullman was 'Winsford fitted' with many of the items which owner drivers installed themselves after delivery, particularly for the Middle East run.

Extended roof moulding, Air-Con, Windscreen and Headlight protection, Cab Fridge and more.

Below are 2 old pictures which show it in livery of the original and a later owner.

I would make a guess that it was originally supplied by Rhymney Valley motors, in Gwent ?

If anyone has any further info or pics about this beast, please get in touch.

Original owner ? Clifford R Powell - Gwent	Later Owner Trans UK Continental - Felixstowe

* Those of you who have read other pages on this site may have detected that I have not got a very high regard for various moves made by IVECO.

I have recently found an annoying picture of a fantastic truck which IVECO found it necessary to modify badly. Have a look on the 'history' page to see what has annoyed me.

* The NEW page 'maggies work' is a place where you will find that there are still Magirus Deutz trucks which go to work every day all over the world.

They are living proof of the reliabilty and longevity which made this marque famous.

There must be many more out there, so lets hear from their proud owners !

* I have recently obtained some illustrations of Older Magirus Deutz models and I have added them

in a NEW section on the gallery page. HERE.

* I am beginning to get many emails asking where you can buy an Old Maggie as a

renovation exercise. There are now very few operative Maggies in the UK.

If you have or know of any, whatever the condition, especially 232D30FK Tippers, please let me know and I will put the details here for all to see. NO Maggie should be scrapped !

No matter what the condition is, somebody somewhere would like at least a part of it !

Lets get some more Maggies on the road again.

* Magirus in Southampton

In 2007 I saw my first Magirus Deutz in the UK for about 15 years !!

And even better, I was taken for a run up the Millbrook Road . It was great to hear the sound of a Deutz engine again, but strange being on the right side with No Steering Wheel .

Thank you very much Andreas. He told me that several other truck drivers were surprised to see a Maggie driving round Southampton. I have put a newer pic on world maggies.

* Have you checked out the Winsford page ? and read about my one-man crusade to get the option of Air-Cooled Deutz trucks available to the world again?

No dont laugh about this, I am serious. The engine has been around now for over 60 years.

It is still in daily production and used worldwide in many demanding applications. Why should it not return in a truck ?

Euro2, Euro4 regs ? This is just a challenge for Deutz to work on. They are the experts and I dont think regulations should be allowed to get in the way.

What do you think about this ?

I would be interested to hear from you with suggestions of which manufacturer could be the one to make the move back to Air-Cooling ?

IVECO Deutz ? MAGIRUS Deutz Eurofire ? MERCEDES Deutz ? MAN Deutz ? VOLVO Deutz ? SCANIA Deutz ? MACK Deutz ? ..... just a few possibilities to get your mind working !

* UPDATE..... Many Volvo trucks are now driven by Deutz engines (though sadly not Air-Cooled) and even more interesting, TATRA in the Czech Republic are now selling trucks with the option of their own engine which is an Air-Cooled V8 Diesel which meets Euro 5 regulations !

If they can do it, surely Deutz who started the whole Air-Cooling thing, can do better !

* Truck & Driver magazine

I have obtained permission to put a new link on the links page, which goes to a .pdf file

of the article which appeared in February 2008 Truck and Driver, for anyone who missed the magazine, and overseas site visitors. Thank you T & D

Extremely Boring but Necessary stuff:-

This website was created and is fully maintained by myself and exists purely to inform the rest of the world of my mania. I feel I should make it clear that I believe in exercising my right to free speech, and I sincerely hope that nobody is upset by the personal beliefs and ideas expressed by myself, some of them quite powerfully.

All of the text is written by myself. and If there are any mistakes they are just there because I am human.

Most of the pictures are taken from my property, from various places, manufacturers literature, personal photos, and online sources.

I have given due acknowledgement if this is not true, where possible.

I fully understand that there may be some copyright infringements and apologise if I have offended anybody. All logos, trademarks and Company Names are fully respected and acknowledged.

All I ask is that if anyone has a problem with anything on this site, that they contact me.

Lets talk about it and sort it out.

This website is not a money maker, and it does take a lot of upkeep so I hope you enjoy it.

Thank You,

Roland.