There are race car haulers and then there are RACE CAR HAULERS. This historic piece of iron from Europe is one of the coolest ever made and the video below not only profiles the rig itself but the awesome backstory of how it came to be. While we love our old ramp trucks and stuff like that here in the USA, the Europeans certainly had a design flair for moving their cars around that is pretty much unmatched in the history of racing. From the awesome Mercedes trucks to this one, looking good was about as important as working good for these guys.
So the truck you are looking at here was used by the Ecurie Ecosse sports car racing team that was based in Scotland. It was built off of a Commer bus chassis and the reason that rig was used as the foundation was because of it’s size but also because of the weirdo engine it had. Powered by a three cylinder, horizontally opposed two stroke diesel engine (think three cylinders with two pistons in each hole that come back and forth at each other like fists) that was located completely under the floor, it gave a flat base to build off of.
The truck hauled three killer looking sports cars, all the spares needed, and the crew guys from race to race. The engine was not exactly a powerhouse but according to the current owner, it’ll cruise down the highway at 65mph and keep up with traffic.
This thing is totally awesome and we think it is one of the neatest rigs to ever haul racing cars down the road.
Awesome! The engine was the TS3 and due to its ear splitting exhaust exhaust sound its was known as The Screamer. As a kid I had the Corgi model of this which would now be worth hundreds of pound mint and boxed! I wish I’d had the foresight to stash that and many other models away as they would have contributed to my pension fund!
Aaah, Corgi diecasts! I gotcha, Geordie! I had what I believed to be a ’63-’64 Karman Ghia, opening hood, doors, and trunk (“boot”, in the front… I know, Geordie!), real rubber tires, DAM I CHERISHED that thing! Large compared to the other offerings of the day, about 4 inches long. Passed on to my little brother along with my Hot Wheels, Johnny Lightnings, Matchboxes, etc., which were later passed on to my own son, who passed them back to ME when he grew up, I still have them, but, sadly, the awesome Karman was nowhere to be found. Wonder what ever happened to that awesome thing…
The old Commer Knocker probably the best sounding 2 stroke Diesel ever made.
I would imagine that the top stack would be under 800kg though.
If you’d kept it geeyordie it would have paid for your dental work now.