Red Horse

And doesn't it all look cheap-or poorly put together? at least that is the way it struck me. Other thing-did anyone notice a lot of the inventory boxes?,,labels, "made in Malaysia", "made in Mexico" etc. then again why should that surprise me. On other thing about that purple MR with the two leaf suspension- I think that was the one that had 315's on the rear-there was about an inch and a half of space between the duals-can you imagine the heat if one of those was low on air and it was loaded to the max...hmnn..."I smell smoke" Our tour guide on the bus said..."you won't see any robots here- all built by hand" I was surprised then thought about it-of course- they don't make anything there -it all comes in as modules-complete cabs, complete hoods etc. In any case clean a a whistle-hope they make it in the long term. Oh and sad to say-never saw a spoke wheel! but now I'm showing my age!

Yes- and you?

Hope you are right-by the way-as the kids would say your truck looks...."awsome"!!!

Wow-long day- and I was looking for you guys-we took the plant tour from like 10 -got back around 1. Hopefully see you guys at Brooklyn.

Well after listening to a lot of comments at the Museum and the Macungie plant this weekend I would have to say IMO, the majority opinion of Mack loyalists, is the new logo "sucks" in plain English. As I look at it, would Ford junk the "Blue Ova"l? Chevy junk the "Bowtie"? 3M start calling "Scotch Tape" something else?? I'm sure the Mack PR types will say its "just another new look" and the classic bulldog will remain but I saw too much of it. From comments to.."the dog is taking a dump" to my wife's.."hmnn-looks like his hind quarters have atrophied", not much positive views of it-again IMO.

Matt- see you guys- headed for Museum tomorrow as day should be a washout.

Matt, unless my memory is totally gone, seems to me a 162" WB tractor and a tank 42.5' OAL made us legal at 80,000

10-4 Mike-after I did the post I did think about the special permits in VT, NH, and Maine- I do believe Mass is only state that waives the BF for permits over 80,000. Even so, it does look like it has a few more inches than even those states require.

Congratulations- was looking forward to seeing it at Lancaster on July 13th, but hopefully will get over to the Museum this Friday or Sat Bob

I think of Boston traffic and I think I would put up the poorer ride!

Here you go Jim-they did it all over last year

EJ- Every now and then you have to acknowledge the other world. On another note, I'm kicking my ass. I'm about to pull on the scale at Pandolph-Perkins in Sterling the other day with the B. Parked along side the scale is a Lazzaro Granite and a Pao Granite-both loaded with asphalt and both spokes on 24's. I thought after, what a picture-3 Macks on spokes, 24's but 58 years apart! (probably same for the drivers!)

Latest French St. Petermobile, ready for delivery at New England Truck, Sterling. Anyone tell me why you would need such a wheelbase when Mass 99,000 lb permits do not follow bridge formula??

2581 lb-ft of torque at 1500RPM! Does anyone make a driveline for on highway use that can deal with those numbers??

Australia- good place for them! In the meantime, the only outfit that I know that bought one in this area, has sold his-had enough.

Cheaper???

Don't ask me where I got this but I thought I read somewhere that Bill wasw in fact one of those who thought it was a mistake bailing out of class 8 in '98. Also I got the impression he was a "fan" of the Otosan partnership. Like I said, if "One Ford" is more than a slogan, perhaps something will come of this. If nothing else these guys at Otosan have to be designing to a very tough standard looking at the terrain /highway network their trucks operate in.

Perhaps some of that development money will filter down to a US EPA compliant Ecotorque 6 cyl of around 9 or 10 liters? After all- "One Ford"??

WOW- KISS-Keep it Simple Stupid! this truck would do very well in this country with those specs. Not everyone needs (or wants) 400HP and 800 ft lbs. of torque. they want a simple power train that doesn't require a ton of sophisticated diagnostic equipment. Yeah I know- I'm living in the past. Well lunch is over-have to go get a load of stone for one of the neighbors in my 1956 B-61X KS-What would it take to get Euro5 to current US EPA standards?

Matt- The company was in fact Thermos and they were in Norwich

I give up JJ-what is Alkane?

The key to this IMO is just how serious Ford is. Before the sale of Class 8's to Daimler, Ford and Navistar were the two big guys in class 6 and 7. Snce then, (1998) I think medium trucks was a half hearted effort. I thought for sure when the no compete expired in 2008, they would be back big time but no such effort was made. We shall see. While the single power train offering (6.7 Power Stroke, Ford 6 spd auto) may appeal to a broad customer base because of the economy of scale issue, I have to believe that there will be many class 6, 7 buyers who will want more options. good combination for under 26,000 lb rental fleets? Probably. Good combination for a 33,000 lb dump truck, Propane or fuel oil tanker? I'm a skeptic. My thought is the new truck gives them a chance to get up and running at the Avon Lake plant. Assuming sales take off like they think it will, could give them incentive to expand offering- like federalizing their own 6 cyl. diesel they build in Turkey. that to me would make a lot of sense-in particular if you buy into Mulaly's "One Ford" concept. And no reason why that 6 cyl. couldn't serve the "baby 8" market. I'm a firm believer that the future of class 8 will be the regional distribution tractor-pick up the container at the intermodal rail yard and deliver to the distribution center where the-unfortunately-imported goods containers are broken down for delivery via Fed Ex, UPS or company class 6/7 trucks.

McDevitt Mack, 1 Mack Ave, Manchester NH -tomorrow 10AM-4PM

Mike- Bill S and Dan M will be there-check out Dan's B-81- beautiful job. I'm a no show-rain today and I have a borrowed boomlift trying to get a project done.

Anyone going to McDevitt's Saturday?