What Is Your Favorite Mack Era?

[Barry]

Vote for your favorite Mack Era...

Base your vote on your personal preference or by what year truck you actually own. Feel free to discuss your choice!

[Terry T]

Not fair Barry!!!!! I really enjoy the B's of the 50's & 60's, but I grew up with the Macks of the 70's & 80's!

[Barry]

Not fair Barry!!!!! I really enjoy the B's of the 50's & 60's, but I grew up with the Macks of the 70's & 80's!

LOL! Gotta make a choice! The forum only allows 1 vote per member, but I thought this was an interesting question for a poll.

[GearheadGrrrl]

I think a lot of our perferences are based on what we've experienced. I love the looks of the B, L, and H models but never got a chance to drive one. I did get a ride in a B once while hitchhiking, even pulling an empty milk tanker it was slower than molasses and the two stick tranny occupied way too much of the driver's attention. The ride wasn't bad though.

By the time I started driving big trucks in the mid 70s most all the 50s Macks had rusted away, and even working Bs were rare. But the first Mack I drove, a '69 R6855ST, was a revalation- unlike most other brands it was quiet, rode decent, and all the controls were in the right place. The Maxidyne engine felt more like 300 horses than 237, and I'm still amazed at the hills it would climb without even a downshift. Another plus was the great visibility- you could see all around and actually see where the right front fender ended.

During the late 70s I got to drive an RL685LST- had a huge payload and even overloaded it still pulled like a freight train. I drove a F795T with the 325 horse V8 Maxidyne for a while- it was a riot outdragging KWs and Petes with monster Cat engines with that!

I then spent 14 years at Continental Baking, herding Freightshakers down the road while dreaming of Macks. Between jobs in the early 90s I temped at UPS, got to sample IMHO the best high cabover ever built, the MH613 with the low RPM Maxidyne and 5 speed. Eventually I got on full time at the Postal Service and got to drive the '84 MC686(S)Ts, '92 MR688Ts, '97 MR688(S)Ts, and 99 CH 612s and 613s. Since retiring from the Postal Service I've tempted at UPS, sampling the CH612 and CX612.

Looking back at all these Macks, I'd have to say the R model is my favorite- even thought the new CHs and Visions ride nice and are even quieter, the R has better ergonomics and is a lot lighter. The R is a lot shorter climb into the cab for us old folks too. For city driving, the MR is the ulimate weapon- great visibility all around, turns on a dime, and the easiest big truck to climb in and out of. And if you have to have a high cabover, the MH is the finest ever built in North America and maybe the world. It was light years ahead of every other high cabover (I've driven all of them except for the Argosy) DCX's Argosy may have caught up with the MH, but there pretty rare so I doubt I'll get a chance to drive one... but from the looks of it all they have to offer is a set of stairs and a bigger sleeper... which might compensate for having to stir the gears more to stay within Series 60's narrow powerband.

[bulldog man]

pretty much ditto on Mack dog said but i was raised on 's from the 50's & 60's to the 70's & 80's models we owned models from 53 to 91 year range through the years

later

Bulldog (or aka )

[Diesel Brad]

I like the B model; even though the cab is way to small.

[Speed]

Naturally I like my '40 EH best,but I also like the looks of the B-61;that's what most people think of when you say " truck. I've always gravitated towards vehicles you don't see very often-I guess that's a lot of what I like about 30's and 40's trucks,but ya never know-maybe as I learn more about my prefrences will change. But I doubt it.

Speed

[Timothy Maikshilo]

I've gotta say 70's and 80's because that was when I started to run the roads with the DM 600's 800's RL700L Superliner's and U models',but learned on the Bs' and had a B 64, Tim

[sbrem]

I voted for the 50's and 60's as I like both the B's and the R/U/DMs and they both fit in that year range.

[fdnymackcf]

Only drove fire apparatus. CF's and MR's.

Nuttin like a CF, nuttin!!!!!!

[jake]

I love the 50's & 60's models. Always have. I started out in a 57 B. Then a 62 B and a 51 LJ. They are my favorites. Then on to U Models, many R Models, and lots and lots of miles in a 68 F Model. Now days I get my 64 B -61ST out of the shed just for fun. Who says I can't be young again? jakebrake

[ThaddeusW]

70's-80's

Why?

RW/Superliner

R700

MH/Ultraliner

F series

W series

[mudslut28]

It will always be the 70's and 80;s for me even though I really really like my 92 R model. I have owned a little of everything inb the Mack line..but to sum it up..they were all damn fine trucks. My 2 favorites would be the 76 DM and the 88 DM...because I rode the 76 out of the poorhouse more than once....and the 88 was my first mack. When times were really tough the ol DM800 NEVER let me down. I guess I will eventually start restoring the 76 but it is still working too well..lol.

[e9 4 ever]

I really love the B model the best but the awesome E-9 was in the 70s 80s era

[GearheadGrrrl]

The awesome E9 reminds me of the day when I was driving for Continental Baking back in the mid '80s. I was driving a single axle International with a 318 and with the light load of bread I doubt the whole rig weighed even 50,000 pounds. Coming up on a red light, I noticed a heavily loaded flatbed in the right lane so I got into the left lane. Only when I got alongside did I see that the tractor was a Superliner with a V8 emblem. Despite the heavy load, that E9 stayed with me throught the first couple gears and then left me in the dust.

Worse yet, I had the boss riding with me!

[Supertrucker]

My vote was the '70's and '80's. The first truck I drove was a 1980 RS dumptruck and even though it rode like crap and no A/C, it had character. I love the shape of the R model cabs. I've spend most of my seat time in CH's and love them, but R's just have a character and attitude all their own. I like that short stubby fat hood, rounded cab with no exposed rivets (I hate that unfinished look of Petes and Freightliners), and when they got a set of pipes and some shine, they're the best looking trucks on the road.

[mechmagcn]

I've always liked the look of a B-model, but the cab is just too small for me. I'll take a R-model any day.

[David Smith]

My vote is for the '50's and '60's. In my opinion, the B-Model was the best truck in it's day, and the R-Model was the best truck ever. I think our R-Models will be even more in demand as collectibles than the B's in the near future. An R with a few up-grades will perform along with any of the new trucks, and look better doing it.

[theakerstwo]

Vote for your favorite Mack Era...

Base your vote on your personal preference or by what year truck you actually own. Feel free to discuss your choice!

My favorite mack era is in the early 60s because I had just started to work on trucks for a living and still love trucks and the B model was still in production and that was a big deal for a small town boy that had not been any place and the B was a nice looking truck any way.I worked for the tulsa mack dealership and that is how I got my start as atruck tack I worked full time for 41 years.Glenn Akers

[77rmack]

I've seen some pretty sweet old B models, but the R's of the late 70's and 80's, I ran a '74 R-600 for ten years and just short of 750,000 miles. It always got me home. About a year and a half ago I found a '77 R-600 with 148,000 original miles on it, was like finding an old friend. Obviously, I bought it!

[kentuckydiesel]

I chose the 70s and 80s.

Although I think a cleaned up B-73 tandem tractor with a flattop sleeper may be one of the most beautiful trucks ever made, I think the RWs and the R700s are some of the nicest and toughest trucks around.

-Phillip

[Shamrock_HeavyHaul]

For sure its the B Series of the 60's. My favorite line up though is the late 80's to early 90's Michigan Special Mack Superliners with the 3406B Cat power!

[Andy Wright]

Although I love the Bs and still rate them as THE classic truck, I've always been drawn to the 1940s for some reason. Love those big fenders!

Cheers

Andy

[kevin mccune]

Hey Andy, weren't the Macks sorta the highpoints of the Mad Max movies{yes I liked the movies also}? -Kevin

[Speed]

Although I love the Bs and still rate them as THE classic truck, I've always been drawn to the 1940s for some reason. Love those big fenders!

Cheers

Andy

Jeeze,Andy-it looks like we're a minority on this;at least we're still ahead of the C-cab crowd...

I think you're right about the B series;when you say" Truck,the B-61 look is what most people think of.

Speed