Nice pics. Any more mountain pass pics will be saved straight into my folder!!
I have recently traced an old family friend whose first trip to far off lands was in 1975 to Lahore,Pakistan.
He has very kindly mailed me some pics which I will share with you.
His name is Joe Bowser.
Here is his F88 which he drove for a guy in London.It’s one of his first trips,and the pic was taken in Afghanistan,1975.
This was his first truck when he started with Astran in 1976,reg GUL588N.
This pic was taken on a trip to a German drilling site just south of Baghdad with a load of bitumen in drums.Some of the drums had burst open driving over the desert.Joe got stuck in the sand and a grader dragged him the last 20 miles to the site.The bitumen is all over the chassis.
These are a couple of Iranians.I think the pic was taken in eastern Turkey.
A typical accident in Turkey.
The wagon and drag is having trouble on the slope,it has a unit on the drag but the truck is empty.
This pic also taken in eastern Turkey.
Couple more…
This is the Kabul Pass,Afghanistan.The truck (possibly an International) is loaded with oranges.
Tahir,Turkey.
Nice pics Keith, keep em coming,
still sorting me scanner out, soon as its working will put some up.
Steve
WOW what an amazing set of pictures i bet he’s had some adventures in his life
simon
SimonRS2K:
WOW what an amazing set of pictures i bet he’s had some adventures in his life![]()
simon
He’s been recounting some tales of past trips to me over the last few weeks,it’s fascinating stuff.
■■■■■■■■■ KW! great stuff.
and a couple more…
Mount Ararat seen from the Iranian side.
Another shot of the Tahir pass.Just to the left of centre you can just make out a couple of Hungarocamion trucks.
great pictures, those guys were real adventurers. Shame that it would now be almost impossible to get to any of those countries.
Progress I suppose
These pictures will look familiar to anybody who has seen ‘Destination Doha’
If you have not seen it, get a copy. It was a BBC documentary filmed in the '70’s following some drivers from Astran on their journey to the middle east.
superb pics kw i will eventually get a copy of destination doha
Excellent pictures Keith, please thank you rfriend for sharing them and I am very jealous.
I believe that mystery truck is an Indian Tata.
BTW, I notice that the American Mack is doing the pulling on that “extraction”.
AlexxInNY:
BTW, I notice that the American Mack is doing the pulling on that “extraction”.
So patriotic
superb pics those kw. thanks for sharing them
the mystery truck is a bedford, many years ago I drove one of these for scws (co-op)transport Glasgow.
alexsavile, was that a bedford called a j type?
Great pics KW .
Message for Mal- yes, you are correct, it is a Bedford J type, exported from the UK, they had a poor steering lock for city work but they were great to drive. The Royal Navy had many of them in rigid and artic form. I have an old book, ‘The Observers Book of Commercial Vehicles 1966’ and it has a photo of one in it., it says it is 8 ton gross, from the pictures I have seen in various magazines over the years from third world countries they were capable of much more than that.
May the wind always be at your back…Alex
Cheers Alex, I thought it was.
By the way, youre right, in a lot of places that run the J type, 8 ton would just be tha passengers atop of the load!