January 2012

Optimus Prime

Written by Warren Aitken

OPTIMUS PRIME- two words that bring out the inner child In all of us. For Marshall Watego of Watego and Sons Haulage, when the time came to repaint his 359 Peterbilt, he made sure this classic American icon would turn the heads of young and old alike.
Originally purchased by Hogan Racing in America it began its life carting race cars around the many twisting tracks of the USA before being imported into Australia by Freestones Transport of Melbourne in the early Nineties. Freestones prepped and prepared the Peterbilt for Australia and sold it to an owner driver in Melbourne. The new owner took the truck from carting racecars to aspiring to be one. Parcel Freight from Melbourne to Sydney arrived early and in style until the new owner went bust and the Peterbilt was retired to the paddock.

It was in a paddock that Malcolm from Four Mile Trucking, Newstead, Melbourne, spotted it, minus the wheels, a hole in the roof and in a nastily neglected state. How could he resist. He bought it on sight, threw some wheels on it, a couple of batteries and like a true workhorse she fired up and Malcolm took her home. Once he had her back in mint condition she was let loose, carting tankers, general freight all over Australia.
We can all be thankful that as Malcolm was looking to retire the Peterbilt from the line haul Marshall was in the market for a second truck to fill the stables of Watego and Sons Haulage. Originally looking for a Mack superliner to back up his ex B.O.C CH Mack, Marshall spotted the Peterbilt and couldn’t resist.

The Truck is now used to cart a small tanker around the greater Brisbane area. Working out of the BOC gas plants Marshall loads up the lime created in the production of acetylene and delivers it to varied customers around Brisbane. Fully loaded the truck is grossing a mere 27tonne so the Peterbilts 350hp Cummins is more than enough to accomplish it’s task with ease. When asked how many kilometers the peterbilt has seen, marshall replied” jeeze, a fair few I’d say, the current motor has 1.6million”. But you wouldn’t pick it, the engine looks as immaculate as the rest of the truck, even the 13 speed box works like it’s brand new.

Though the Peterbilt was impressive when he purchased it, as Marshall said “it was Malcolm colours” and he wanted his own touch. With a houseful of kids mad on Transformers and the desire to build a standout show truck Optimus Prime seemed a logical choice. Many hours were spent with his wife Nataile choosing the right colors before the truck was sent off to B&K lines & Signs for the paint work. Dwayne from Big Boys Bling earns plenty of praise for the extras, including tank wraps and deck plating along with ReTruck who supplied the impressive full cover guards. The other guys responsible for keeping this impressive looking truck on the road are Gleemans in Rocklea.

The fact that this Peterbilt is still working for a living as she nears thirty, and still turns heads everywhere she goes is a testament to the brand and those that put the time into her. Well done Marshall Watego.

A huge THANK YOU to Marshall and Warren for making this story possible.

Optimus Prime

Click to enlarge