Enamoured by the look of the Mack Superliner, former truckie John Wilson hand-crafted an impressive model out of timber, a project that has been nearly 20 years in the making – and now it could be yours.
Crafted almost entirely of Australian timbers, which were ethically sourced from fallen trees, Wilson estimates the 1.85 metre long, 29kg wooden truck and trailer, has taken 400-500 hours to build. It’s entirely his own work, even down to the little cast aluminium bulldog.
The wooden Mack Superliner is a project that’s been a long time in the making. Wilson started it 1992 and only put the final touch on it in November 2020; though he admits, there was a long time where no work was done to it.
Originally from New Zealand, Wilson worked as a truck driver for Sanitarium in the late 1970s and then went on to work as a mechanic during the early 1980s.
He came to Australia in 1984 and began working as an industrial technology teacher, before retiring around four years ago.
So what inspired him to create his timber masterpiece? “I saw a photo of a wooden truck in a book one day and thought I’d like to make one. I’ve always loved working with wood and I’ve always admired trucks,” said Wilson.
“My dad was a carpenter so I loved tinkering with wood. I’ve also got cousins who’ve driven road trains in WA – one of them still does.”
Now that the wooden Mack is finally complete, Wilson is hoping to soon auction it off and donate some of the proceeds to Healthy Heads in Trucks and Sheds, a mental health initiative for truck drivers and related warehouse workers.
“I would like to keep it but just don’t have the space for it. I kind of envisaged it being in a company boardroom or something like that.”
