If I had the time and the budget I could go to a truck show somewhere in Australia just about every weekend of the year.
Towns across the country have long known that a truck show will draw thousands of folk, eager to see the best presented trucks in the land or, as in the American Truck Historical Society and Historic Commercial Vehicle Club of Australia events, a comprehensive history of trucks and trucking through the ages.
These events bring money into the town, they are fantastic fundraisers for many worthy causes, and they present the transport industry in the best possible light to the general populace.
For ‘Joe Public’ to meet a truckie and realise that they are not a rogue member of society, but just another good man or woman working damn hard to support their families can only do the industry a lot of good.
Some 20 years ago at Castlemaine in Victoria’s Goldfields region, I was one of those uneducated Joe Public’s.
Two decades later and…well, if you’ve read my writings, you would know that I’m proud to be an ambassador in my own small way for this great industry. It was at that show that I first met the Cornwill brothers.
A decade before our meeting, Troy, Wayne and Rick Cornwill entered their first truck, a Kenworth K125 named ‘Penthouse’ at the Castlemaine and came away with Truck of the Show.
More accurately I should say Wayne and Troy as Rick was only 11 at the time, although the older boys say he did muck in with getting it ready.
‘Penny’, as the guys fondly refer to her, was retired after a couple of years of shows. Some years later they decided to brush her off, clean her up, and she promptly won at Alexandra.
‘Paradise’ their pristine T908 – and one day to be my hearse – has won possibly more awards than any other truck in the country.
In 30 years the Cornwills have come away with no less than 26 Truck of the Show awards. If you add in other categories the number of trophies is more likely triple that number.
In this, their 30th year, they won at Castlemaine again with their superb Legend SAR, ‘Dynamite’, in back-to-back wins.
They also won Best Working Rig 2017-2022 for the SAR, and Best Working Rig 2011-2016 for their T409 in addition to the top gong.
So how do they do it? While the answer is simple: hard work, the effort put into each of their trucks shown over the years is spelt HARD WORK!
The floor of Paradise is folded stainless steel from the footwell right to the back of the cab. Dynamite’s patterned-painted steel floor panels match the dashboard and its walk plate is stainless steel polished to a mirror-like finish, and just as smooth – an incredible feat of metal fabrication.
The $10,000 custom built stainless tail light bar appears to be from a solid billet but is in fact made from 3 pieces that took a week to manufacture. The running boards are also matching stainless steel.
Then there are the myriad little things that many truck show judges – short of the ilk of a Jon Kelly or Leon Thorpe – probably would not notice. The lights under the bonnet, the ‘floating’ stainless wheel arches, the 70s style fans, armrests and Bull lights.
When Troy brought the truck home from the Kenworth factory he took to the battery box with an angle grinder.
Dad, Kevin thought he had ‘gone in the head’, but Troy just wanted a nice straight line from the box to the back of the cab. Who else tears apart the interior as soon as they’ve bought a new truck? The Cornwills do.
Similar work was done on Paradise and their other trucks with many parts of the trucks that the world sees, complimented by the myriad of one percenters that the Cornwills know are there and do for their own satisfaction.
Dressing up a truck is one thing, keeping it pristine is another, and again it is the one percenters that win truck shows.
When Troy Cornwill hops into Dynamite to go to work, he puts a bathmat on the floor to protect it. Wayne does the same in Paradise.
Employee and part of the extended Cornwill family, Hill Bill treats his drive, ‘Adversary’, a 2014 T408SAR with the same love and affection.
Their 2008 T408, ‘Shipping Steel’ doesn’t miss out either. The trucks are washed constantly. When they go over the pit at base for servicing, the undersides are cleaned and polished with the same attention as the bodies.
I’ve never seen a truck show judge crawl under a truck (although I’m sure some do) but that’s not about winning a trophy for the Cornwills – they do it anyway.
Just as the dozens of other things a judge may miss, what the boys do to their trucks is primarily for themselves and the trophy comes second.
They were still cleaning and polishing as the awards were being announced – long after judging was completed.
This year at Castlemaine was the closest call in the show’s 35-year history, with Cesare Colli’s classic and mint 1981 White Road Boss vying for top spot.
Built in August of that year, Cesare bought it brand new the following year, working it as a logger and hauling pocket road trains until 2004.
As well as runner-up to the Cornwill’s, the Road Boss also collected Best Historic Truck (pre 1994) and another award on the Saturday, making the trip over from Perth well worthwhile.
Mention must be made of third place which went to young Campbell’s Creek local, Bradley McLean in a Maloney’s Bulk Transport T900.
That a young bloke driving for a company puts so much work into his drive speaks volumes, given the intense competition at Castlemaine. Best on Ground for the Saturday went to Tony Whelan’s W model KW.
He also picked up Best Traditional Paint Work. All these drivers and/or owners put untold hours into presenting their trucks in the best possible light.
So in the closest decision ever, why did the Cornwills’ Legend SAR win?
I wasn’t privy to the conversations in the judging room which delayed the awards ceremony by a half an hour, but I’d suggest that one of the many contributing factors would be when I walked past Wayne Cornwill applying tyre black to a drive wheel on one of their trucks.
He applied it to a section, and then turned the steer wheel, because he had it jacked up off the ground! No-one will see the tread on the ground, but he does it anyway.
That’s just one of the one percenters that win awards at truck shows.
For those of you who live interstate and have not had the privilege of seeing Cornwill trucks in the metal, their Legend SAR will be on display at the Brisbane Truck Show next May as part of their Best of the Best display, and they bring ‘Paradise’ along for the ride.
They may not win that event, but I’d not bet against them.
Postscript: ‘Penny’ is undergoing another ground-up restoration. Expect it to be on the winner’s podium again, in the next year or so.