Class is eternal – Welcome home
Welcome home
For folk of our generation the only thing missing as we climbed into the cab was the good Mr Dobbyn standing outside singing his ode to the weary traveller.
The Legends get the B Series cab, the last of the flat screen jobs. They were the bee‘s knees in the day, with 100mm more depth than the W Model. They also have the traditional doors with quarter lights and air window controls.
“The doors are better in this,” said Shane. “See the door lock? It‘s back behind the armrest where they used to be.
They‘re better there because you‘re not always locking the thing accidently with your arm.” It was cabs like this in which many of us grew up, cleaned for pocket money, and in some cases eventually sat in as we carted a load down the road.
Photo: The dash is a work of art, with classic woodgrain panels, switches, silver bezel retro gauges, and no sign of a garish data screen.
The interior of the Legend is a nicer place though – as we‘ve said, quieter – and all that‘s been learned in the art of motor vehicle trimming has been lavishly bestowed on this time capsule. Cute little additions too, like coffee cup holders, a must today, even for the man at the wheel in this machine, who like us, probably came from a time when flash coffee came out of those bubbly glass jug things and tasted bitter as buggery.
And the beautiful flat dash, in its various guises so long a trademark Kenworth thing, void of any garish data screen.
A dash probably designed by people who knew movement helped keep you alert. Now they think sitting dead still with everything at your fingertips is the answer, and they wonder why eyeball cameras and vibrating chairs are needed to try and prevent the inevitable.
But the Legend cab is extra special. The seats and trim – in the traditional trim colour from the 90‘s model – are embossed with Legend and Limited Edition in key places, and there‘s a wooden plaque on the glovebox lid identifying the build number.
There‘s a limited edition wooden shift knob, chrome spoke steering wheel and switch gear, as well as silver bezel gauge surrounds.
And again, Shane‘s the perfect custodian for this machine.
Photo: Snazzy. Tidy. No holes. Legend!
Photo: The beautiful, exclusive shift head.
“I‘m a bit OCD on some things. Man, I said if anyone drills a hole in this cab to mount some bloody thing, there‘ll be hell to pay. See that bracket under the CTI for hanging up the mics? I had one in the 904 so I had one made for this by Steve Flynn at Price Engineering. All tidy and no holes. I hate it when a screw‘s taken out of the trim to mount a mic-hook! Bloody terrible.” But with all that said, the best part about this cab, the thing no other cab can replicate, is the view from the two-piece flat glass screen. There isn‘t, and never will be any view quite like it.
Had the Kiwi bard actually been there and stayed around with guitar in hand we‘d have likely requested Slice of Heaven on the way out.
