There is a famous adage out there: ‘two new heads, four new handles, but it is still the same old axe’. Well, the same could nearly be said for this T950 Kenworth operated by Hautapu based, C&R Developments.

First assembled in 1997, the T950 was spec’d with a N14 525 Cummins, 18918B Eaton Fuller Roadranger transmission, and 52,000lb Meritor axles riding on Kenworth six-rod suspension.

The 950 initially went to work in South Auckland as a heavy haul unit, and from there moved to Canterbury where it worked in the quarrying scene.

Following a near write-off event, the truck was purchased and fully rebuilt by Craig Satherley in the Hawke’s Bay, and on-sold to Criag’s brother Barry, who sent it to work in his heavy haulage business.

‘Old Blue’ as the 950 is affectionately known within the C&R organisation, arrived in their keep 11 years ago, when they were looking to purchase a transporter for some in-house movements of their own machinery.

There was certainly no rest for the old girl when she arrived at C&R’s yard; there was frontline work to be done – and plenty of it. Regular runs to the iron sands at Taharoa with a Caterpillar D10 body on the float grossing 95 tonnes were common practice. Not a bad effort for an already 15-year-old truck that had been nearly written off once before. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), the road to Taharoa would instigate a second rebuild. Acting as a pusher, at the rear of a D11 move out to the iron sands, a sharp left-hand corner gave way under the weight, with the entire combination nearly ending up in the valley below. ‘Old Blue’ received a substantial back injury, so a strip down to rails was required. The work was mostly carried out in-house by C&R’s own skilled team, with the assistance of White Brothers of Hamilton.

The opportunity to rebuild the N14 at this time was seized, as well as the fitment of a newly refurbed transmission. A few extras were also added, the likes of parabolic front springs to improve handling and ride, as well as 2.4m of inner chassis rails added to the front end. This was to help strengthen the front of the chassis for pushing duties. Now with the best part of 2,200,000km on the clock, the end result you see here is awesome. It truly resembles a fresh build straight out of Bayswater. Full credit to the entire team, as well as Cameron Shayler who is charged with the tiller.