1920s Commer Commercial

F.B. Gray was one of the pioneers of cartage and haulage in the Wairarapa. Back in the 1930s, dirt roads, often poorly maintained, that often turned to mud in heavy rains plus few if any petrol stations for fuel meant long days and hard work for the men who served the farmers as the land was developed.

Here Fred Gray and his younger brother stand by their Commer Commercial from the UK. Fred's son Doug followed in his footsteps driving trucks for his father, Transport Wairarapa, Hargreaves and more recently South Pac, until retiring this year aged 85. This oil painting is one of 9 that Doug asked Wallace Trickett to paint of some of his favourite vehicles and scenes over the past ten years.