Leyland Beaver truck, 1930s

A Leyland Beaver loaded with wool bales is pictured north of Masterton in the 1930s. This oil painting by Wallace Trickett was commissioned by Doug Gray, whose father owned and operated a small fleet of trucks in the Wairarapa before and after WW2. Mr Gray became a driver for his father before Wairarapa Transport swallowed up most of the small independent trucking companies in that region by the 1970s.

This is just one of 10 different oil paintings Mr Gray has commissioned of the trucks he remembered driving and loved. He retired only last year from driving at the age of 85, up until then he was working for Southpac trucks delivering brand new Kenworths, Dafs and Fodens off the wharves to their purchasers around the country. Info is on page 61 of the book On the Road in the Seventies by Graeme Carter; the AEC shown was also the largest stock truck - one converted to be on NZ roads. Doug Gray has been the feature of several magazine articles.