Online Catalogue last updated 17th of September 2023
Author: Rob Laurent
Leader trucks have a unique place in Australia's transport history; they were the only trucks produced in significant numbers by a wholly Australian company. The many models offered by this firm ranged from 12 ton, 4-wheel cab-overs up to 250-ton heavy-haulage bonneted tractors - some of the most powerful road-going vehicles available at the time.
Cyril Anderson, the man behind Leader, also created such national icons as Western Transport and Mack Trucks Australia. He believed that Australians could build a truck that was as good as anything else in the world. The many Leaders still operating today show how right he was. Leader Trucks: The Australian Challenger traces the history of these vehicles back to the beginning, when a champion motorcycle racer began a one-man carrying service in 1934.
This book is a truck enthusiast's dream. It contains many hitherto unknown facts about the Australian transport industry during the period from the 1930s to the 1980s; facts related to the author by former employees of Western Transport, Mack Australia and Leader. Also featured are hundreds of colour and black-and-white illustrations of rare and historic vehicles supplied by the men who once worked for Cyril Anderson. The book also contains specifications for all Leader models, sales brochures and other memorabilia. One chapter is devoted to Leaders still working today in diverse carrying roles.
Leader Trucks: The Australian Challenger is good value for the price. It's a high-quality hard-cover book with 226 section-sewn pages that won't come loose. It is A4 size and printed on durable matt art paper.
Code No. 012143, ISBN 9780958192118