Truck Show Report: By Miss Flatbed Red A decade ago, I knew nothing about trucks. I had just finished a second music education degree in England, where I also studied art. Fast forward to today, and the scales are oddly balanced between big rigs and Beethoven (and art in there somewhere, too). It had been four years since visiting my friends back in Blighty, England, and that last trip was a little messed up due to good ol’ Covid. Obviously, this time, I had to plan the trip around a truck show and, based on my schedule, I chose the TruckFest West Midlands event, held at Three Counties Showground, in Great Malvern. I arrived at Heathrow airport on the morning of the 4th of July (oh how the tables have turned)! After the train ride into London, a brief pub visit filled the time before the three-hour train ride into the countryside. Being a Friday, the trucks were already pouring into the show grounds, but I took the day easy to prepare for two solid days of European trucks. I was not prepared!! With 1,000 trucks, plus or minus 50, this is an average number for this massive event. The vintage trucks made up about 40 of them, with the majority on display being working rigs. Makes on display included Atkinson, DAF, ERF, Foden, Ford, Leyland, Scania, and two Kenworths, among others. When Nick Noon’s 1979 W900A drove past, I thought I was hallucinating. Obviously, I had to chase him down for the story. A relative imported it. It’s registered to work, but American trucks, especially conventionals, are way too long for the narrow, winding English roads. I climbed into several trucks over the course of the two-day show, and interviewed drivers of a wide variety of makes and models. That gave me a chance to observe even more differences between what you regularly see there versus here. The first thing you notice is how TALL the cabovers are. That height has to legally be displayed above the passenger door inside the cab. While they are tall, I was able to climb in and out without holding onto anything. The steps are easy to use, and the whole setup is super driver centered. And no matter the manufacturer, most of the trucks have a microwave and pull-out under sleeper refrigerator drawer. The driver’s seats often swivel so you can swing around for a meal, and a table can sometimes be pulled out of the dash. You may be wondering why cabovers are still kings of the road in England and ask, “Where are all the conventionals?” Well, Europe is old, and the roads are narrow, sometimes with houses/buildings built up right to the road itself (I’m talking the edge of the structure is the curb)! The extra length of a hood makes maneuvering hard to impossible. Cabovers are the answer. As you peruse the photos of the trucks on display, you may notice that many of the newer ones have cameras 30 10-4 Magazine / November 2025 ACROSS THE POND!
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