A star is born

Paul O’Callaghan has encountered all sorts of trucks on his adventures in Australia, but few are as rare as this imposing Iveco Powerstar 7800

- Paul O’Callaghan

Here at T&D, we are real suckers for unusual metal. There’s just something about seeing the ultra-rare that sets the pulse racing, especially when they look as good as this fabulous Iveco Powerstar 7800.

Released to the Australian market in 2012, the model had a very short life span of just three years and I’ve only ever seen two in the whole of Western Australia, a state which takes up just about half of the whole island.

The Iveco’s owner, Craig Welmsley, filled me in with the details on the truck while we waited for the cattle sale to end at Boyanup Saleyards, two hours south of Perth.

Although Iveco holds the claim of being one of only three truck brands to be built in Australia (Kenworth and Volvo are the other two), the Italian marque has yet to establish itself as a significant player at the heavy end of the market.

When it comes to bonnets and maximum weights, conservative buyers generally stick to the big three of either Kenworth, Mack or Western Star, while Freightliner and International are regarded as budget options. Despite the rarity of the big 7800, there are a number of smaller Iveco 6000 series Powerstars which I’ve noticed pulling twin trailers loaded with logs at about 80 tonnes in the Manjimup area. In contrast, the 7800 is hen’s teeth in Western Australia.

Super rare