Wheels On Fire

Tyretracks is known as a distributor of Alcoa Wheels, but chief executive Chris Hopton loves trucks and this is reflected in the services the company provides.

Trucks are Chris Hopton’s passion, so when the opportunity to buy one of the last T580s built by Scania came up in December 2015 he jumped at the chance.

Chris admits it was a decision made more with his heart than his head, but felt it was too good an opportunity to miss. He views it as an asset because T-cabs tend not to depreciate in value.

After talking to a few people who knew the truck, which was in Holland at the time, he struck a deal over the phone and bought it unseen. The next week Chris and his friend Will Pringle flew to Holland and drove it home, just in time for Christmas.

On Christmas Day Chris took his family, including then 11-year-old son Tommy, who didn’t know what his dad had been up to, to see it. “Tommy was so happy, he loves his T-cabs,” laughs Chris.

Chris also has a Scania 142, which is being restored. He admits this will take time – he hopes to have it on the road before the end of 2018 – but says it will be worth it.

He has bought a period 20ft skelly trailer for it, and that too will be restored. It won’t be used as a working truck, but it will go to about four truck shows a year.

Chris’s lifelong love of trucks, he spent a year as an HGV driver when he was 21, comes through at Tyre tracks.

His father Geoff established the company in 1985 and Chris bought him out in 2002. Since then he has developed Tyre tracks into the largest distributor of Alcoa Wheels in Europe, although the company has worked with Alcoa for more than 25 years.