With its roots dating back to the 1930s, Express Trailers of Luqa is Malta’s leading transport and logistics operator, connecting Malta to mainland Europe and beyond. It has operated a diverse and interesting fleet of vehicles over the years, which still includes several classic types. Its Ford Transcontinentals were well known in Malta and the UK. I don't believe it ran any of the Transcontinental’s successor, the Ford Cargo, but this fictional example doesn’t look out of place in the company’s distinctive and vibrant orange livery (updated 18-Oct-17).
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Tags: Express Trailers Malta truck Ford Cargo
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As a prelude to several UK versions of this truck, here is a fictional take on the actual truck that I have used as a base image. Vibro Blocks of Zeebug operated this AEC Mammouth Major Mk V with a low-sided tipper body until the mid-2000s. I first saw it from the air whilst flying into Luqa airport, but it was several years before I finally track it down on the ground. I was delighted to learn of its recent acquisition and restoration by Damjan Transport of Xweijka, Gozo. Rebuilt to flatbed form, it now carries its new owner's blue livery with traditional decorations. This image is based on the restored truck, with the livery back-dated to represent its previous owner - although it was probably never operated in this condition (updated 05-Oct-16).
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Tags: Vibro Blocks AEC Mammouth Major Mk V truck Malta truck flatbed truck
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This Maltese fuel distributor was still running an early Bedford S-Type in the 1990s, with lettering proclaiming that the company was established in 1946. It is probable, therefore, that the S-Type had replaced an earlier Bedford at some point. Interestingly, an almost identical Bedford OL tanker with a different UK livery is (or was) privately preserved in Malta (14-Nov-20).
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Tags: Bedford OL Borg Fuel Distributer
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Salvu Meli had (and possibly still has) a Foden S41 tractor unit with this style of Motor Panels cab, but in double-cab form and with a double-skin roof that doubled as a sun visor. As I've remarked before, black is an unusual choice for the cab roof in the hot Mediterranean climate. The 'Luck Boy' lettering is a Salvu Meli characteristic. Like most of my 'backgrounds', this view of Xewkija was not taken as a background - there's a Gozo bus lurking behind the strategically-positioned Foden (05-Dec-14).
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Tags: Malta Truck Foden S41 Salvu Meli
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This image is loosely based on an ERF KV (with a different style of dropside body) parked-up in the Lija premises of Blokrete in the early 2000s, its working life seemingly at an end. The only other KV that I was aware of at that date was a similarly derelict example in the yard of George Pace at Paola. Both carried untypically plain liveries for Maltese trucks, plain grey in the former case and plain green in the latter. Either or both could still exist, such is the squirrelling away of old vehicles in lock-ups and on small holdings across the island (15-Sep-23).
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Tags: ERF KV Blokrete
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