As Old As The Greek Gods

A customer recently returned from a break in Kalamata, in southern Greece, with photographs that will be of interest to anyone who keeps an eye out for older commercial vehicles while abroad. Kalamata retains a somewhat gentler attitude to modern life, and it remains a rewarding place both for a quiet holiday and for spotting lorries of a kind that have long since disappeared from northern Europe.

A Different Attitude to Age

The appeal of Greece, for the lorry enthusiast, lies in the climate. Machines that would have rotted away years ago in the damper conditions of northern Europe survive there in remarkably sound condition. Humidity and moisture take hold of anything more than twenty years old in these latitudes, and old favourites are lost to corrosion. In Greece the same vehicles, worked hard over long lives in the sun, carry their battle scars without the structural decay that would otherwise have finished them off.

The Vehicles

The group photographed in Kalamata share similar bodywork: dropside types and tippers for the most part. Even the largest vehicle present, a Volvo F16, appears to be coupled to a tipper of some sort. The machinery is clearly of an age, but the absence of serious rust or ruin is striking.

Working Vehicles in Working Country

Kalamata is known for its olives, and for watermelons and other fruit besides. The region supplies much of Europe with these summer commodities, which goes some way to explaining the working character of the vehicles found there. These are not preserved exhibits but machines that have spent their lives on such work, and they look it.

Holiday Photographs Welcome

Readers heading abroad this summer are encouraged to keep an eye out for older lorries native to their destination, and to send in photographs. Details of where the vehicles were found, and what they are, are useful in case identification proves difficult.

Thanks are due to Peter for this instalment of holiday haulage.