PHOTO TRIBUTE: IVECO AND INTERNATIONAL TRUCKS IN AUSTRALIAN MOTORSPORT
Sad news for Australian manufacturing this week, with IVECO Trucks Australia set to wind down its heavy vehicle assembly line in Dandenong next year
The IVECO brand will stay in Australia, but it won’t be building trucks Down Under from mid-2022. The news broke on Wednesday, with CNH Industrial’s Australian subsidiary intending to discontinue its manufacturing facility that dates back to 1952.
The IVECO Trucks Australia manufacturing operation has origins over 100 years ago. It began with International Harvester’s early investments in Australian manufacturing in the 1900s. International Harvester built the Dandenong facility in the 1950s, and it pumped out plenty of vehicles in Melbourne’s east, including the famous Australian-built ACCO.
IVECO acquired International Harvester’s Australian operations in 1992, but it continued to build International-badged trucks for a few more years during a gradual transition to the IVECO brand. We’ve seen many thousands of trucks leave that facility under IVECO’s ownership, including the PowerStar Aussie special, ACCO, Stralis and International-badged models including the S-Line.
But how does this relate to motorsport?
Well, like almost every other truck brand Down Under, the business has used motorsport at various times to promote its vehicles. IVECO trucks have pulled some heavy hitting Australian race machinery, including front-running touring car entries of Peter Brock, Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes among others.
As a tribute to the Dandenong facility and the people who’ve built these trucks, we’ve thrown together a few photos of the International Harvester and IVECO machinery in Australian motorsport paddocks since the mid-1970s.
Allan Moffat Racing’s second International ACCO-based race transporter. Full story here.
Photo: Mike Cornwall on Flickr
The Holden Racing Team transporter in Auckland in 1996
Photo: Mike Cornwall on Flickr
An International S-Line (left) and first-generation IVECO PowerStar (right) at Bathurst in 2001
Photo: Mike Cornwall on Flickr
John Faulkner Racing’s International S-Line at Bathurst in 2001
Photo: Mike Cornwall on Flickr
Britek Motorsport’s IVECO Stralis-led B-Double at Bathurst in 2006
Photo: Mike Cornwall on Flickr
Team Vodafone’s rig in the Mount Panorama Circuit paddock in 2009
Photo: Mike Cornwall on Flickr
A Mark Griffith-owned IVECO Stralis B-Double transporter
Photo: Jeff Mercer
Tickford Racing’s IVECO PowerStar merchandise rig in the outback
Photo: Angas Dandie
A Triple Eight IVECO Stralis pair at Hidden Valley in 2018
Photo: Sean Jackson
One of Grove Group’s IVECO PowerStar trucks at Surfers Paradise in 2018
Photo: David Ross
Red Bull Holden Racing Team’s last IVECO Stralis prime mover at the F1 Australian Grand Prix in 2020
Photo: Jack Aitken
Mark Griffith’s IVECO PowerStar 7800 prime mover at Sydney Motorsport Park earlier this year
Jack Lee Racing’s sprintcar transporter at Northline Speedway
Photo: Tim Nicol Photography
IVECO will bring its new flagship S-Way prime mover to Australia, and it could use motorsport to promote that model when it arrives Down Under. They’ve also launched a new Customisation and Innovation Centre (CIC) to use its local engineering and manufacturing expertise to ready its European vehicles for the Australian market.
If you want to see how an IVECO S-Way looks in front of a race trailer, look no further than the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN rigs from this year on our global Facebook and Instagram pages.
To everyone working on the assembly line at IVECO Trucks Australia, we thank you for representing the Australian manufacturing spirit in Dandenong, and wish you the very best for the future.
Thank you to everyone who shared the photos we used in this story, too.