The World of Custom Trucks, Ferdy De Martin & Xavier Stéfaniak. Hardback, 210 x 265 mm (landscape), 160 pages inc. 276 photographs. ISBN 978-1-908397-64-5. Now available from Old Pond at £19.95.
In this, your guide to outstanding truck decoration in Western Europe and the United States, you will see a wide range of approaches and styles. Eighteen of the twenty-nine trucks featured are from Europe, eight are from North America and three are from the UK.
In each case you are presented with a number of views of the vehicle to show the overall designs as well as the details of exteriors and interiors. French photographer Xavier Stéfaniak is a trucker and designer specialising in capturing the finest truck photographs. His co-author, Ferdy De Martin, runs www.TOPRUN.ch, one of the most popular internet truck sites. Their text is enthusiastic and illuminating. Main sections are in English and they also provide brief summaries in French.
Among these examples of their work are two from the United States. The stylish black-and-red 1981 Kenworth W900A comes from from Lanita Transport and the cool yellow-and green Peterbilt 351 is from Maggini and Son.
European styles are often more ornate. Hundreds of LEDs and delicate airbrushing cover the Mercedes MP4 ‘Xtar’ tankers from the Finnish Kuljetus Auvinen Oy. The Scania T460 cab interior from Belgian J Peeters & Zn shows a more delicate approach.
Some of the photographs set the trucks in their landscapes such as the English Yorkshire Dales where Fred Greenwood’s Scania R580 gingerly threads its cattle truck along narrow lanes. The final example here is the rarely used violet of Van Dalen’s Volvo FH16 700 ‘Bruce Springsteen’.
The Custom Trucks included in the book are:
Peterbilt 351, Maggini & Son Trucking (USA) -- Volvo FH16 700, Dieppedalle Transports (France) --Scania R730, Nicolo’ (Italy) -- International Lonestar, ‘Bad Habit’ (USA) -- Volvo FH16 600, Ronny Ceusters Transport 
(Belgium) -- Scania R620, ‘Jo Siffert’, Müller (Switzerland) -- Peterbilt 389, Farmers Oil Company Inc. (USA) -- Scania T460 Longline, J. Peeters & Zn (Belgium) -- Volvo FH16 700, ‘Bruce Springsteen’, Van Dalen (Netherlands) -- Scania R560, P Bjarne Andersen Transport (Denmark) -- Kenworth W900, Lanita Transport, Scott Diller (USA) -- Scania R620 EXC ‘Triple X’, Michel Kramer (Netherlands) -- Peterbilt 379, ‘Disorderly Conduct’, Paul Voigt, CSM (USA) -- Volvo F1220 Globetrotter, Reto Lendenmann (Switzerland) -- Mercedes MP4, ‘Xtar’, Kuljetus Auvinen Oy (Finland) -- Scania R580 Topline, Fred Greenwood & Son (UK) -- Peterbilt 379, Jade Transport Ltd (Canada) -- Scania R620, S-U-
P-E-R (Switzerland) -- Peterbilt 379, Ryans Feed (USA) -- Scania 143, ‘Transformers’, AR Keen & Son, Harry Price (UK) -- DAF XF 105 510, ‘Prison Break’, Weeda (Netherlands) -- Scania T580, Longthorne (UK) -- MAN TGA Nightliner, Rubber Technology Weidmann GmbH & Co (Germany) -- Scania CR19, ‘Warrior’, Renax Stängsel AB (Sweden) -- Kenworth K100 Aerodyne, Gaël Gaillard Trucking (France) --Scania Torpedo T164, ‘I Live my Dream’, Håkan Runnheden, Runeborgs Highway Star (Sweden) -- Volvo FM, ‘Vietnam’, Alain Marc (France) -- Peterbilt 379, ‘NorCal’, Ken Drake (USA) -- Scania R620, ‘Ferrari F1’, Markus Schumacher (Austria).
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