Lifting the Standard: GRS Towing’s custom Kenworth K200
Originally published in Australian Custom Trucks, Issue 2 (2013) · Enver Djemal
Rear Vision | First published in Australian Custom Trucks, Issue 2, Summer 2013.
For GRS Towing founder Barry Hunt, buying a tow truck straight off the shelf rarely made sense. ACT found a fleet built around the work it had to do, with low loading angles, tailored equipment and a striking colour scheme. The 2013 Kenworth K200 was a good example.
Barry had bought the Greystanes Service Business in 2003 and built a round-the-clock towing operation based at Smithfield in Sydney. At the time of the ACT interview, he described a fleet of 10 trucks, eight full-time drivers and additional casual staff. Its mix of tilt trays, underlift trucks and winch-equipped trailers handled heavy transport and recovery.
More ways to load
The K200 worked with a super-tilt, extendable recovery trailer. ACT reported a 3.5-metre top deck and an 11-metre lower deck that could meet it for transport or cross-loading. The arrangement could carry a 14.5-metre bus or coach, while the low deck and shallow loading angles increased the types of work the fleet could accept.
Barry saw value in a combination that could pick up a different load for the return journey. His choices reflected research into other recovery operators and a preference for equipment that completed a job on the first attempt.
The truck’s blue, yellow and white presentation was part of that thinking too. Rod Diggel travelled from the Sunshine Coast to remodel the heavy vehicles. Barry said people were photographing the trucks when they parked. This K200 was a working recovery vehicle and a visible advertisement for the business.
Words and photographs: Enver Djemal. Images recovered from the original ACT Issue 2 print file.
Featured image: The customised K200 and recovery equipment. Photo: Enver Djemal / ACT Issue 2.
Rear Vision: where is it now?
This is a 2013 archive account, not a statement of current ownership or operations. Did you drive, build or see this GRS K200, and where is the recovery combination now? Tell ACT what happened next and share a current photograph.