Riding High: the Harley-Davidson Freightliner Coronado twins

Originally published in Australian Custom Trucks, Issue 2 (2013) · Staff Writer

Black Harley-Davidson themed Freightliner Coronado parked beside a motorcycle in a workshop

Rear Vision | First published in Australian Custom Trucks, Issue 2, Summer 2013.

Two black Freightliner Coronado 114s carried Harley-Davidson styling in a collaboration ACT featured in Issue 2. The project grew from a visit to Freightliner’s Cleveland manufacturing plant in North Carolina, where Dr Kolja Rebstock noticed staff wearing Harley-Davidson clothing. That observation led to a meeting between the brands in Australia.

The trucks were customised in-house by Freightliner Australia as a demonstration of what its team could add to a production vehicle. ACT recorded Doyles leather trim and interior artwork, stainless-steel details fitted by Daimler Trucks at Huntingwood, and black cab paint by Workhorse Collision Repair.

A matched pair

Both Coronado 114s used the Detroit DD15 15-litre engine, listed in the original feature at 560 hp. The pair shared the same specifications and carried the Harley-Davidson identity across the cabs and trailers. Easton Chang’s photographs captured the trucks on the road and in the workshop alongside a motorcycle.

The original feature documented a brand collaboration as it stood in 2013. Its appeal was straightforward: two working heavy vehicles turned into unmistakable showpieces through paint, trim and carefully coordinated detail.

Words: Staff Writer. Photographs: Easton Chang. Images recovered from the original ACT Issue 2 print file.

Featured image: One of the Harley-Davidson Freightliner Coronado twins. Photo: Easton Chang / ACT Issue 2.

Black Harley-Davidson Freightliner Coronado driving on the road
A Harley-Davidson themed Coronado on the road. Photo: Easton Chang / ACT Issue 2.
Two customised Freightliner Coronado trucks inside a workshop
The pair of customised Coronados. Photo: Easton Chang / 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 work on these Coronados, photograph them, or know where the twins are today? Tell ACT what happened next and share a current photograph.