Neil Maclean Custom Kenworth Motorhome

Neil Maclean’s unique vehicle was originally a 1983 Mitsubishi FK102 truck that was purposely built into a Kenworth motorhome. He has owned it for about 9 months now since he bought it off a bloke in Bunbury in Western Australia, who bought it from the original owner who was an engineer by trade and had built the bus from the ground up in 2010. It has only done 81,000kms since being built. It holds a Mitsubishi 6-cylinder turbo engine which was brand-new straight out of the crate and into the truck as it was being built up and converted into the motorhome. The running gear was completed with a 5-speed Mitsubishi manual gearbox.
Part of the customisation was a brand-new complete Kenworth cab with a spring front-end, and a dash fabricated completely by the engineer-owner to be fit-for-purpose with a multitude of gauges, switches, and everything else Neil could possibly need. It is well-appointed with air-ride seats, a separate toilet and shower, a private double bedroom, kitchen, loungeroom and dining area, two TVs, two heaters, and two air conditioners. It is a comfortable and complete ‘home on wheels’ with excellent steering and it drives like a dream. Neil and his wife, Miranda, have just undertaken a renovation of the interior to modernise it and freshen it up including a professional paint job, new stereo and speakers, new tin plate in the kitchen area, new cupboards and door, new seats, new table, a completely new floor, and new furnishings. The exterior had a light update with new side steps, new side rails, new side lights, reinstating original blinkers, and a stone-guard.
One big job that Neil had to undertake came about when he was getting the engineer’s certificate to change the truck’s Western Australian registration to New South Wales. It turns out that the vehicle was 40mm over-length. To fix this, the original exhaust shrouds had to come off and new ones had to be made which then brought the exhaust under the legal length by 10mm. Once this was done, the certificate was approved, and it passed its rego for New South Wales with no problems.
Living in Wagga Wagga, NSW, Neil first started driving for a job at 19 years old, straight after leaving school, when he gained employment with Comet Overnight Transport driving a cab-over FSR Isuzu and a cab-over LB81 Scania, where he stayed for 11 years. From Comet he went to work for KNS Freighters for 10 years, before moving on to Rowlton’s Road Express for two years. During these years he also worked for about 10 years for Finemores as a permanent casual. He then worked briefly for Kenworth in Wagga, before changing careers to manage a local windscreen business. He eventually ended up buying this business which he still owns, though he does see a future permanently travelling in his decked-out Kenworth/Mitsubishi motorhome.