Thornycroft Nubian Restoration Group Townsville

27/02/2025

Lovely surprise in the mail yesterday! Former Townsville resident and machinery collector and preservationist Graham Gow has donated me the auction booklet from when the Thornycrofts went through the disposal process back in 1979 - he was at that auction. It provides a bit more of the back-story for these units and will go into the small collection of manuals and memorabilia I have been accumulating. Thank you “G Gow” - greatly appreciated! 🙂

26/12/2024

20/11/2024

Another big job done - the two Thornycrofts have been towed further back into the old camping area at Donnington Airpark to free up display space for car clubs attending the Wings & Wheels Christmas Convoy on Sunday morning. My sister Erica Smith is now qualified to drive a Thornycroft Nubian backwards without mirrors or any rear vision! 😉

05/09/2024

It has been a big morning - in all ways! Thanks to the crew from Pattel's Heavy Haulage Townsville for a professional uplift - it makes all the difference having the right equipment! 🙂

04/09/2024

We organised access to the Thornycroft pretty quickly this morning so we had a crack at shifting it outside the property but only managed to move it a couple of feet - it had sunk a fair bit and the 4WD Ute used just did not have the grunt or the grip. Luke Summers of Steel Horse Transport & Towing was called but even his truck could not manage it - we were being a bit ambitious and impatient, will wait now for Pattel’s Heavy Haulage tomorrow morning.

03/09/2024

Hopefully a second Thornycroft unit will be recovered from Garbutt on Thursday (probably an afternoon job, depends on the haulage company). If anyone is available, a few extra pairs of hands (and eyes) would be useful, especially in assisting the float to back across a fairly busy street into the side-street where the Thornycroft is located. It’s going to be a bit of a fiddly extraction but should be achievable. Please contact me on 0418 636727 if you can help out.