Source: Motorpress / JMC South Africa
JMC, bakkie, Carrying By Nature
In the bad old days, driving a truck was like…well, driving a truck. As with many things, progress has made life easier, as Adrian Burford discovers.
JMC, bakkie, Carrying
Take the JMC Carrying 1.6-tonne dropside by way of example. You could handle it with your eyes closed – not that you should. But you certainly don’t need any special skills or training to take advantage of its load-hauling ability. You can get behind the wheel with the bare minimum “B” licence and whether you’re 18 or 80 (assuming your eyesight is up to it), you’ll have no problem driving a Carrying.
I can reveal I’m around the midpoint of that age bracket with a slight bias towards the latter number. To decide whether JMC’s middleweight lived up to its name, it was pressed into service to empty a lock-up where some decades of history (not just my own) had accumulated. Working on the theory that if something it hadn’t been used for a year it is no longer needed, and in line with modern trend towards minimalism (not to mention paying R1 000 a month just to keep old stuff) the decision was taken to go in for the kill...
We all dread these stressful moving moments and when the roller shutter door went up it was about as bad as we expected.
But with the Carrying backed right up to the door and the sides dropped, what would’ve required more than one trip and considerable physical effort was quickly sorted.
Thanks to the cab-forward design there’s an impressive 3.3-metre load length. A man-sized office desk, queen-size bedstead, large wall units, bookcase, sundry chairs and multiple boxes were stowed jigsaw fashion, making the most of the available floor space. As it turned out, there was room to spare and we weren’t anywhere near the 1.6-tonne load limit.
The beefy 2.8-litre turbodiesel rumbled into life and we were off, negotiating the suburbs effortlessly – big mirrors, high cab and commanding driving position making child’s play of the traffic.
The majority of the load was eagerly accepted by a local non-profit organisation, who are at least able to use it for the wellbeing of the needy. The balance divvied up and taken to the homes of the respective owners…where hopefully they’ll soon be put to good use.
Owning a JMC 1.6T Dropside can be realized for just R233 880, a price which includes a 5-year/150 000 km warranty and a 3-year/90 000 km service plan. That should allow business owners the confidence to carry on doing whatever they do best, without a care in the world…
ENDS
I can reveal I’m around the midpoint of that age bracket with a slight bias towards the latter number. To decide whether JMC’s middleweight lived up to its name, it was pressed into service to empty a lock-up where some decades of history (not just my own) had accumulated. Working on the theory that if something it hadn’t been used for a year it is no longer needed, and in line with modern trend towards minimalism (not to mention paying R1 000 a month just to keep old stuff) the decision was taken to go in for the kill...
We all dread these stressful moving moments and when the roller shutter door went up it was about as bad as we expected.
But with the Carrying backed right up to the door and the sides dropped, what would’ve required more than one trip and considerable physical effort was quickly sorted.
Thanks to the cab-forward design there’s an impressive 3.3-metre load length. A man-sized office desk, queen-size bedstead, large wall units, bookcase, sundry chairs and multiple boxes were stowed jigsaw fashion, making the most of the available floor space. As it turned out, there was room to spare and we weren’t anywhere near the 1.6-tonne load limit.
The beefy 2.8-litre turbodiesel rumbled into life and we were off, negotiating the suburbs effortlessly – big mirrors, high cab and commanding driving position making child’s play of the traffic.
The majority of the load was eagerly accepted by a local non-profit organisation, who are at least able to use it for the wellbeing of the needy. The balance divvied up and taken to the homes of the respective owners…where hopefully they’ll soon be put to good use.
Owning a JMC 1.6T Dropside can be realized for just R233 880, a price which includes a 5-year/150 000 km warranty and a 3-year/90 000 km service plan. That should allow business owners the confidence to carry on doing whatever they do best, without a care in the world…
ENDS
JMC Carrying
JMC, bakkie