Michelin tyres for ‘iconic’ restored truck

Modern Tyres has supplied a set of Michelin X Multi regional truck tyres to Craigavon-based MST Transport for fitment to a very special restoration of an iconic Scania truck.

The Northern Irish haulier has painstakingly restored a Scania Royal Centurion 143 – one of only 100 Centurion models released in 1991 to celebrate the Swedish manufacturer’s 100^th anniversary.

The limited-edition truck originally rolled off the production line on Michelin tyres, so the firm’s owner Michael Taylor – who first acquired the vehicle in 2008 – was adamant it had to be the latest generation 315/80 R22.5 Michelin X Multi fitments to keep his restoration as authentic as possible.

“The Centurion is such a special truck, whenever we went to the classic truck shows over in England it would always be the one everyone was interested in,” explains Taylor. “This example was first owned by J M Phillips and was originally used to work on a contract for Armstrong Steel.

“When we did our research and spoke to the people who ran it back in the day, we found out the Centurion was fitted with Michelin’s fuel-saving tyres as original equipment. It was very important to us to have everything as close to the original as we physically could, so we spoke to our local dealer Modern Tyres, who put us in touch with the local Michelin rep to source us the correct rubber for the job.”

Michelin Truck Sales Account Manager Primoz Lakota supplied a pair of X Multi Z tyres for the steer axle of the 4×2 tractor unit and four X Multi D tyres for the drive axle, all of which are covered by Michelin’s accidental tyre damage guarantee.

“Primoz and the team from Modern Tyres were all very helpful,” adds Taylor. “They delivered the tyres and ensured they were set up properly and the pressures were absolutely as they should be. We couldn’t be happier with how the truck looks, it’s drawn a huge amount of attention already and the Michelin tyres were just the added cherry on the cake.”

MST Transport will be displaying the Scania Royal Centurion 143 at various classic truck shows across the UK throughout 2022.