English text Translation of page 3 Editorial Male and female helpers A friend of mine in the publishing sharp eyes of their partners for ap- business once said, “many issues proval before the article is delivered are filled almost by themselves and to me. And, on many occasions, the other ones take a huge amount of women concerned have given tips effort.” During the last few weeks, to help over the dreaded ‘writers I often thought about him because block’ which every writer fears. while the truck themes for two is- In particular, I want to thank my sues collected themselves very ea- wife Michèle, who acts as a proof sily, I feared for every construction reader checking every line of every machine model and to plan a case issue front to back before it goes to ‘B’ if it didn’t arrive in time. Here the printers. She does a great job, were some production delays, there and a colleague commented that a storm paralyzed a factory comple- Trucks & Construction hardly ever tely and only because of the tireless has any spelling mistakes in it. efforts of manufacturers, dealers, Last and not least, a big thank you authors and friends was it possible goes to Kathleen von Känel. She to finish the Trucks & Construction edits and proof reads all the English 6-2018 issue with our usual quality. translations very exactly every time! And so, in this space I would like By the way, you and every other I would like to thank not only my to thank all of those who made this reader are doing your part in keeping male and female helpers, but also issue possible. Every time, creating this magazine, Trucks & Construc- our readers, especially those who Trucks & Construction is a new tion, alive. Special interest media is voluntarily round up the subscripti- challenge that is only surmounted not a certainty anymore, so why not on amounts. They make a valuable thanks to the teamwork of everyone invite your friends to buy or subscri- contributions that allow us to re- involved. be to Trucks & Construction? main independent in our reporting. A special thank you goes out to I wish you all a relaxing and, at the many female helpers, yes the the same time, a stimulating reading women! During our co-operation experience. with many authors over the last few years, it has come to my attention that many submit their texts to the Daniel Wietlisbach Laster & Bagger online: www.lasterundbagger.net www.facebook.com/lasterundbagger www.twitter.com/lasterundbagger www.youtube.com/lasterbagger Laster & Bagger 6-2018 2 Translation of pages 6 – 11 Jo Mathis builds and collects Saurer trucks Mister Saurer by Daniel Wietlisbach Jo Mathis builds and collects SaurJo Mathis has is father was a gardener, em- always been a great fan of Swissmade utility ployed by the city of Chur in vehicles. Because of the sparsity of Saurer mo- HSwitzerland. He grew up with a brother six years older who, sadly, dels, he began to build his own and now has passed away over 20 years ago. His parents’ home was located directly an impressive knowledge of resin casting tech- at the main road so Jo could obser- niques … ve Saurer, Berna, Scania or Volvo trucks from his nearby vantage point. In the 50s it was especially box vehicles which then sold for 1 continued in 1995, the garage tried the long hood trucks that domina- Swiss franc a piece. He had some and succeeded in getting a dealer- ted the scene and most impressive of the larger series of the Dinky ship for the sales and servicing of were the long-distance truck and Toys models too, for example, the Iveco Daily models. trailer teams of Peter Wolf as well Euclid mining dump truck and a Because of his good connections as dumpers from Steiner, Schmalz Jeep with trailer. to Reto Dosch, the brother of his and Hans Denoth, all local compa- His interest in small machines boss, Jo had increasingly more nies that, unfortunately, are no lon- and utility vehicles waned from contact with trucks. He was itching ger around. age 12 onwards when soccer beca- to be able to drive a truck himself After school was out, like many me his main interest. Jo played in and so in 1986 he passed the test to of the other boys Jo went to visit the Junior Football Club and other drive heavy vehicles (trucks.) The the construction sites in the neigh- clubs and ended up playing in the truck used as a learner at the dri- borhood and so got its first ride in second tier league. ving school was a Saurer by Remo a truck. He remembers spending Berger and this renewed Jo’s pas- several weeks in the summer holi- An encounter with Saurer sion for the legendary brand. His days when he was about 10 on the passion even went so far that he ac- co-driver seat of a Hans Denoth Following some detours after quired and old FBW C50U forward Saurer V8 dumper. Everything finishing his salesman apprentice- control Post Bus privately and then was more familiar then; his parents ship, Jo ended up being hired by he and his family of four lovingly knew the driver and Jo was picked the Grand Garage Dosch in 1979. restored it. With it they made trips, up in the morning in front of the There, once again he was close up even as far as the Chiemsee in Ger- house and dropped off there in the to trucks and utility vehicles. As an many which was possible with a evening. Opel Dealership, Isuzu trucks were truck license only because no char- Also, in the large garden at home added to the vehicle line-up. These ge was made to ride in the bus. he had his own ‘corner’ where he were sold later on under the Opel Even so, he decided to get the could dig and muck about without brand name. These small utility bus license; for this, 500 hours of being disturbed and where he could vehicles were available as 2.5 and truck driving were required. To get play with his little models. He 3.5 tonners. After the Opel utility the required hours, he helped out played a lot with his little Match- vehicle program was mostly dis- with Hans Fischer Transports at a Laster & Bagger 6-2018 3 Translation of pages 6 – 11 friend’s place in Lenzerheide. With 1980 discovered the first 1:87 spontaneously bought two cab-over the Post Bus, the family went to Saurer models by Roskopf which cabs. Chassis and other parts were Old Timer meets and alpine sight- fascinated him. He bought every taken from the well-known Italieri seeing tours. As the children beca- model that appeared and began kits. Unfortunately, his joy was of me older and it was increasingly his collection. He wrote a letter to a short duration because the source more difficult to take them out of Marcel Roskopf and asked him if it for the cabin parts soon dried up. school for such ventures, the Post was possible to visit his production The collector took a great step bus was sold. facility. It was possible and Jo was and started to completely scratch Driving a bus had become a hob- greatly surprised by the compact- build. First, he made a master from by for Jo Mathis, and so, until 2013 ness of the easy-to-oversee fac- balsa wood and from that made he was a weekend driver for two tory. Marcel Roskopf, the owner, a plaster mold that was then fur- different companies that did natio- often liked to call his company a red out with fiberglass mats over nal and international tours. ‘Mickey Mouse’ operation. Bet- which resin was poured. After The garage business where Jo ween manufacturer and collector, curing completely, a cabin-in-the- worked took on the Import of a great friendship developed over raw could be taken out of the mold Piaggio utility vehicles in 2002. the years during which Jo advan- to be worked on. They were sold by a sister com- ced to ‘advisor’ status. The collec- Instead of the single-use plas- pany, Docar Nutzfahrzeuge AG. tor mainly supported Roskopf in ter molds, the model builder soon Jo then undertook to expand the the acquiring of plans, pictures and changed over to silicone molds that existing Swiss dealership net- other information. could be used several times over. work taken over from the previ- During this time, the Mathis fa- Jo does not remember accurately ous importer and was in charge of mily spent several holidays in the how many kilos of the expensive Import and Sales departments un- area around Traunstein in Germa- material he used for his trials only til his retirement. Even today, he ny and naturally, Marcel Roskopf that it was a very expensive un- still lends a hand with manning jumped at the chance to have a dertaking. However, the tests were sales stands at fairs. Despite his ride on the Post Bus. Jo’s collec- economically feasible because one very active professional life, he tion grew to between 250 and 300 mold could be used for 25 to 30 always found some time for his pieces, including some rarities and cabin resin casts. The process was hobbies. modified models. In 1986, he vi- very time intensive because each Saurer in 1:87 and 1:24 sited a model exhibition and there of the five sides had to be cast se- discovered Saurer models in 1:24 parately.