Filed under: Etc., Commercial Trucks, Volvo
How to make a big entrance at prom

Kids today are apparently all about showing up to prom in the most outrageous and/or ridiculous wheeled machinery available. For them, a 47-foot-long HUMMER H2 with spinners, multiple LCD television screens, and room for several couples is probably deemed to be merely acceptable. In the UK, Bethany Farrow's classmates would be arriving in a wacky variety of vehicles -- limos, a police cruiser, and even a riot van (all the better to cart the destined-to-be-unruly teens to the clink after an evening of rowdy festivities, we suppose).
Bethany wanted in on the action, but wasn't down with the pedestrian approach. A limo wouldn't do, you see. She wanted to roll up in her dad's gargantuan Volvo NH12-480 big rig, instead. So she did, much to the delight of her assembled friends, according to Volvo, who actually issued a press release on this. (How else do you think we found out?) Anyway, we do like the whole "going to prom in a big rig" idea. American teens, it's time to show the kids across the pond how it's done. The first one of you to arrive at Prom 2008 in a Kenworth K100 blasting the theme from B.J. and the Bear over the stereo wins. "Legend" status automatically achieved if you also have a chimpanzee with you. No, not as your date...
(If you don't know from B.J. and the Bear, the Internet is your friend. Start clicking.)
[Source: Volvo]
PRESS RELEASE:
YOU SHALL GO TO THE BALL – IN A VOLVO NH12-460!
Mark Farrow, of Great Yarmouth-based MDF Transport, has found an unusual use for a Volvo truck – or at least his daughter has. Other girls go to the school prom in limousines these days but, for 16-year-old Bethany, nothing would do, but an NH12-480 plated (rather excessively for such a svelte load) at 140 tonnes.
When Mark bought the truck from Volvo Truck and Bus Centre East Anglia at Wisbech some four years ago, he was more interested in its mechanical properties. "We needed a double-drive truck at the time and this one happened to be available; it had just been sold by an owner in Holland at about a year old. It's good for the company image and it gives a very comfortable ride." When prom time arrived, however, image was everything. Others would be arriving in police cars, limos, even a riot van, but Bethany Farrow wanted something a bit bigger...
"The truck was so busy at the time, I couldn't see how she could have it for the prom," Mark says, remembering the heavy schedule of deliveries; the NH12 is used on abnormal loads work, often transporting 50 metre long wind turbine blades. "I offered to hire a stretch limo for her. I told her it'd be easier to get hold of a helicopter for the night !"
But she insisted, even when I told her I'd have to send her an invoice !" Luckily, though, a couple of days for cleaning and servicing coincided with the big night, and Cinderella Farrow was off to the ball.
When the truck showed up at local venue Hunter's Hall, it caused quite a stir. "Kids were all round it, having their picture taken, saying they'd no idea how good it looked," laughs Mark. Not that the truck outshone Bethany, of course. And, unlike her brother, she has no plans to work closely with the NH12 in future. "She's going back for A-Levels," says Mark proudly, "and then college. She wants to be a lawyer !"
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
J.Crew 11:10AM (7/25/2007)
Having the sleeper cabin is also an added benefit right at the prom!! ; )
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Greg A. 11:18AM (7/25/2007)
But maybe her dad was her chauffeur!
Note that it's a left-hand-drive truck. I know that's to be expected since it was first sold in Holland, but it's still interesting to me.
Mattias 11:33AM (7/25/2007)
LHD trucks are quite common among british drivers that spend most of their time on the continent.
Barney 6:03PM (7/25/2007)
"Note that it's a left-hand-drive truck"
Few highway trucks only operate in Britian. The rest of Europe is conventional.
James 11:18AM (7/25/2007)
When in god's name did British schools start having proms???
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Don 2:46PM (7/25/2007)
Well, whenever it started, the kids over there certainly have more taste and style than our brats.
Dave 11:31AM (7/25/2007)
If a couple shows up at the prom playing BJ and the Bear, one of them will be stuck with the nickname BJ and one with the nickname Bear.
I gotta say, I don't know a whole lot of self respecting females who would want either of those nicknames.
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Jon 10:35PM (8/01/2007)
I know a female with the nickname Bear.
Phil Perman 11:44AM (7/25/2007)
The little sister of a friend of mine arrived at her prom accompanied my a Hells Angels troop. Now that was an impressive entrance (and a loud one too)
British school too btw
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J.Crew 11:46AM (7/25/2007)
I would guess having H.A. at your back ensures daddy's little girl will be left alone all night!
John R 12:07PM (7/25/2007)
The only way to top this would be to roll up in Optimus Prime
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Stevish 12:26PM (7/25/2007)
Over here you get a lot of Hells Angels at events like that.
For my one, most went in things like limo's and Jags, but my friends and me went in a Winnebago, several years ago now, was the best one there that night, and seeing the evidence from the one I saw a few weeks ago, we started a trend.
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kevjohn 1:34PM (7/25/2007)
Simply put: Volvo for life!
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mike 1:42PM (7/25/2007)
wow nice rack, er... headache rack! yeah! that'll keep the cargo from sliding into the back of the cabin.
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MH 4:22PM (7/25/2007)
Yeah, prom... in England? Really? Is this another one of those fake stories?
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Steve C. 6:04PM (7/25/2007)
I'm dyslexic.
Thought the title of this one was "How to make a big entrance in porn."
Very disappointed to discover the real title . . .
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reedwetzel 11:28PM (7/25/2007)
umm , a good friend of mine , back when i was in high school , his dad took , him and his two date , " yea thats right , he couldnt decided who to take so he took both" , anywho his dads a trucker and took them to prom in a semi , i dont rember what brand of semi it was thow
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icu812ru469 8:40AM (7/26/2007)
What next? Land a 747 on the school lawn with the Space Shuttle on top?
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PatPurr 9:27AM (7/26/2007)
Forget BJ or the Bear, gimme those Piston Packin' Mamas!
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kevinnimmo 9:13AM (4/01/2008)
check out www.bigriglimo.com ... thats my rig and is excellent for proms . better than a hummer or a lincoln .
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