Mercedes-Benz LP 1113

A big, "wide-eyed", friendly face, cuddly curves, yet still a full-blooded truck. It is easy to imagine how 12-year-old Frank Diesing's eyes lit up when a LP 710 was parked next door to his parents in his home town of Remscheid. "The LP soon became a favourite place for me to play," says Frank Diesing today. "I was enthralled, sitting behind the wheel and dreaming of the great, wide world."

Now 51 years of age, at 26 he stopped dreaming and treated himself to a vintage vehicle in the guise of an LP 1113. "I had just restored a Mercedes 230 and was looking for another way to while away my free time." And so on a whim, his hobby had taken on rather larger proportions. Frank Diesing, who was still living with his parents at the time and did not have a truck driving licence, opted to keep quiet about his new acquisition for the time being. And he maintained his silence on the matter until the day it was delivered. "While I was still in my room musing over the right way to explain it, my mother called out at some point in the morning: 'Frank, there are some people here delivering a truck! Is that right?' With three question marks!"
Yes, it was right, and family, friends and neighbours duly had their say."What're you going to do with that?", "What an old banger" – everyone was highly sceptical.