It all began back in 1976. The innovative truck builder Seddon Atkinson, which these days is part of Iveco's special products operation, launched a new truck which, for its time, was very advanced both in design and manufacture. That truck, the type 200, was the first European production truck to have a cab floor completely free of apertures or holes, clearly beneficial in terms of excluding noise and dirt. It used an American engine, the IH.358, which was built in Germany, and its driveline incorporated both European and American technology, so it was truly an international truck design.

Pat Kennett, at that time editor of TRUCK magazine, was testing an early production SA200. With a full load, it stormed up the steep slopes of the Pennine hills of northern England, but the atmosphere in the cab was calm and quiet, thanks to the smooth running engine and that all-important sealed floor. As such it represented a major step forward in truck design, transcending even trucks like Volvos and Scanias, which still had floor apertures for the gear-shift mechanism.

As editor of a pioneering publication serving the truck industry, Kennett had been seeking some method of rewarding excellence in truck design and technology. Turning to his colleague, TRUCK's publisher Andrew Frankl, at the completion of the test drive, he commented, "That's it! This truck deserves an award." The idea of a "Truck of the Year" award was born on that day, on top of an English mountain. Some months later, in early January 1977, the very first "Truck of the Year" award was presented to marketing director, Richard Ide, and the first steps towards an important new influence within the truck industry were completed.

Of course that first award was a purely British affair, even though the winner was a multi-national product. Forward thinking people were, nevertheless, regarding Europe as an integrated region, rather than a bunch of individual countries. Although Britain had been an EEC member for only four years, much of her industry relied on long-distance road transport across the length and breadth of Europe, to reach its markets. Consequently, Kennet and Frankl set about recruiting European members, following the success of the original award idea. It wasn't easy to find people with the high standards of independence, expertise, experience and integrity, necessary to represent their respective countries. At that time, it was still common practice for many journals to invoice truck and equipment manufacturers for editorial mentions - hardly conducive to independent thinking.

Nevertheless, by mid 1977 the nucleus of an international team had been assembled, to start work on the selection of the "International Truck of the Year 1978". That team comprised Tiit Tamme of Sweden, Axel Mortensen of Denmark, Joe Teirlynck of Belgium, Dick Bergeren of Netherlands, Johannes Graf von Saurma of Germany, and of course Pat Kennett in Britain, who became the group's chairman. All these people were not only professional truck journalists, but they all had close associations with truck operators and their professional bodies, either as consultants or collaborators in transport matters. Andrew Frankl handled the new group's administration, but did not have a vote in the award selection process. In December 1977, the group selected MAN's new 280 series truck as the 1978 "International Truck of the Year", and the award was presented at the Brussels Show in January 1978. Richard Ide was again among the receiving group, having moved from SA to MAN in the meantime. The MAN 280 was chosen for its low weight, its lusty but simple turbocharged 12 litre engine, and its intelligent selection of chassis options which could tailor it to match a wide range of operating requirements. That made it the perfect answer to the principal rule for the award winner, namely its "contribution to the efficiency of the carriage of goods by road." Over the years, the rules for the conduct of the IToY group have been expanded and elaborated, but that original central criterion remains unchanged to this day.

During 1978 further countries were recruited to the group. Frijthof Granli came in to represent Norway, Helmut Tober for Austria, Jean Grimault for France, while Switzerland was represented by Hans Rohrbach. Dick Bergeren retired and Pieter Wieman took over the Dutch seat in the jury.

The winner for 1979 was a clear favourite from the day it was launched in the summer of 1978. It was the Volvo F7, presenting not only an efficient engineering product, but an advanced concept in rationalisation, whereby the design and construction concept was capable of producing a wide range of model variants from a strictly limited number of components. Sten Langenius accepted the trophy from IToY chairman Pat Kennett at the Geneva Show, little thinking that he would accept three more such awards before he retired.

In those early days of the contest, the rules permitted any goods vehicle from under 1000kg payload up to maximum weight to be considered. The basic requirement of its "contribution to the efficiency of carriage of goods by road" tended to favour the heavier trucks, but smaller ones were by no means excluded. The Ford Cargo range, winner in 1982, began at just under 6 tonnes gvw, while the Mercedes LN2 (1985) also had its threshold below the 6tonne mark. In 1984 the runner-up was Leyland's "Roadrunner" - later developed into the Leyland Daf 45 - and that model group began at 6 tonnes. It can be seen, therefor, that the heavy truck echelons did not always provide the winner. As time went on, criteria for small vehicles diverged considerably from those of heavy trucks, so in 1991 the decision was taken to make a separate award for the lightweights. That became the "International Van of the Year" award, first presented in 1992.

As the prestige and value of the IToY award grew, its presentation at the first major truck show each year became a major event, attracting several hundred of the world's transport press. Manufacturers' champagn bills grew significantly, but so did the commercial rewards. It is doubtful if any truck fleet manager purchased vehicles simply because of the award. On the other hand, the publicity and promotion associated with that success tended to persuade fleet men to take a close look, even if that make was not on their original short list. Of course, that did not necessarily convert to a deal, but at least the operators became aware that a new truck was available which had won the ultimate accolade for excellence.

The Brussels Show was the scene of the presentation in odd-dated years and Geneva in even-dated years, until the early 1990s, when Amsterdam's RAI took over the job. In earlier years, the award took the form of an item of art or craft from one of the member countries, and they were really beautiful. A Delft porcelain bowl, a crystal decanter with Sterling silver mountings, a Norwegian wood-carving, a bronze sculpture - all were most attractive and highly prized. As the prestige of the award developed, and its commercial connotations became more important, the need for a higher-profile identity became apparent. A design was sought which could be used, not only for the trophy itself, but on decals, letter-headings, magazine pages and souvenir items produced by the winning manufacturers. The group's German members, Graf Saurma and his deputy Helmut Schneikart, together with their publisher, Bertelsmann GmbH, commissioned a new trophy design, which first appeared in 1984. That design was the familiar stylised steering wheel gripped by the equally stylised trucker's fist, which constitutes the IToY logo to this day. The trophy itself, with an artful mix of polished and matt-finish metal, is mounted on a base which bears the international registration symbols of all the participating countries. As additional countries joined the group - Finland, Spain and Italy, and later the Republic of Ireland - minior redesign of the base was necessary, but the fundamental design remains unchanged and instantly recognisable.

The list of winners over the years makes impressive reading. Without exception, the award-winning trucks were market successes for their makers in at least some European nations. Winning did not necessarily mean universal success in the market place, simply because some designs were either not adapted to every country, or there was no representation in that area. Being a democratic process, the IToY's votes addressed the majority view. The winning trucks, nevertheless, all enjoyed considerable market success, which is testimony to the expertise and experience of the group's members. Not all vehicle award schemes have consistently selected a worthy winner in this way.

As the commercial importance of an IToY win became apparent, a subtle shift of attitude occurred among the manufacturers. In the 1970s they launched their new models, then sat backed and hoped to win. By the early 1980s, things had changed. Accepting that group members were all selected for their experience and - above all - their integrity, and therefore not open to "persuasions", truck makers sought means of ensuring that the merits of their products were not lost on the voting members. Those members needed a more profound than normal study of the vehicle design, in-depth interviews with the engineers responsible, detailed test-drive experience, contact with operators, access to service support systems, analysis of operating criteria especially those relating to costs, not forgetting examination of the build-processes with special attention to quality control. Those needs on the part of the judging members resulted in a great deal more time being devoted to the study of the award candidate vehicles than would otherwise be the case, and one by one the manufacturers opened up their facilities to meet that need. Occasionally, this led to dissatisfaction among certain truck journalists outside the IToY group, but all too often those dissidents overlooked the enormous amount of work put in by the conscientious IToY members, and saw only the extra access to the vehicles and the men who produced them.

Over the years, there have been numerous changes in the IToY organisations's membership, as individuals retired, changed jobs or, in one or two cases, died. In fact Tiit Tamme, the current chairman of the group, is the only remaining member of the original team, the founding chairman Pat Kennett having retired from the organisation in March 1995.

Continuity has been achieved however, by the insistance on new or replacement members meeting the original standards of independence, expertise, integrity and experience. In the last five years the IToY jury was enlarged with members representing Greece, Portugal and Hungary. In the year 2001 Poland will bring the total number of countries represented in the IToY organisation on 20.

One thing is certain. A prestigious award for excellence in truck design and manufacture has a legitimate place in the infrastructure of the industry. The International Truck of the Year Award tells the world that its winner has come up with something very special. That is something the truck operators can relate to, and, in due course, match against their own experiences and requirements. It is for that reason that the IToY award is so highly regarded by truck manufacturers.

© IToY 2001