MAN Truck & Bus UK Ltd celebrate in style selling their 150,000th vehicle in the UK with a spectacular show-stopping one-off customer Truck.

The truck, a special build TGX Individual Lion S Tractor, will be operated by family owned Gateshead based Templeman Retailing & Vending Ltd.

MAN Truck & Bus UK Ltd have just sold their 150,000th vehicle in the UK. The truck, a special build TGX Individual Lion S Tractor, will be operated by family owned Gateshead based Templeman Retailing & Vending Ltd.

Upon hearing that his new truck was the 150,000th MAN vehicle sold in the UK, Neil Templeman, Company Chairman of Templeman Retailing & Vending Ltd, said: “I was both delighted and amazed to receive a call from MAN informing me that one of our new vehicles was indeed the 150,000th MAN to be sold in the UK; who would have thought? It’s an incredible milestone for MAN and we’re thrilled to be part of their journey.

“Once the initial conversation had sunk in we started to think how we could work with MAN Truck & Bus to insure the truck was indeed a standout spectacle, something that would catch the eye of other road users, stick out at truck shows representing our business, and be a guaranteed conversation piece.”

Based on the flagship TGX Individual Lion S model, featuring the biggest cab in the range, the GX, and painted in factory Nardo Grey, the Templeman Retailing & Vending MAN sits on polished Durabright alloy wheels and has been fitted with a custom chassis infill and a one-off hand built catwalk. Attached to this is a custom-built back-lit susie frame which carries the wording “Work Hard – Play Harder”. The chassis in-fill, catwalk, susie frame, battery box and mudguards have all been colour coded to match the Nardo Grey cab.

Adorned with a special one-off livery the 150,000th vehicle features an airbrushed Lion on each side of the cab. Individual in design, the kerbside Lion is soft and thoughtful, pensively looking out into the distance, however, the offside Lion is in full attack mode with a menacing attitude and teeth bared! Each of the cab’s front corner caps feature airbrushed claw marks, which at first glance look like the vehicle has been mauled in an attack. The rear of the cab has also been airbrushed with a huge Lion’s head with and both the St Andrew’s cross and St George’s flags.

Neil added: “In building this standout vehicle we wanted it to shine in the daylight and glow at night. To achieve this we fitted lights to the polished stainless steel under-run bumper, into the LightFix Big Nordic bullbar, across the top of the cab, up both side streamers and across the rear of the roof spoiler. We’ve also had lights frenched into the chassis infill and the susie bar. Adding to the frontal appearance we’ve fitted an LED lightboard.”

Running across the entire width of the vehicle, behind the rear axle, is a custom-built one-piece mud flap that carries the TempleMAN logo sandwiched between two Union Jacks. Above this sits another lightbar and one-off custom-built double-stacked taillight clusters.

The inside of the voluminous TGE GX cab has been treated to hand-made mats, each carrying a one-off 150,000th design logo, a special brushed stainless steel 150,000th plaque, premium leather and alcantara seats, with red diamond stitching, red seatbelts, luxury bunk with slatted frame and adjustable headrest, TV couch, 22 inch remote television, wall unit on the rear of the cab with microwave and coffee maker, climatronic air conditioning and water heater, under-bunk cooler and storage unit, electric sun blind, digital 12.3 inch instrument cluster, 12.3 inch infotainment screen and LED interior lighting.   

Templeman Retailing & Vending’s new TGX is powered by MAN’s latest generation Euro6E compliant, six-cylinder D26, 12.4 litre, 510 hp (375 kW) engine. This latest generation low-consumption engine range has proven to be gentle on service costs as well as frugal on fuel. Not only are these engines proving more efficient than their predecessors, but they are also lighter, therefore, improving payload efficiency, which in turn positively impacts the fleet total cost of ownership (TCO) and vehicle whole life performance.

“We have a longstanding and trusted relationship with MAN Truck & Bus Gateshead, which over the years has blossomed into a great working partnership,” added Kevin Templeman, Managing Director Templeman Retailing & Vending. “Nothing is too much trouble and the team there look after our vehicles as if they were their own.”

“This new vehicle is going to take pride of place in the fleet and I’m sure our driver, James Wilson, will cherish it.” Concluded Kevin. 

Templeman Retailing & Vending is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of soft drinks, crisps, snacks, and confectionery to wholesalers, vending operators, foodservice and retail groups. The family run business operates 22 vehicles within its busy fleet, 20 of these being MAN, and facilitate the door to door delivery of wholesale supplies to their nationwide customer base. With over 30 years of experience in providing bespoke vending solutions they operate from four sites, three are on Team Valley Trading Estate in Gateshead and one based in Bellshill, Scotland.

Matt Squires, Director of New Truck / Bus & Coach Sales, MAN Truck & Bus UK Ltd, commented: “We were all delighted when our ordering system showed a green flag next to Neil’s truck, marking it as the 150,000th MAN vehicle sold in the UK. This is such an important vehicle milestone in MAN Truck & Bus UK’s history, and we knew with Neil’s agreement, we had to make it special. We’d all like to thank the Templeman family for the ongoing business.

“Being based on our flagship model the TGX Individual Lion S gave us a great starting point, but we collectively wanted more. We all agreed that we would embark on building a vehicle that would stand up against the best of the best in the Truck Show arena, something that would attract attention, both on the road and when parked up, in short, a standout vehicle that would catch the imagination of the transport and driver fraternity.” 

Like the other Templeman Retailing & Vending Ltd MAN Trucks, this eye-catching special will be serviced and maintained by MAN Truck & Bus Gateshead. Opened in December 2019 and part of the £20m investment programme across the MAN Truck & Bus UK dealer network, MAN Truck & Bus Gateshead operates 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday, and offers extensive weekend opening hours.  Standing within a 3.3 acre site the purpose built 24,524 sq. ft. building houses 12 workshop bays and a MOT ATF test lane facility which collectively provide support for the complete range of award winning MAN vehicles: Trucks, Vans, Buses and Coaches.

All MAN vehicles are supported by MAN Truck & Bus UK's Nationwide Commercial Vehicle Dealer network, with many operating extended hours, including round-the-clock servicing and customer-tailored solution maintenance.

The entire MAN range benefits from MAN's Mobile24 24-hour assistance service, which guarantees customers a professional roadside partner throughout Europe 365 days of the year.

Sadly business founder and Company Chairman Neil Templeman passed away before this vehicle was realised.