Family-owned haulier Arthur Spriggs & Sons has taken delivery of the first of just 35 Mercedes-Benz Actros Edition 1 tractor units to be delivered to a UK customer.
The Edition 1 is a showcase for the fifth generation Actros range, and production has been restricted to just 400 examples worldwide. Arthur Spriggs’ truck wears a special livery that highlights the Tewkesbury-based operator’s recent 100th anniversary.
Supplied by Marshall Truck & Van, the Actros Edition 1 has joined an all-Mercedes-Benz and FUSO fleet of 60 trucks of various sizes, as well as several vans that also wear three-pointed star.
The Actros Edition 1 has the standard range of standard innovations on it – including MirrorCam, Active Brake Assist 5, the Multimedia Cockpit and enhanced Predictive Powertrain Control technology – as well as loads of extra equipment and stylish details geared to the driver.
Powered by a range-topping 15.6-litre straight-six engine which produces a 625hp, the Edition 1 has a GigaSpace cab with a distinctive gloss black grille, darkened headlamp covers and rims, and an Edition 1-branded sun visor incorporating four extra LED main-beam headlamps.
Arthur Spriggs & Sons’ managing director, Chris Spriggs, said: “I’ve been in this business for 40 years and there’s not much that gets me excited these days. When I set eyes on this truck for the first time, though, my reaction was ‘Wow! Now that really is special’.”
The Edition 1’s driver, Andy Quinn – who has been rewarded for his 18 years’ service to the operator with the keys to its new flagship – echoed the sentiment. “I’m still pinching myself, what an amazing truck!” he said. “I’ve come out of a 510hp Actros GigaSpace, which was a great drive and never let me down, but the Edition 1 is something else altogether.
“Everything about this truck is state-of-the-art. MirrorCam is a real step forward in terms of safety, not least because it eliminates a major ‘blind spot’, while my seat and bunk are unbelievably comfortable. I love the way it looks too. It’s obvious that the driver was the number one priority for Mercedes-Benz when it designed the Edition 1.”
Quinn has a black leather-trimmed cab interior – including door handles with contrasting topstitching – features a polished and brushed aluminium dashboard badge that confirms it as ‘One of 400’ Edition 1s. He can choose from eight colours of ambience ceiling lighting, and sleeps on an industry-leading 900 mm wide bed – described by Quinn as “a bunk-and-a-half” – and wraparound curtain for privacy.
All new Actros models are offered as standard with a Mercedes-Benz Safety Pack, which includes the latest-generation Active Brake Assist 5 emergency braking system, Proximity Control Assist and a driver’s airbag.
This is not the first time that Arthur Spriggs & Sons has led the way for Mercedes-Benz. Marshall Truck & Van supplied the operator with a limited edition Actros1 tractor unit from the outgoing model range last spring, and the operator has just ordered another two.
Arthur Spriggs also commissioned Euro VI Actros models as long ago as 2012. One of those vehicles, a 26-tonne curtainsider, was the UK’s first Mercedes-Benz rigid to meet the emissions standard.
