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This year marks 50 years since UD Trucks reached Australian shores, some 35 years after UD’s founding father, Kenzo Adachi, started the brand in Japan.

Although the modern interpretation of ‘UD’ is Ultimate Dependability, the original logo signified Uniflow-scavenging Diesel – a patented operating system for UD’s two-stroke diesel engines.

Incidentally, ‘Ultimate Dependability’ was a slogan coined by Historic Vehicles’ own Jim Gibson, when he was marketing manager for UD Trucks Australia.

By the time the UD CK40 hit Australia’s roads in 1973, the two-stroke era had ended for UD and four-strokes were the only engines on offer. Prior to that, UD two-stroke engines had made their mark Down Under, repowering older Pommy trucks, including Commer ‘Knockers’. 

Check out the UD story in the Truck Brands section of this website.

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