- Historic 1:25 model is transfigured into a 1:87 miniature
- Ruhr-Intrans branded forklifts made with their company colour red
- And their own flatbed road train stood ready for deliveries
The Ruhr-Intrans forklift truck with the American Clark genes – paired by WIKING with a matching 1:25 model in the fifties. Fully functioning, of course! Designed as a clever promotional item, it was intended to entice those interested in purchasing forklifts. In the upcoming delivery the model is unveiled with the same perfection as a 1:87 incarnation after the designers managed to accurately scale down the model details of the 1:25 prototype and to incorporate them with painstaking accuracy. The 1:87 scale miniature of the chassis with superstructure looks extremely compact. This iteration of the Clark forklift truck also sports a tilting forklift mast with a movable fork. Moreover, a separate seat and a new steering wheel with attached console have been inserted as well.
Traditional model makers miniaturise the company’s own flatbed road train
And, since WIKING enjoys telling the whole story behind the original, the matching flatbed road train, released in December of 2021, will be included in the delivery! Headed by the Mercedes-Benz Pullman tractor unit, the Clark forklift trucks, produced under licence in the Ruhr Valley, embarked on their journey. Marked by the company colour red, the brand image of Ruhr-Intrans was completed by the subtle white stripes and distinctive lettering. The history of the Clark forklift truck exemplified the times when all of Germany was absorbed in rebuilding the economy in the nineteen fifties. And, Hugo Stinnes in Mülheim was no exception: the company opened a repair service for forklift trucks made by US manufacturer Clark in 1947 and started building the first Clark units under licence in 1952. The Allies had brought the work equipment to the newly pacified Germany, while the sales force of Clark had discovered the young Federal Republic’s as a new market – the strategy was to be crowned with success. In the early fifties, master model maker Alfred Kedzierski created the Clark forklift truck as a 1:25 scale model. Nearly 65 years later, the same model was transfigured into a filigree 1:87 forklift that now serves as a throwback to the lifting equipment generation in the post-war years.
