Extravagantly styled truck with the sign of the rose
Une Rose, un espoir – One rose, one hope: Driver Jérôme Hector from the French company Transports Express Icare is not only carrying his load around the Paris and Rhône-Alpes region in his MAN TGX 18.510, he is also displaying a very special message.
The MAN TGX 18.510 from Transports Express Icare is quite simply impossible to miss. Its appearance forces you to stop and stare – hardly surprising, as the black super Lion was not only one of the three finalists in the MAN “Most attractive truck of the year 2021” competition in France, but was actually the winner.
This earned the truck a full interior and exterior tuning. Hardly a day passes when driver Jérôme Hector doesn’t have to answer any questions about the lavishly designed truck. Along with his boss Christophe Reiter, Managing Director of Transports Express Icare, he was actually the person responsible for setting up the project to give the MAN its unique look. The pair share a passion for attractive vehicles.
Stylish design and an important message
It was based on a MAN TGX 18.510 with integral suspension, power steering, leather fittings and the MAN Advanced audio system with subwoofer. The truck’s interior fittings were created by H Custom from Angoulême. They include a starry sky made up of 1300 manually installed fibre optic cables, a leather dashboard with reinforced seams, quilted padding on the back of the couch, the back of the cab and the floor, embroidery of the motif of the supported charity on the back of the couch, water transfer elements in candy red with gold leaf lettering, personalised curtains and Alcantara leather door straps, a rose incorporated into a motorcycle helmet and displayed on the central box of the cab, decoration of the rear of the cab with two motorcycle brake disks, the door handles above the doors replaced by motorcycle shock absorbers, and an embroidered rose in the door interior cladding to promote support for the “Une rose, un espoir” charity.
Transports Express Icare wanted this truck to raise awareness of an issue that is very important to the company and that they have been supporting for almost 20 years. On one weekend every year, motorbike riders from “Une rose, un espoir” ride across the country, through villages and towns, selling roses to raise money for the “Ligue contre le cancer”, an organisation devoted to the fight against cancer. Every year, the bikers go from door to door over the two days and offer residents a rose in return for a donation for the charitable project. Just as the motorbikes convey hope and emotion, the aim of this MAN truck is to be a message of support and hope for everyone who is suffering from illness. Between 1998 and 2018, a total of more than € 7,500,000 was raised, all of which went to the cancer charity.
Of course, the exterior design of the MAN TGX also supports the charitable project. As well as the charismatic rose emblem, more roses and campaign lettering can be found on the Lion’s black paint.
“The exterior design of the MAN was created to make it a contender for the coveted “Most attractive truck of the year” title.”
The Belgian company AIS – Construct made numerous modifications and installed lots of extras. They included a custom-made roof bar with six LED lights, which reaches all the way to the rear of the cab, a rail with a large LED warning light and illuminated lettering showing the name of the company, an LED strip with four lights on the front grille, a custom-made LED strip under the bumper, a set of stainless steel standing platforms with integrated LEDs and much more. In the video, you can take a look at how the MAN TGX lined up for the big contest on the MAN stand at the Le Mans Truck 24-Hour Race.
For Jérôme Hector, the black super truck is definitely a winner. He loves everything about his Lion and looks forward to climbing aboard and setting off every day.