Going nowhere without MAN and lion
Whether stuck on as a film or, a little more artistically, as an airbrush motif – for self-employed professional driver Jan Baumann, the truth is: no semitrailer tractor without the lion! The fact that his professional career vehicles are exclusively MAN trucks also goes without saying. In the “truck life story”, you can find out more about his individual love for the lion.
He has been behind the wheel of a truck for so long that he has to think for a moment about how long he has been working as a professional driver: “It must be around 30 years,” the 58-year-old thinks. That’s a long period of time he has spent on the road. And a lot of MAN vehicles that he has got to know and drive during this time. He started off with a MAN F8 19.361, which he drove when he passed his test in 1994. This was followed by a MAN 19.362, a MAN F90 19.422, a MAN TGA and finally several MAN TGX. The current one comes from the latest MAN Truck Generation. For him, it’s the “the measure of all things”, as he says,
“I don’t want to trade it for anything.”
In the interior of the lion, which Jan was already impressed with ex works, he was still guided by his passion for the beautiful vehicles and made a few adjustments. In addition to leather trim and painted cupboards, the cab features a very special floor covering: oak wood parquet. “My absolute highlight”, as he tells us.
The driver from Laichingen has fulfilled another design dream with the airbrush motif on his MAN. “For the second time,” he emphasises, because the predecessor model, with which he has driven an incredible 1.2 million kilometres over the past ten years, already carried a lion on its side. Jan commissioned airbrush artist Marcel Barth for the current artwork. He met him at the ADAC Truck Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in 2014 and kept him in mind for future airbrush plans. Perhaps he already knew back then that no MAN would stand in his yard without a lion design.
A ‘Lion King’ for Jan
“Everything started with the Lion King” he remembers “It was very popular at the time, and my children suggested making my MAN TGA a ‘Lion King’.” The lion had always impressed him as an animal and there was a clear link to the MAN brand, so it was an obvious step for him to opt for a bonded lion motif. Today, artfully applied paint instead of foil adorns his noble MAN, with which he transports wood chips, sawdust or wood pellets in the greater Mannheim, Allgäu, Kempten, Marktoberdorf and Ulm regions. “Extended local transport,” he says, suggesting that he prefers longer distances. But in general, he enjoys driving: “Even if the pressure increases, I love my job.”
And in addition to his daily tours, he likes to remember a very special trip that he was able to complete at the Truck Grand Prix in Le Mans in 2014. Back then, he took part in the legendary Corso truck race on the famous track: “The Corso on the racetrack in floodlights, with thousands of people on the stands applauding – I still get goosebumps today,” he says. Definitely one of the MAN moments that will stay with him forever. Like the MAN heartbeat tattoo that he wears on his chest and shows exactly what his heart beats for: MAN!