General News
9 December, 2025
‘Flying Truck’ draws attention and supports cancer research
MOTORISTS travelling through Paradise along the Ararat-St Arnaud Road are being met with an unexpected sight, a 1937 Fargo truck suspended 18 feet in the air. Dubbed The Flying Truck, the installation on Neil Supple’s property has captured attention from far and wide, even featuring in an issue of Deals on Wheels.
Neil, a self-professed motor enthusiast, said the idea came after seeing similar installations in New South Wales and Western Australia.
The truck itself had sat behind a hay shed for years on a neighbour’s property at Marnoo West.
“They were carting hay with it years ago. The hay caught alight on the back of it, it burnt the tray. The truck didn’t burn, it was just put behind the straw shed and left,” Neil said.
After contacting the family, he learned the truck was available. “The truck was definitely for sale but she wanted a few bags of chook food,” he said.
Over several months between other projects, Neil restored the Fargo and transformed it into the eye-catching roadside attraction it is today, installing the attraction in November last year.
“I found a pole at a scrapyard in Hamilton, and then we were able to put it all together,” Neil said.
“The trucks and cars that stop to take photos is unbelievable,” he said.
The installation is illuminated at night with a solar light and carries the message Lights on the Hill, a nod to Slim Dusty’s classic song.
Neil’s daughter Sheree added that the display attracts creative visitors.
“They pull their truck up and get their truck underneath just to see this old truck jump these loads of hay.”
Neil’s passion the project is deeply personal.
Two years ago he lost a friend to cancer.
After a memorial run at Amphitheatre raised $3,000, and along with other fundraising efforts, Neil and supporters have now donated close to $7,000 to the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute in Ballarat, in memory of others lost to cancer.
A sign at the site now links visitors to the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute (FECRI) donation page, reading, ‘Raising a truck is tough, raising funds for cancer research is tougher.’
“There are a lot of locals that we know that have suffered, been and gone, that have been to Ballarat,” said Sheree.
“You scan the code and it goes to online donations. We have no idea how much, donation-wise, it’s raised, but people are talking about it, they are taking photos,” Sheree said.