We drive the Coca Cola Christmas lorry!

With 18 gears and a huge 50-foot length to haul around, this truck is one of the hardest vehicles to drive that we've ever come across. But, it's also guaranteed to bring a bit of festive cheer to the roads. Just don't drive it too far though, that huge fuel tank costs well over £1000 to fill. 

HAUL-IDAYS are coming! It’s the most famous festive truck in the world – and Auto Express has taken the reins. The red Kenworth Santa Claus lorry is the star of Coca-Cola’s ‘Holidays are coming’ TV adverts. It has launched the Christmas season to millions of people for the past 25 years.

Climbing up into the cab is an experience as exciting as getting into the fastest supercars. At just over 50 feet long, 14 feet high and more than eight feet wide, it is a motoring heavyweight. And with more than 18 gears, it’s far more difficult to drive than most supercars.

It has more power than most supercars, too – as the mighty engine is 14 litres in capacity! That’s enough for an 80mph top speed, but this sleigh uses a lot of fuel, returning a mere 6mpg.

To get the best out of it, the Kenworth needs a strange mix of brute force and a gentle touch as you ease it through its many gears, with a crash manual box that needs double de-clutching. The gearlever also takes a bit of getting used to – it’s like grappling with a thick walking stick – and when you look in the huge mirrors and see the bright red Coca-Cola trailer lit up like a Christmas tree by 4,600 LED lights, you realise that driving Santa’s truck is a job to be taken extremely seriously. 

Manoeuvring the Kenworth’s massive steering wheel is a feat in itself, but with expert tuition from veteran trucker Wes Cooper – sitting next to us – you soon get used to it. In the safe confines of a private test track, at least. How we would have coped on busy city streets doesn’t bear thinking about! Mayhem would probably have been the result.

Still, for one day, driving this amazing machine would make you the happiest supertrucker in the world.