It’s hard to say when Travis Lyon first started dreaming about bringing Motormaster to life.
As far back as he can remember Travis has loved Transformers. His earliest memories include playing with them with his mother when he was still a toddler. And, like most little boys, Travis loved big trucks. Especially tractor-trailers.
As Travis grew, he became interested in collecting Transformers, even taking his favorites off to college where he continued to add to his collection. By the time he graduated from college, Travis had collected more than 200 Transformers.
Boy Meets Truck (and a Really Mean Engine)
After graduating from college, Travis moved back home and found a job that required traveling across Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
On one business trip, he drove through Bulls Gap, TN and came across a salvaged Kenworth K100. Travis fell in love with the truck, which was missing its engine and transmission, but he wasn’t sure how or if he could restore it.
Several years and life events intervened before Travis found himself driving back to look again at the Kenworth, now with a clear determination to restore the big truck and transform it into Motormaster, which was based on a Kenworth K100.
Shortly thereafter, Travis discovered Blue Ridge Kenworth in Abingdon, VA, a Kenworth dealership that also specializes in restoring old trucks. Despite their expertise, transforming the Kenworth into Motormaster would present a few interesting challenges.
The first challenge came when Travis told Jim Lockard, Worldwide’s body shop manager, that he wanted to put a Detroit 8V92 engine in the Kenworth.
