They say there’s no peace for the wicked, so poor Mark Webber and his mother Jean, proprietors of West Sussex transport café, The Cabin, must be wondering whatever it is they’ve done. For not only was their establishment picked to feature in Scania’s international guide to popular truckstops, it was also recently chosen as the venue for an episode of Living TV’s Queer Eye For The Straight Guy lifestyle programme.

And – as if all that wasn’t enough – before the dust had time to settle, we were on the phone asking if Scene Scania could use the café as a base for a day to allow drivers a sneak preview of the new R-series. And, by the way, would they mind if we brought our own Swedish chef along as well to offer their customers a taste of the real Scandinavia while we were at it?

In what we can only imagine must have been something of a state of bemusement, Mark and Jean willingly agreed to our proposals. “Why not?” they said. “Sounds like a bit of fun, let’s go for it!” And so it was that
a new item – the Scania smörgåsbord – was added to The Cabin’s menu for a day.

The Cabin sits nestled against a wooded backdrop alongside the A264 near Horsham. First opened by Jean’s parents Bill and Vi Simmons back in the 1930’s, its 50-seater restaurant has long catered for a wide clientele base: “Truck drivers, businessmen and women, families – they all drop in,” says Mark.

It’s not hard to see why, for The Cabin offers good food at exceptionally reasonable prices. In addition to standard truckstop fare, the menu also includes items such as buck rabbit and every evening there’s a freshly prepared selection of home-cooked dishes.

In fact, even before we arrived, Mark and Jean already had a dish called The Scania on offer – its breakfast platters are all named after trucks – and for just £3.50 you can buy yourself a genuine Cabin Scania comprising two rashers of bacon, a sausage, an egg, a fried slice, beans or tomatoes, two slices of bread and butter and a mug of tea or coffee; excellent value by any standards.

But for one day only, even The Cabin’s own frugal prices would be beaten – for the Scania smörgåsbord would be offered free of charge to any truck driver willing to give it a go.