A very long period of dry, sunny and warm weather gave me a perfect excuse (…) to visit many car and truck shows this year. Looking back, our summer lasted from early April to mid-October. The end result is a stockpile of pictures, still waiting for publication. Let’s start with a random collection of the big guys I caught throughout the year.
Here’s a 1978 Ford D0707 flatbed truck with dropsides, its payload capacity is 3,320 kg (7,319 lbs). The 1965-1981 D-series from the UK was Ford’s highly successful handyman and all-rounder.
1980 Scania 141 4×2 tractor with V8 power, brought to the show by M. and C. van Veen from Hazerswoude-Dorp (DougD’s roots).
1966 Mercedes-Benz O 319D minibus. Neither with a V8, nor with any power to speak of.
1996 Scania 143 6×2 tractor with a liftable tag axle. And stacks. And a big diesel tank. Under its nose a 420 DIN-hp, 14 liter V8. Of course the griffin rides along.
I certainly wasn’t expecting this, a magnificent 1982 Leyland T45 Roadtrain 19.28 4×2 tractor. Heavy British trucks lorries and Continental Europe never went well together, to put it mildly; their market share was always less than marginal.
This generation of heavy Leylands was introduced in 1980 and throughout its production run it was offered with Leyland, Cummins, Rolls-Royce and Gardner diesel engines. After some research I’d say this LHD T45 Roadtrain, with a Dutch first owner, has a 280 hp Leyland TL12 engine.
1974 Scania 110 Super 4×2 tractor. Super as in turbocharged, not supercharged.
1984 Scania 112 4×2 tractor. The 112 conventional, introduced in 1980, immediately turned the 111 conventional -which looked exactly the same as the 110 further above- into a relic.
1973 Hanomag-Henschel F 45 truck, 45 as in 4.5 metric tons GVM. Hanomag’s F-series of trucks was introduced in 1967. In 1969, Hanomag merged with Henschel. Only a year later, the newly formed company was taken over by Daimler (Mercedes-Benz).
Another Hanomag-Henschel, an F 191 AK 4×4 dump truck. These trucks and tractors, also offered as a conventional model, were based on the heavy Henschel vehicles as introduced in the early sixties.
1967 Scania-Vabis 76 Super 6×2 tractor. Scania-Vabis was the truck maker’s name prior to 1969.
Originally, DAF was a trailer and semi-trailer manufacturer. The production of rolling truck and tractor chassis started in the late forties. The company’s light-weight Eurotrailer dates back to the early sixties.
Does anyone know another company that built complete big rigs? That is, both the tractor and the semi-trailer or both the truck and the trailer.
1975 Ginaf TF10 6×6 dump truck. These Ginafs were fully based on REO military chassis with a Euro-diesel engine swap, mostly DAF.
And now it’s about time to make a decent inventory of new and old iron before the weather changes…
Happy Holidays!
Another great article, thanks. So much different than trucks here, but also so much the same.
I think I finally get it! The dominance of the Cab Over in Europe, that is. Its those Scanias with their long long noses. At least the front fenders are pretty far back however the swing on that 112M has to be excessive since that front bumper is so far forward of the axle. So those Cab Overs must have felt like micro cars in comparison when it came to maneuvering in tight spaces.
I think it’s simpler than that – there are lots of narrow roads and tight spaces to maneuver in, so the EU has a length limit of 54′ for a tractor trailer, while 53′ trailers are common in the US.
A while back, I watched a modern Scania cabover exit a games field in Scotland pulling a flatbed trailer loaded with temporary fencing. The only way he could get an angle to exit was to put his front tires on the curb opposite the gate and rub the truck’s nose in the hedge. If he had been driving even a modest US conventional, he couldn’t have got out, and probably wouldn’t have got in in the first place.
I just took my CDL test in Wisconsin and was amazed how easy the road driving portion was compared to the UK – it was barely any harder than driving a car. My UK test involved constantly passing cars, stone walls, you name it, with inches to spare.
By the time those Scanias came along they were the exception to the rule.
The “Scania-scene” in Scotland looked a bit like this, I guess? Long-nose/long-wheelbase tractors simply do not work here, regardless length restrictions. There’s a reason that 50,000 kg big rigs in the Netherlands often have 4 steering axles (out of 6).
That’s pretty much it, except the wall was a hedgerow, and at least 6 inches of the truck entered the softer part of the hedge to say hi to whatever creatures were living in there.
The road was significantly narrower and he was exiting a tight gateway. And it was a boring old six cylinder 😉
That was exactly my point, tight spaces do not go well with a vehicle with an extremely long nose and a set back FA. Conventional Conventionals would not have been so traumatic to drive and the Cab Overs wouldn’t seem so much more maneuverable.
The maneuverability/turning circle would be even worse if the same long nose was combined with a set-forward front axle.
The Euro-conventionals of yore, regardless the length of their nose, always had a set-back front axle.
Just like Euro-cabovers, regardless the segment, always have and had a set-back front axle, with the exception of something like the Renault Magnum. Compare the Scania in the video with a Kenworth K100, for example.
Having driven trucks there, I think your point about axle position is splitting hairs.
A conventional is generally several feet longer than a cabover by necessity, and in an environment where space is at such a premium, that’s no good. When T cab Scanias were still relatively common they tended (had) to pull shorter trailers and be in more “industrial” use, ie they were going on freeways to refineries or quarries or somewhere with lots of space.
In the US, beer is delivered by small conventionals – when I worked at a brewery in Scotland they had a small DAF LF and a Mercedes Sprinter because there were lots of places they just couldn’t get to with their Scania cabover straight trucks.
It isn’t some matter of drivers’ personal preference, it’s a general preference for being able to get where you’re going without hitting anything.
To give one last example, I spent several years driving tourists around in minicoaches, and met several Americans who had handed back rental cars through sheer terror. American passengers would make noises like they were on a rollercoaster, and assumed that the main highways we were on were some national park road that closed in the winter. They would say things like “I see why you guys all drive small cars”.
In that context, the negligible benefits of a conventional have very limited appeal.
Great assortment here — I especially like the DAF Eurotrailers. Can’t say I’ve ever seen any truck trailer quite as appealing as that before.
I love that minibus
I like cabovers but have been put in a conventional for a couple of weeks, first thing I miss is the room, American conventionals are for midgets especially in day cab, the truck is ok comfy to drive quite noisy after the DAFs Ive gotten used to.
Only other manufacturers that I know of that made both trucks and trailers was GMC from 1951 to 1940 and currently Hyundai.
Thank you for your reply!
Another great installment. I love vintage European trucks. So much style. Would the D-Series Ford be the European equivalent to the widely popular Ford C-Series here in the US?.
I agree Paul. The Ford D-series was available in a wide range of engine choices (gasoline and diesel) and weight classes. As I said, a great handyman and all-rounder, just like the C-series in the US.
Below a 1971 tractor with a 7.7 liter Cummins V8 which I caught a few years ago.
There certainly are similarities between the two.
Especially the face of the Euro D-series reminds me of the US H-series from the first half of the sixties.
A lot of the smaller Ford Ds had a 300cube petrol six, that Leyland was also badged Scammel.
Yes indeed, I didn’t know that! I’m sure you guys in NZ and Australia had way more heavy trucks and tractors from the UK than we had in (Continental) Europe.
Back in the early 1980s when the road I lived on was resurfaced (apparently the first time since before WW2 according to one of the older residents) one of the vehicles used was a Scammell badged T45 tipper. The T45 range was, I believe, styled inside and out by Ogle design.
I learned it on an F45 Hanomag, doing the Barcelona run with electronic components.
Of course the old dogs learned me to drive literally right down the middle of France , take the toll road to Paris, then leave it and drive down to Orleans, Vierzon, Brive, Cahors, Toulouse right down to the border at La Junquera, over Routes Nationales, you’d take the toll fee as a bonus. You did have to push 3/4 hours more per day, and losing at least half a day to the Spanish customs to clear the goods. We smuggled like hell into Feanco Spain, half the cargo of Sony Trinitron TV sets were smuggled, we always had precious presents like Japanese car stereo’s that cost next to nothing to give to them or transistor radio’s, the return load would be Spanish loudspeakers and tv electronic and antenna components.
The run would be at least once a month.
I loved the adventure, no sat nav, no vehicle tracing, once you drove of the yard you were free, the first conract would be a call from the unloading address.
Good story Rammstein, as always.
Speaking of the adventure, no sat nav, etc. My brother works at a hauling and storage company (not as a driver), about 25 truck- and tractor units. In short, being a truck driver these days:
Big Brother (not mine 🙂 ) is watching you BIG TIME, 24/7!
Or as a retired truck driver told me, working as a volunteer at the DAF Museum these days: “things went wrong the moment we got a phone in our truck…no way I want to go back to that profession as it is now”.
My job is governed by Iphones in the truck anything you need to know is emailed to you and we get a paid bonus for keeping the iphone updated as the load progresses, the truck itself features all the latest Cummins Eaton technology the engine computer talks to the transmission computer etc etc it has smart coast on cruise, Kenworth in dash nav centre you name it theres one in it, I dont like a lot of it but hey thats me, the trans computer doesnt like me and beeps when I tell it what to do but it cant see out the windscreen and I can and coming down a steep twisty hill at 54 tonnes I want maximum jake effect not an arguement with some electronics.
The drivers are constantly and fully monitored from the office/home base. The exact location, the route, where and how long you stop, the acceleration, the fuel consumption….just about everything, no matter how far away from home.
My boxing day trip was interesting theres a series of check marks popping up on the dash display occasionally I finally caught them long enough to read the message, its thanking me for minimising brake wear by downshifting and jaking into corners!
I discovered I’m driving the first KW 610 to enter the country it was the cover truck on a local trucking magazine, I read about it never realising I’d get to play with it, I’m getting used to it or its getting used to me one or the other, I just wish there was more room inside Ive been spoilt by DAFs where I can lean the seat back and lounge, good stereo though.
Really appreciate that T45 Leyland truck, the truck that came too late !
From what I heard many drivers who tried one, really loved it, but the Leyland reputation was long out of the window.
Theres a restored one still working up where I live 350 Cummins powered but like most Ive seen in NZ its Scammel badged.
That T45 was quite something in 1980 – at last a modern truck. Ogle styling, IIRC.
Nice find – very rare here now
Merry Christmas, do not overeat on the bread !
Right, you’ll take the bread, I’ll take the Renault. Merry Christmas to you and all other CC-ers out there.