The second edition of the perfectly organized event was held on July 9. Apart from an impressive fleet of classic Swedish powerhouses, there were also plenty of other big gems to enjoy on that hot and humid Sunday.
Most interesting are always the complete combinations, preferably with some kind of freight aboard. Like a 1973 Scania LB 140 S tractor with a 1975 Groenewegen extendable semi-trailer, carrying a 1973 Ginaf TF10 dump truck.
The Scania LB 140-series of cabovers was introduced in 1969. With its 350 hp, turbocharged 14 liter V8 it was Europe’s most powerful on-highway truck/tractor in those days. For many years to come, Scania stayed the continental King of Horsepower (note that the 350 hp rating was just the starting point).
The load, neatly parked on the extended semi-trailer, comes with a 6×6 drivetrain. A Netam three-way dump body is resting on top of an auxiliary frame.
Ginaf (NL) became an officially registered truck manufacturer in 1967. Yet the vehicles’ military origins -think retired US Army REO chassis- were still unmistakable. As such, a Ginaf was a cheaper alternative to a new DAF, Mercedes-Benz, M.A.N. Diesel, Magirus-Deutz or Hanomag-Henschel 6×6. Naturally, a diesel engine swap always came with the package.
1961 DAF 2000 DO with a Nooteboom low-loader, transporting a Komatsu D310-16 dozer. Van Doorne’s first heavy-duty model was introduced in 1957 and got a Leyland O.680 engine (11.1 liter), which evolved into the DAF 1160-range (11.6 liter) of diesels in the late sixties, their biggest engine till 1997.
A spectacular re-creation of a Middle East cargo express of yore, a 1981 Scania LBS 141 S 6×2 tractor with a Netam tandem axle semi-trailer. Before the tridem axle set-up with super single tires took control, semi-trailers usually had a widespread (as in axle spacing) tandem with dual wheels.
The seventies, peak long distance trucking right there. An almost mythical time for the guys who were behind the wheel then. In retrospect, it was in that era -and further into the eighties- that heavy European trucks vastly improved, especially from a driver’s point of view. More power, comfort, room, convenience, more of everything.
I mentioned ‘other big gems’, how about a fabulous Mack B87 6×4 dump truck!
Or a 1960 Mercedes-Benz LP 333 ‘Centipede’ with a 1962 Ackermann trailer. Getränke Fleischmann, it says on its dropsides in archaic lettering. You can call Meat Man for all your drinks.
Metropole Druten, the place to be. Here we have a 1965 Scania-Vabis LBS 76 Super 6×2, plus a matching trailer.
1951 Faun L8L flatbed truck, a beauty of a beast. Back in the fifties, Faun and multiple other German manufactures built massive, conventional 4×2 trucks. Diesel locomotive style.
The Faun is powered by a water-cooled, 13.5 liter Deutz diesel engine with a maximum power output of 180 hp, the F6M617 inline-six. Faun (or FAUN) is short for Fahrzeugfabriken Ansbach Und Nürnberg AG. So no connection whatsoever with the imaginary, creepy creature.
1996 Scania R143H-450 6×2 tractor, owner De Heus is specialized in hauling bricks and all kinds of concrete end products.
1963 Volvo L475 Raske dump/flatbed truck with a Hiab crane.
1977 Scania LBS 141 S 6×2 tractor, 375 hp.
1954-1958 Scania-Vabis LS 71 Regent 6×2 flatbed truck. Calling it magnificent would be an understatement.
Well that’s interesting, better zoom in now…
…on a McCormick-Deering Farmall F-14 row crop tractor from the late thirties.
1982 M.A.N. Diesel 16.168 HAK 4×4, a second gen Ponton Kurzhauber with a three-way dump body and a crane. A real handy MAN.
1964 Volvo L495 Titan. This one, now with a 1980 Burg trailer.
Brick roads…safe roads!
1963 Scania-Vabis L66 flatbed truck. In short, the L66 was an L56 (powered by a 7.8 liter inline-six) with the heavier chassis of the contemporary L76 top model.
1969 Scania L50 truck. Once upon a time, Scania also built four-cylinder engines, in which case a short nose -as seen here- will do.
1984 DAF FTG 3300 DKX 6×2/4 tractor, completely jewelry-free.
1985-1988 Mercedes-Benz NG 1944 4×2 tractor, powered by a 14.6 liter V8 (the OM 442 LA) with 435 DIN-hp.
The letters NG stand for Neue Generation (New Generation), introduced in 1973. It was superseded by the SK (Schwere Klasse/Heavy Class) in 1988, which was merely a serious update of the NG.
All in all, this is the side profile of all heavy Mercedes-Benz cabover trucks and tractors from 1973 to 1998, a period of 25 years (though the all-new Actros was unveiled in 1996, the production of the SK continued for another two years).
If you want to see (and hear) more of them, large numbers of the NG and SK are still working hard in the Middle East and Africa.
1987 Ginaf F2222 4×4, restored recently. Originally, this was a fast service and assistance vehicle for Dakar rally-raid legend Jan de Rooy.
1977 Volvo F88 4×2 tractor, 260 hp from its 9.6 liter turbodiesel. A trucking business legend, it was this heavy cabover -introduced in 1965- that started Volvo’s steady climb to the global top.
We need more power! Hence the birth of the Volvo F89 with a 330 hp, 12 liter inline-six in 1971. Pictured above, a 1974 F89 6×2 tractor.
Another Swedish 6×2 tractor unit, a 1965 Scania-Vabis LS 76 Super.
Downsizing with a 1985 Iveco-Magirus 80-13A truck. Powered by an air-cooled, 6.1 liter Deutz engine. And let’s not forget its Club-of-Four cab.
1996 Scania T143H-450 6×2 tractor. Calimero teamed up with Cardi, a three-way dump semi-trailer from Italy.
The most capable and versatile 4×4 ever, the (Mercedes-Benz) Unimog. More than 60 years old, the 1962 Unimog 411 at the show.
That’s it for today folks, as 35°C/95°F is simply not my cuppa tea. YMMV and all that.
Great collection of pics as ever, Mr Netherlands, especially that swish Mercedes LP 333 in a style I’ve never seen before, but I must ask a question: why do all the old Northern European trucks have such big noses? As in, a whole damn motor stuck way out front?
Now, I ask this question as one who is not, um, how to say, personally under-endowed in the schnoz department, so I understand the difficulties in being thus blessed. (“Ah! My arms are full, but why, I don’t have to use my fingers for the doorbell”, etc, ad infinitum). But how is there any any advantage to a truck in hanging 11-point-something-plus cast-iron litres out the front of the chassis, and why on earth was this a thing?
They’re called conventionals because that’s the conventional way of building a truck (or an automobile in general). First an engine with a hood/bonnet, then a cab and then the rest.
Along came the overall length restrictions in many parts of the world, so goodbye conventionals, hello cabovers.
North America (entirely) and Australia/NZ (partly) kept the conventional way of trucking. By now, pretty much the rest of the world has switched to cabovers.
But how is there any any advantage to a truck in hanging 11-point-something-plus cast-iron litres out the front of the chassis, and why on earth was this a thing?
By placing more of the truck’s weight on the front axle, it allowed more weight to be placed over its rear axle, where the load-carrying body was. The result was that both axles then carried half of the full truck’s weight, thus maximizing its load carrying potential within the maximum axle load regulations in effect. The whole point is to end up with 50/50 weight distribution, when fully loaded.
This is why some extra-heavy duty conventional trucks today still offer a setback front axle. It’s all about axle loading, when it comes to trucks. An axle with less than the maximum load on it is a waste.
Front-axle loading is one reason, I imagine, the old FWD and Oshkosh 6×6’s had an enhanced schnozz, also it results in a reduced turning radius which I imagine is more important in Europe as well.
Thank you Johannes for another wonderful set of pictures. The Faun is wonderful – interesting that the Deutz engine was water-cooled, but I looked it up because I was curious and it seems to be so!
The turning radius issue is a bit more complicated than that. Yes, the actual turning radius as measured by the tire tracks is reduced, but the nose sticking out front means that the overall vehicle’s effective turning radius isn’t necessarily reduced, as in turning between close-in old buildings or such. Meaning a truck with a given overall length may have the same issue navigating a very tight corner in an old city/town, regardless of whether the axle is set in front or further back. Of course the maximum steering angle of the front wheels also comes into play.
I’m pretty sure that the ability to load both axles on a rigid truck equally is the primary factor. A lot of the really big rigid European over-the-road trucks had massively set back front axles, and these trucks generally avoided city centers assiduously.
Try driving around inside buildings in a conventional, the joys of doing concrete on a casual basis I got sent to a company that had Macks long nose Macks, and the first job was inside some buildings that had been a freezing works and was being repurposed lots of maneuvering to do my part of the pour,
Nice selection of old trucks most of which never got here in any numbers if at all, Scanias are still leading the horsepower race with Volvo close behind but 750 hp on the badge on the front is misleading as the truck knows when its pulling a max load and delivers hp and torque to suit its not there all the time, I drove a Kenworth that had similar ideas and the entertainment centre in the middle of the dash could be configured to gauges which showed how much boost and torque being delivered loaded at 54 tonne up the Blenheim range had it close to maximum same on the Hundalees roller coaster, coming back empty it wasnt trying at all.
JM, got some spare time?
See link below, a list of all Deutz engines. Scroll down -not too fast- till you see a chart stating a diesel engine with a displacement (“Hubraum”) of 13539 cm³.
The title of that chart: ‘Typentabelle FM517 und FM617 Dieselmotoren für LKW’.
Those are the Faun truck and bus diesels from that era. Some more info at the bottom of the charts. The engines for Faun were water-cooled alright.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Deutz-Motoren
Set-back front axle, who? me?
Dear Johannes, Great collection! Thanks for this. Paul, you did what I would have done, which to explain the reason for a setback front axle. Load distribution is amongst the serious consideration for specifying a truck whether medium or heavy duty. Truck specifications are all based on physics.
What an outstanding assortment! Those Middle East cargo trucks are fascinating; I’ve seen several videos documenting the 1970s/80s European cargo runs to Turkey or Iran, and they’re really amazing.
Also, as a non-European, it’s amusing to look at these pictures and then try to guess the year each truck was manufactured, since few of these are familiar to me. In a few cases I was off by a decade or so. That 1982 MAN threw me off, since aside from the rectangular headlights, it looks like it could have been from the 1960s.
Thanks for all the photos!
Eric, as a matter of fact, the second generation of those MAN short-noses was introduced in 1969, still in the sixties alright! The very similar looking first gen dates back to 1956.
They were built till 1994. Tough trucks!
Great show, great pics, and great commentary…
+1 on that.
Thanks as always Johannes
You’re welcome! (all other commenters too, of course)
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Volvo F88 was designed with an eye towards the North American heavy truck market. I think it certainly could have been a serious contender here.
Yes indeed – tiny Volvo with its tiny home market realised they needed to be international.
They looked at US trucks very closely, hence the ‘TIPTOP’ tilt-cab at a time when most Euros still had fixed cabs.
They realised that without an expensive dealer network, US sales would be impossible and so that ended.
Incidentally, the G89 had a more US-GB style set forward axle due to differing steering axle weight regulations. The Australians bought a lot.
If you look at the earlier Mercedes LP-range, the light trucks had a set-forward axle, the middle-weights slightly set back and the heavies had theirs under the sleeper! I think there was an anticipation of a 9 (or was it ten?) tonne front axle limit that never happened.
“Yes indeed – tiny Volvo with its tiny home market realised they needed to be international”.
They were so right, and look at them now!
Eventually, the 10 tonnes front axle did happen. In NL at least, no idea about other countries.
Indeed, they got it right with the need to export whereas others, like Saurer and FBW in Switzerland or even bigger Büssing in Germany, did not (or too late).
And the brands that already dominated our on-highway truck market some 50 years ago, say early-/mid-seventies, still rule that market now.