Truck Shite

[Supernaut]

  On 22/03/2023 at 10:22, sutty2006 said:

If it’s pre 1960 you can drive it on a car licence. I looked into that a fair few years ago when I reeeeeaaaaallly wanted an m35a2. 

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That's two HGV mechanics I know of now, who don't have HGV licences!

Seems a bit counterintuitive, if you ask me.

[horriblemercedes]

I bet that most mechanics working on Boeing 747s can't fly them

[martc]

  On 22/03/2023 at 10:54, CreepingJesus said:

We got their little street sweepers here, but watching resurrection videos on YouTube, there seem to be plenty of those bigger 4x4 trucks still around in the Baltic states. 

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IFA (Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau, Industrial Association for Vehicle Construction) was the combine that controlled the production of all vehicles in the DDR - bicycles, motorbikes, cars, vans, lorries, tractors etc. Each product line had its own brand name eg MZ, Trabant, Wartburg, Barkas, Multicar etc but also carried an IFA badge somewhere (on the petrol cap in the case of MZ, or the grille of a Multicar). The only vehicles specifically badged as IFA where the big lorries as discussed above (this statement isn't strictly true, in the early days of the DDR all vehicles were called IFA, but this was soon dropped for individual brand names, except for the lorries).

There is a good parallel with Leyland  - cars and vans were badged with their traditional names, but all the lorries were called 'Leyland' (except Scammel... and probably a few more, but you get the idea).

Why do I mention Multicar? Because they made the small street sweepers that bore the IFA badge on their grilles. In the long run  Multicar were the most successful DDR vehicle  manufacturer because they are still with us, making the same products, in the same factory, the only IFA manufacturer left, although they call themselves Hako Multicar now.  Multicars were exported worldwide and never seemed to be tarred with the lazy and ill informed 'commie crap' brush of other DDR vehicles.

Most (all?) of the 'IFA' street sweepers seen in the UK were bodied  by Scarab of Toddington on an IFA M25 chassis. Scarab are still with us as well.

https://www.hako.com/en/

https://www.scarab-sweepers.com/products

[sutty2006]

  On 22/03/2023 at 11:32, Supernaut said:

That's two HGV mechanics I know of now, who don't have HGV licences!

Seems a bit counterintuitive, if you ask me.

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I got my class 2 a few years ago for use with work (road testing and collection + delivery) but still haven’t used it in anger. Besides I think the wife would kill me if she came home to one of those on my driveway

[Dyslexic Viking]

  On 22/03/2023 at 10:54, CreepingJesus said:

Just out of curiosity, were IFAs imported into Scandinavia? We got their little street sweepers here, but watching resurrection videos on YouTube, there seem to be plenty of those bigger 4x4 trucks still around in the Baltic states. 

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I don't know about the other Scandinavian countries, but I'm pretty sure that IFA trucks never came to Norway, which is a bit strange as a lot of strange things have been sold here, even Praga trucks (none are known to have survived) and the sweepers I don't know about those.

While I was thinking about strange things sold here, someone tried to import and sell Russian trucks here at the beginning of the 1950s, I don't remember the brand, but they brought one in for demonstration and it were so terrible that no one would buy them. The one taken in was sold cheaply to a transport company and was not liked by the drivers who did everything they could to avoid driving it.

I wonder what that truck was because if something is terrible in early 1950s Norway, it is bad, really bad.

[martc]

And more IFA action, plus bonus Robur -

It's 1982 and this parade is celebrating 825 years since the founding of Osterburg (Altmark).

[Dyslexic Viking]

  On 22/03/2023 at 14:33, Dyslexic Viking said:

lot of strange things have been sold here, even Praga trucks (none are known to have survived)

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Norwegian Praga ad

[martc]

I'm turning into a bit of an IFA fanboi, but I've come across another one in the Middle East, Iran this time. Somewhere above I made a snarky comment about the Iraqi's trying to make one look like a Volvo. But this Iranian one also has a diagonal slash on the grille and other frontal ornaments that the home models never had, so I wonder if, for some export markets, there was an attempt to jazz them up a bit to compete with other builders?

Even back in der DDR IFA didn't have a complete monopoly, here's a LIAZ fire engine used in the town of Glauchau, near Karl Marx Stadt -

[willswitchengage]

  On 22/03/2023 at 10:22, sutty2006 said:

it’s pre 1960 you can drive it on a car licence. I looked into that a fair few years ago when I reeeeeaaaaallly wanted an m35a2. 

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I also want an M35 for turbo whistle powa. But if it's pre 1960 I just need a car licence?

[sutty2006]

  On 25/03/2023 at 17:33, willswitchengage said:

I also want an M35 for turbo whistle powa. But if it's pre 1960 I just need a car licence?

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Correct. 
 

I met a bloke at Stars and Stripes years ago who had an M928 with an Allison auto box and he’d had that classed on a minibus licence because of the bench seating on the cargo bed so drove it on a D1 licence! 

[LightBulbFun]

  On 25/03/2023 at 18:47, sutty2006 said:

Correct. 
 

I met a bloke at Stars and Stripes years ago who had an M928 with an Allison auto box and he’d had that classed on a minibus licence because of the bench seating on the cargo bed so drove it on a D1 licence! 

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@catsinthewelder I hope your taking note of this LOL

[MiniMinorMk3]

Roadblock Negev 1979

[Dyslexic Viking]

These old Tatras are such unique and fascinating trucks. 

 

[martc]

Here, we go more Iranian IFA action. In this case someone else has noticed the Volvoesque grille. According to my Observers Book of Commercial Vehicles 1981 edition Volvo were helping IFA to modernise their factory, so perhaps the diaganol stripe is more than just plagerism... although, as I've said before, it only appears to be fitted to ME models.

 

[MJK 24]

  On 16/03/2023 at 19:14, quicksilver said:

There's a week of 'orse dancin' (thanks to Rob Beckett for that description of dressage) going on at the local equestrian centre.  Loads of horseboxes about, most very fancy but this was more up my street. I don't even remember these early Renault Midliners with the round lights.

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We had one of those kitted out as a covered car transporter from the mid 90’s to 2002.

[MJK 24]

First day out for the newly refurbished trailer!

[Asimo]

[Saabnut]

The only 2 trucks at the NEC

 

[lesapandre]

  On 28/03/2023 at 09:25, Asimo said:

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Running east up the Commercial Road in Poplar London. That looks like a household waste trailer.

[Vantman]

  On 28/03/2023 at 18:01, lesapandre said:

Running east up the Commercial Road in Poplar London. That looks like a household waste trailer.

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This was owned by R D Chisholm ( the stock car driver) from Wheathampstead.

[primeradoner]

  On 28/03/2023 at 18:27, Vantman said:

This was owned by R D Chisholm ( the stock car driver) from Wheathampstead.

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First driver to win Brisca formula 1 world final 3 years in a row 1973/74/75. I believe that he was also Brisca formula 2 world champion before that. @Mally will probably be able to confirm

[Mally]

  On 31/03/2023 at 10:25, primeradoner said:

First driver to win Brisca formula 1 world final 3 years in a row 1973/74/75. I believe that he was also Brisca formula 2 world champion before that. @Mally will probably be able to confirm

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Dave Chisholm, yes World Champ in both.

A very good driver. Didn't know him in F2, I was an Outlaw in those days.

Watched  him  often in F1, very fast and smooth.  Rarely crashed into anything. (fastest way round, but in those days everyone else bumped).

 

 

[martc]

No2 in my occasional series of 'not all lorries in the DDR were IFAs' -

Here's a Tatra 148 in East German fire service, but look there's an IFA on the right.

But to keep those IFA juices flowing -

Here's a W50, sans bling and Volvo stripe, still in use in Iran.

[EML]

Tetley's Dray wagon outside the long lost Micawbers in Grimsby 

[Dyslexic Viking]

  On 01/04/2023 at 14:05, EML said:

Tetley's Dray wagon outside the long lost Micawbers in Grimsby 

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This is a strange axle configuration, was/is this common?

[Matty]

  On 01/04/2023 at 15:14, Dyslexic Viking said:

This is a strange axle configuration, was/is this common?

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My uncle spent a spell mechanicing on brewery drays and used to refer to a "Chinese six" configuration. I wonder if that is it? 

[Dyslexic Viking]

  On 01/04/2023 at 15:25, Matty said:

My uncle spent a spell mechanicing on brewery drays and used to refer to a "Chinese six" configuration. I wonder if that is it? 

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After googling Chinese six, it is this axle configuration.

It's a weird axle configuration wondering what kind of advantages it has if any and what the reason for it was?

[CreepingJesus]

The 'Chinese Six' goes way back, and is pretty much unique to Britain. I think it had to do with peculiarities in how we assessed axle load vs overall load to arrive at tax rate and allowable road speed; hence you usually see the front axles are further apart than they would be on an equivalent eight legger. Very handy for dense loads on short chassis too, so breweries, flour mills, builders merchants etc., could get plenty on and still get them down tight streets.

[808 Estate]

  On 26/03/2023 at 15:18, Dyslexic Viking said:

These old Tatras are such unique and fascinating trucks. 

 

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Absolutely, the central spine chassis is a work of art.

 

[5speedracer]

  On 27/03/2023 at 19:58, MJK 24 said:

First day out for the newly refurbished trailer!

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Looking good, as you've no peak was there any reason you went for a flat roof cab?

Home every night or just used to it?