Truck Shite

[Tetleysmooth]

That AEC in the very first picture was one of my favourite drives.

My clutch went when I was down in Poole one day. I drove it back to Tilbury without a clutch.

No M25 then either. Anyway, less of my nostalging.

[oman5]

Pollock's have put a 141 in their show fleet; I'd a feeling something was missing from the 'period' livery, and looking at the pic of yours, I know what it is. A TELEX NUMBER! No TruckShite Haualge enterprise is complete without a telex machine, so we could all stand round it, and wait for the jobs to pour in. Fie on you, internet, you're far too modern...

Great photo, tho', all joking aside. I've spent a wee while looking at it, realising how different it is. You still in the mug's game that is truck driving?

@Oman...I was re-reading this thread earlier, and I read your comment about the Asda drivers giving the old ECS's the bodyswerve. There was a clique in Grangemouth who held onto them...and looked after tham like they owned them. There's a neat symmetry to your Actros comment tho; the one thing that unified them was hatred of the Actroses they got as Christmas rentals. I had one of their drivers very sheepishly asking me for the keys to 'his' Scanny, 'cos he couldn't get the Merc in reverse. Even after I showed him how.

Legend had it that Merc's engineers used the 'Telligent Shift / EPS system, 'cos the G16 box was so abysmally heavy to use, that Titan himself would struggle. But I had a pleasant few weeks with an Actros tipper a few years back, which had the hydraulic-assisted lever, and it was fine, if a bit slow. Never understood that one!

 

 

Yeah that was the myth at the time that merc persisted with EPS boxes and such because they couldn't make a decent manual. My problem with the series 1 actros (P/R reg) was that being a 400 it really didn't feel like one. it was slower on hills that the old 3 series scania 360, partly because it took so long to get the thing to change down a gear, and partly because the V6 was a bag of shite. we called them either Hitler's revenge or recycled U-boats.

I've driven the new type actros, fully automatic 460 and they are fine. IIRC wasn't reverse push the button and pull the stick back? Also, the axor, whilst having a better engine, has a manual box that dislocates your left arm when you try and get reverse.

My ideal wagon would have a DAF XF cab, scania V8 engine with manual box, with steering and brakes from Merc. and absolutely nothing from Renault. because they're shite.

[Split_Pin]

Some nice motors there. That DAF 85 must have been one of the very first being a 1993 model.

[TagoraGL]

Perhaps a thread for 'Biggest Truck, Smallest Cab'.

 

1974 Chevrolet Conventional Series 90 Trucks by aldenjewell, on Flickr

[Split_Pin]

 

Thes have quite a wee cab for a 32 tonner!

[rml2345]

Biggest truck smallest cab?

Scammell 1 by uw167, on Flickr

Must be a contender. IIRC it came from the Bedford O-series, and Scammell used it on the Scarab as well.

[TagoraGL]

 

Thes have quite a wee cab for a 32 tonner!

(Something gone wrong there.)

 

That's the biggest cab that Bedford had until the TM.

[Split_Pin]

[Justin Case]

The American circus are back and have brought a few more of their US rigs.

 

They have now moved on to Walsall They were setting up to-day so I slightly altered my dog-walking route to allow for this A lot of my photos duplicate Quicksilver's so I won't repeat them her but you can see the set at:

 

ttp://www.flickr.com/photos/61649287@N0 ... 254447398/

 

I got chatting to one of the artistes, (who was a dead ringer for Buffalo Bill, but had a Welsh accent you could cut with a knife ) who told me they did about 45 venues a year, so it should be near you soon They have about 20 American trucks, and take about 12 to each venue, so here's at least one different one:

 

1988 Peterbilt CircusTruck by geoffp5, on Flickr

 

Still in original livery

1988 Peterbilt Circus Truck by geoffp5, on Flickr

 

Conversation piece

When Pete met Ken by geoffp5, on Flickr

 

Romanian Merc van, haven't seen a UK registered one for years

Mercedes 508D by geoffp5, on Flickr

 

Home grown

Bedford MK Circus Truck by geoffp5, on Flickr

[CreepingJesus]

One truck that featured in a tipper special and that I used to like because it still used the old Club of Four cab was the Renault Maxter/Manager...

 

Does anyone know of any others surviving?

 

Like this?

 

 

Found it quite by chance the other day (while I was looking for an even bigger tat horde, which I've found and will go back for), and papped it today. The Foden 4000 beside it is an M-plate, but just out of shot, there's an A-plate 3000! Out of shot the other side is an angry bloke, but we won't go into that... There were a couple of much newer Scania tippers in the yard, the first time I spotted it, so it's hanging around a working tipper fleet. Whether it's doing any work itself, I know not. Not seen it out on the road, put it that way.

Bonus ERF E-series still smoking round several massive heaps of rusty metal masquerading as a scrapyard.

 

[Split_Pin]

Hey that's the one, epic spot!

[willswitchengage]

 

Russian MAZ prototype truck. Nice and streamlined for the highway... oh wait 6x4 and mud tyres. Weird.

[CreepingJesus]

^Nice! I'd never heard of that one before. I was just thinking it was clearly inspired by Renault Virage, MAN Concept 2000 and suchlike late 70's - early 80's 'future' prototypes. Then I had a WAIT!...WHAT? moment. Am I seeing that right, or is that a 6x4 rigid, with a roughly 40' body and about 15' of rear overhang? I only hope there's a countersteering rear axle hiding in the shadows there!

Otherwise it's a prime example of 'Concordski' syndrome. Copy something The Capitalist West has done, but leave in the mistakes they eliminated.

[Split_Pin]

Suicide doors too, FTL

 

My Uncle from Canada kindly gave me a GM cars book that was presented to a friend of his (who has since passed away) whe he retired.

 

There is a chapter of the book that covers concept vehicles and one terrifying looking thing was this Turbone Truck:

 

 

Also just stumbled across this whilst doing a Google search for 'Concept Trucks'

 

 

Roadrunner prototype. I think it looks pretty handsome.

[willswitchengage]

^^ Gutted they didn't make the real 45 quite like that, although the early weird windscreen is quite cool. Leyland wouldn't give me a gradjob though, knobs!

 

On googling "MAN Concept 2000" I stumbled back across my original rusky (MAZ-2000 Perestroyka concept truck it turns out):

 

 

Wtf?? If anyone can work out the driveline packaging for that then there's a big prize waiting!

 

EDIT: Listen to

to hear why turbine cars never caught on... "And why did you get run over? All I could hear was a vacuum cleaner down the road..."

[Split_Pin]

The front lower area that is turning totally looks like an old 'Eubank' mechanical carpet sweeper my mum used to have before we bought a Hoover!

 

Looks like it might be driven by the front 'carpet sweeper bit', judging by the lourves? Compact V6 maybe?

 

Doesnt look very dynamic, but at least no suicide doors after all

 

Edit, Hey just watched that vid, that's a superb machine! Think I'd get bored with it after a while though. You are spot on with the Hoover sound!

[CreepingJesus]

Hats off to MAZ for making a concept that probly wouldn't work on at least 20 different levels. The 'carpet sweeper' oddity has to be either diesel-electric, or FWD. The Russians were probly mental enough to try either.

 

Sorry Will, I had a brain fart there - it was actually the MAN X-90 I was thinking of...

...so called because it's what they thought (in 1979) we'd be driving in 1990. Some of the ideas came to fruition, just not necessarily on MAN's. The idea (iirc) that the pods could be arranged either way up, and the controls would all be fly-by-wire wasn't one of them. Don't tell IVECO for fuck's sake...

I'll see your Roadrunner proto and raise you the one and only TX450...

...no idea how Leyland named it, but it was a serious stab at moving truck design on. Must get down to the Commercial Vehicle Museum and have an ogle at it myself, for real. Wonder if the FWD dray they built is in there. It used a doctored transfer box, to drive a Kirkstall military 4x4 axle!

[quicksilver]

I can definitely see shades of Magnum in both the MAN X90 and that weird Russian thing. Have a pic of the restored Leyland Turbine by way of thanks for those interesting posts.

[Vin]

I love the Leyland Turbine, it's a real beauty

 

I remember the feature and restoration in C&VC magazine a few years ago. From the article I remember they were used on trial on petrol deliveries.

I also recall a letter in response to the feature that, although praising the technology of the Leyland Turbine, it was always going to be a technological dead end that wasted a lot of money and expertise, that could have been used by BL to fight the then emerging threat from Sweden...

[willswitchengage]

Time for some more peculiarities and favourites of mine that I've found over the years, and haven't seen mentioned yet:

 

Skoda "Xena" - don't know anything about these, looks early 90s?

 

 

Berliet Centaure - DING DONG! Been trying to find an Italeri of these for years (found one in Belgium though for 100euros... pah), but lack of fruition means I've settled instead for a Renault Turboleader which is waiting to be made. May post pics of the collection later. If anybody else is a fan of French trucks then there's a great archive here.

 

 

Berliet Stradair - a strange one. Mid engine or front engine? Who knows.

 

[Split_Pin]

That Skoda truck is in a lorry encyclopedia I picked up in a bookshop in the peak district for a couple of quid,.which on looking for has now been officially declared mislaid.

[CreepingJesus]

The Skoda Xena I didn't know about, but on a quick check around, appears to be a licence built LIAZ. This is an interesting 'detail' photo tho'...

 

 

...'cos I was sure LIAZ used their own engines. Maybe the DD60 was used in order to break into Western Europe, but I'm not sure they ever actually attempted that. I would've guessed late 80's - early 90's too, but some of the pictures here might suggest such refinements as EBS and a ZF 16-box. I'm seriously intrigued now, and I'll do more digging about. (The EBS alone, suggests mid-90's on)

It's also interesting 'cos VW bought them out in 1990, and they've flirted with the notion of selling heavies in Western Europe. Notwithstanding the bigger LT's (which were sold to MAN in the end), there's been rumblings from Wolfsburg about importing the Constellation...

 

 

...from the Brazilian operation. I know it's a clean-sheet design an' all; but I can't help wonder if any Skoda (or indeed LIAZ) know-how went into its' design.

 

The correspondent to C+VC has a good point: as worthy as the GT research was, Leyland could've done with focussing on bringing the cab design (if nothing else) up to date. By the time the T45 came to fruition, they were seriously on the back foot. With a choice of Cummins/Gardner/Perkins and maybe Detroit or Cat engines it could've been a winner. They never really got to grips with the power race, and were nowhere in Europe, so the Roadtrain's fate was sealed before it ever really had a chance.

 

On to the daddy of them all (i.e a concept truck that actually got somewhere-ish), the Renault Virages...

 

 

...which led in a few meaningful ways to the Magnum behind it. Bearing in mind that the one-off here was built in 1985, and the Maggie wouldn't come along for another 5 years, it's amazing how it led the way. Flat floor mega-cab; semi-auto 'box; disc brakes (iirc). These pics are courtesy of Brian Weatherley (the bloke who writes BigLorryBlog), and were taken earlier this year - Renault still trot it out for shows, and apparently it still drives.

Altho', he reckons the Iveco Glider...

 

 

...is what the Stralis' replacement will look like. Which is funny, 'cos I reckon it looks like the same cab architecture as Iveco are using now. Which itself dates back to 1993...

 

EDIT: Doing more digging on the Skoda, it would seem that it was launched in '96. Its' bargain basement pricing couldn't save it, and the management's apparently suicidal insistance on launching with units (and hence going head-to-head with Western European and Scandinavian manufacturers in the emergent Czech market) didn't help either. It was always a LIAZ at heart, the Skoda badge was effectively an affectation, and it may only have lasted 'til late '97.

On closer exmaination, the gear lever suggested ZF 16S to me, but the shape of the 'box says Eaton TwinSplitter. The gear lever doesn't agree, so I wonder if it had the Fuller RoadRanger in it (near relative of the TS), which would make it a pretty late user of the Fuller. More research required before I get drunk and find one on Czech eBay...

[willswitchengage]

More research required before I get drunk and find one on Czech eBay...

 

Good luck! I tried this once for old Tatras but ebay.cz doesn't have a motors section

 

Plenty of LIAZs still around though, was in Czech last year and they still seem to be the staple seven unuh harffer over there.

[Cavcraft]

I like that Iveco

[warren t claim]

I like that Iveco

 

You need correction!

[willswitchengage]

Here's mine

 

 

Any piccies of the rest of your fleet? Here are mine

 

 

Incl Stobart & Stagecoach liveries, andrealistic "fat driver sag" on the Magnum cab

 

 

Scania was a bit crap, embellishment as I'm also a graffiti spotter

 

 

And finally the rather disorganised work area:

 

[Cavcraft]

Very impressed, especially with the 33 and the Iveco. You must have the patience of a saint to knock them up.

[Split_Pin]

Nice fleet there, I have some more pics of the others somewhere. Think its an Italeri thing asy Turbostar and DAF 95 all have the fat.driver sag on the cab lol

 

Your Scania and DAF are my favourites. I've always wanted Italeri ones to go with the others.

[Split_Pin]

Here are my 1/24 truck models, all built from kits except the Scania Streamline.

 

Turbostar:

 

Mercedes 2448:

 

Renault G260:

 

Pete 359:

 

'Anteater' Kenworth

 

Scania P Series, Volvo FH16 and Daf 95:

 

Emek Scania:

 

The kits are now quite old. I built them all between 1992 and 1998 when I was aged between 13 and 19. The Turbostar and Magnum are the oldest and have plastic wheels whereas the later italeris have rubber tyres. I had an even older Daf 95 but when I tried to take it apart to rebuild it properly it didnt go well so I just bought a replacement!

[Cavcraft]

Impressive stuff, Iain. That 143M especially stands out, and I love the patina of the Iveco. Soz to be nerdy, but isn't the plate on the 95 a 1976 (ish) one, not an '86-ish one as I imagine they would have been? Not a criticism you understand!