What's the best HGV you've driven

[Dingbat]

another motor i liked quite a lot,is the iveco euro star 440,which i drove on day trunk in the late 90s.

[G-CPTN]

The Bedford TKs (including the KM) and the Ford D Series were the bread and butter with Leylands a touch more 'classy' - with the Atkinsons, ERFs and Fodens much higher up, and those that bought Bedfords and Fords realised that they wouldn't last as long as the Atkis, ERFs and Fodens but they were cheaper to buy.
Market analysts identified a niche for greater numbers of 'heavier' trucks than the 'Fodens' were capable of building, so Ford created the Transcontinental and Bedford the TM and Leyland the RoadTrain.

Unfortunately each manufacturer had calculated to capture the same sector (without recognising the presence of the others - or the emergence of Volvo - in the marketplace).

Volumes didn't match up to expectations and the unit costs left insufficient profit.

Meanwhile Seddon joined Atkinson and produced the Seddon-Atkinson and things at Bedford (and Ford) started to fall apart (literally). Volvo continued to gain market share.

[Dingbat]

in the 80s,drove a bedford T.L up and down the country.never impressed with it.on the ship nostalgia forum discussing the chinese six set up for twin steer,s and single rear axle,s.as in the back to front set up of a normal six wheeler.

[davepenn54]

Well I think it's really hard to say which was the best HGV I've ever driven I think you get attached to some motors especially if you spend all the week away in them. I had a Commer Maxiload for 12mths and it was a great motor it never let me down and if you changed gear at the right time it just kept on pulling and the TS3 engine always sounded like a real lorry. I also spent 2yrs living in & out of a day cab S80 Foden and I loved it , I was young at the time, and it did let me down more than once with silly problems but one of the best tractor units I had was a Scania 142 V8 everything just seemed right on this A reg motor, the seats the mirrors, the steering, the power! But the best range of lorry I've driven has got to be the DAF's right from the 1700/1900 rigid series upto the 2800/3600 series although now my brains working the MAN 20/321's or 22/361's were also a brilliant lorry to drive and live in.
Oh well that's my contribution
Regards to all
Dave Penn;

[BJC]

just saying hello came here from ships nostalgia
the best truck i drove was the F12400 Intercooler
no speed limiter would hate to drive one now
cheers Brian

[liamandsusie]

Morning all
Anyone remember Quiligotti tiles from Hazel Grove Stockport?

[Fazer9553]

Originally Posted by liamandsusie

Morning all
Anyone remember Quiligotti tiles from Hazel Grove Stockport?

We have a member called [email protected] who you might know.

http://www.truckandbusforum.com/gall...hp?i=11617&c=2

[trucken]

Probably my current one, Scania R480 Hi line draw-bar. Its the first truck I've had with auto gear change, I thought I'd hate it, but if I was given the option now I'm not sure which I'd choose. Prior to that, probably a Volvo F88, but that was a replacement for a Leyland Buffalo, so no contest really.

Ken

[TRAMPER]

a 1986 ERF with a 320 cummins and a eaton twin splitter gear box used to go like the clappers no 56mph in them days

[G-CPTN]

This might sound strange, but my immediate thoughts went to a Bedford TM fitted with the 8V Detroit Diesel engine and an Allison automatic gearbox.

It was a 6x4 rigid that was usually coupled to a 4-axle drawbar trailer.

It was my test vehicle for antilock braking (ABS) and I got to drive it on all sorts of low-coefficient surfaces (skidpans).

It was 'fast' (just floor the accelerator and allow the auto-box to shift as you held the pedal down) and surprised many car drivers as it beat them away from the lights (especially when unladen).

Having antilock brakes it was tempting to wait until the last second before applying the brakes with full force and then feeling it chunter as it cycled the ABS.

Of course, some of the demonstration work was done with the ABS switched off, which with a 6x4 and drawbar trailer was somewhat entertaining.

I had so much fun driving that machine!