Are these one of the most underrated vehicles ever ? They dont seem to have the glitz of the other makes , but most operators that run them seem to speak quite highly . What were the first models that came here like ?
The First MAN’s came herein the early 70s I think they woud have been “M” plate they were column change six speed with a splitter, the most popular model was the 16.232 but the 19.320 V10 was a beast and quite thirsty but would out pull almost everything else at the time. The cab was a double bunk sleeper or a day cab with a fold down couchette sleeper and they were quite basic but you had everything which you needed a bit like the old air cooled VWs and they seemed to be a wagon which you either loved or hated mostly because of the column gear change as they were very close together and constant mesh but they had a lot more room in the cab than most other makes at the time. They were very quiet in the cab but not in the same league as a Bussing and did the job fine unless you had the V10 then you could blow most things off the road. 
cheers Johnnie 
I’ve had a few over the years and loved them, but the one I’ve got now leaves a lot to be desired.
Used to like the old F90/F2000s a 500 V10 Roadhaus was a nice lorry.
Evening all, MAN…possibly one of the best lorry engineering concerns ever!!! But again my experience with them ceased sort of mid 90s. But I rate them really highly. Cheerio for now
Drove a MAN early 70’s (Saviem cab) column shift Fuller 13 speed, great motor also owned a MAN tipper a while back,again a good motor,but have been told they’ve had problems of late 
i drove a man 321 on a b plate , 13 speed fuller , finest lorry i ever drove . i think the pump had been "adjusted " because it would catch pigeons up hill and down dale . as an example it went over the top of wadshelf at 45 mph fully loaded ( usually about 41 tons ) . it was prone to snapping head bolts , but it was only a half hour job to replace the bolts and head gasket . the only downside was the bunk was cold with rear window close to your back . cheers , dave
Saviem:
Evening all, MAN…possibly one of the best lorry engineering concerns ever!!! But again my experience with them ceased sort of mid 90s. But I rate them really highly. Cheerio for now
Would I be right in saying that they taught Mercedes Benz how to make commercial vehicle engines? I refer to the MAN D25 series engines from 1969, or OM400 in Merc-speak. They must have earned well out of it.
Commercially, from what I can gather, MAN was a shrewd, ruthless company. During the 1960s, they bought and sold engineering with consummate expertise- engine design to MB, cabs from Saviem (in return for the old engine design!), Saviem cabs to Raba and Roman. Etc etc, probably! They bought out competitors and got their money back by moving the tools into other markets- OAF and Bussing cabs went onto Turkish MANs. They went from being small fry, albeit with an engineering office as good as anyone’s, to becoming one of the (remaining) big players. They made it look easy. At least, that’s how it appears to me.
Here’s a question- why did MAN take the Saviem cab, when it was no more modern than the Bussing one? Did the Bussing takeover happen after the deal with Saviem had been struck?
Apologies for the lack of umlauts. This forum does not speak German.
Hullo all,
I’ve not looked too closely but I guess that these must be MAN’s. There are absolutely thousands of them in Brasil. Oops! Sorry, When I downloaded these from my photos they were the right way up. I blame this iPad I’m using, there’s no way of altering them as far as I can see. Never mind I will try the next time to use my computer.
Cheers, Archie.
Hullo all,
Try again, this bloke who lives in the same town as my mother in law, travels all over South America in this VW. Argentina, Paraguay, Uraguay and Chile.
Oh! Christ, the bloody things downside up again, think I’ll give up on this iPad lark.
Cheers, Archie.
I was running a DAF when the news came. My local dealer was losing the franchise and they were to choose between Renault and MAN. Everyone at the time hoped they would take MAN, but Renault won.
At that time I went to tipcon and Tooked at the new models and decided that they would be the one to replace my DAF.
I have driven at least 7 or 8 different lorries from them and loved everyone. The old ones with column change were often mentioned by an old boss, her father had bought one of the first 8 wheelers in the country.
Archie, how’s things over there, and when we see you in Thailand again ■■
Don’t worry about your pic’s mate, as when i ( everybody ■■ ) clicks on them they open larger and the correct way up !!!
How that works i have no idea, but it does.
Regards Steve.
M&C steve:
Archie, how’s things over there, and when we see you in Thailand again ■■Don’t worry about your pic’s mate, as when i ( everybody ■■ ) clicks on them they open larger and the correct way up !!!
How that works i have no idea, but it does.
Regards Steve.
Hullo Steve,
Great to hear from you mate, I hope all is going well with you in the L.O.S… I shall most definitely be there at the end of this year / start of next. We intend to come in the other way next time, leave UK, go to Russia and get a Train from Moscow to Beijing, having a few days off on the way. Then from Beijing we will go to Vietnam, Cambodia and finally arrive in Thailand. How’s the New Bike ? Have you done any trips this year ? up to see Chris & But, or over to see Ron & Ruang ? Trouble is the Baht is getting that strong, I won’t be able to afford a Beer. 
Look forward to seeng you again.
Cheers, Archie.
I had one at Irlams and I quite liked it. It’s boxy shape meant that it was dead handy for manoevring / parking but the steering lock was poor (6 legger with a big steering wheel) Lovely and comfy though once you’d got the seat height / weight sorted, otherwise it would have you throught the ceiling at the first pot hole as mine was just fleet spec and not very tall. Oh and BTW hands up all those poor MAN’ers who got locked out of their cabs and had to try and jack it up to try and unlock it through the gear lever hole - NOT funny 
M A N were very underestimated, in my opinion, at Brit European Belgium. we had all M A N at one time. and did 3000 to 5000 kms weekly depaending on borders. in the 17 years i was there, i had selection of different units mostly M A N and then onto drawbars. started with 321–322–362–372 and then my last one was a 422. as said we covered a lot of very hard miles at the time poland== hungary== czeq==sardinia as well as the usual european countries i dont recall having any breakdowns, except one when pump drive broke up in poland. but thats a good record in 17 years i think.here are a few-
otobucket.com/albums/cc470/truckertc/Mar2905.jpg)
regards terry
Archie Paice:
Hullo all,
Try again, this bloke who lives in the same town as my mother in law, travels all over South America in this VW. Argentina, Paraguay, Uraguay and Chile.
Oh! Christ, the bloody things downside up again, think I’ll give up on this iPad lark.
Cheers, Archie.
It’s not your fault. Something to do with pressing the wrong shutter button, there being more than one, for some reason. This site tells you how to get round it:
pcresolver.es/The-PC-Resolve … e-Down.php
Those Brazilian vehicles are VWs. According to this, it appears that the lorry was designed by VW, but MAN bought the firm out in 2009:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen … _and_Buses
[zb]
anorak:Archie Paice:
Hullo all,
Try again, this bloke who lives in the same town as my mother in law, travels all over South America in this VW. Argentina, Paraguay, Uraguay and Chile.
Oh! Christ, the bloody things downside up again, think I’ll give up on this iPad lark.
Cheers, Archie.It’s not your fault. Something to do with pressing the wrong shutter button, there being more than one, for some reason. This site tells you how to get round it:
pcresolver.es/The-PC-Resolve … e-Down.phpThose Brazilian vehicles are VWs. According to this, it appears that the lorry was designed by VW, but MAN bought the firm out in 2009:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen … _and_Buses
Hullo anorak,
Thanks for that information, I did’nt realise that. They pull a fair bit of weight though, Look
By the way there’s only one Button on the iPad for pictures. Maybe I’m pushing it wrong eh?
This is my baby My Brother leased a 16-232 of Mortons of Coventry non sleeper, column change, while the thought of driving it filled me with horror, once you were in it and on the road, it pulled quite well and at the time was one of the most comfortable lorries I had drove, if only it had a sleeper, it was no fun going to Holland or anywhere else on a night out in it.
Drove a few over the years. Favourite was an Xreg 26t with a Roadhause cab and a 414 engine(stretched unit).