Hi Steve,
Thanks for the info, it’s nice to know Dudley didn’t change,he was always chasing that elusive deal at Tilburys in Southampton 
Peter Tilbury ran Southampton and his brother Michael ran Winchester happy days, I used to deal with a chap called Barry Gibson at the factory nice people to deal with.
Regards
Richard
Famous Berliet 6x4 tipper in the 70 th.
MaggieD:
Hi Steve,Thanks for the info, it’s nice to know Dudley didn’t change,he was always chasing that elusive deal at Tilburys in Southampton
Peter Tilbury ran Southampton and his brother Michael ran Winchester happy days, I used to deal with a chap called Barry Gibson at the factory nice people to deal with.Regards
Richard
He was a very nice man Barry Gibson - Sadly no longer with us 
Steve
Saviem:
Evening Gentlemen, michel, what an evocative photograph…you can almost smell the warm diesels. Those “snapshots” burned into the brain when I first drove in France in the 60s, the “flanc blancs”, the imposing and tasteful designs of the French lorries, and it never diminished when I was working there, and it still does not today!! Thank you, I should think spardo is well pleased!riverstick, now that is an interesting lorry, she was not a demonstrator, but was the very first Le Centaur sold to an operator…and after a long day in the cab of a John Deere, (ploughing at last)!! the name just will not come into this old head!!! (but it will)!! They were based in Lyon, and run by two brothers, the cab was trimmed in brown, not red. You can still see the chrome bumper, and spotlights, and only the side moulding has faded and become painted over in orange.
I arranged a ride for a freelance UK journalist in this lorry, at the request of my friend Pat Kennet, but do not know if anything appeared in the UK. (must have been a long day, Cannot even remember his name)!! But somewhere I will have a record! Handsome old girl, in her day a real beauty queen…and could she, (as all V8 Berliets could), go!!!..oh yes she could!!
Did you know that Berliet granted an assembly licence in Ireland to Smiths Engineering ltd, down in Wexford. I think the man who ran it was John Quinn. They also built ARO 4x4s from Romania, and I think worked in with Harris on Hino. They were also involved in a big way with Renault cars.
First Berliet they built was a TR280, which for some reason was “down specced”, and ran on 1100x20s, not 1200s. And there was some consternation in Venissieux because Smiths wished all cabs to only have a primer finish, not the “new” gloss yellow.
Will look the bits I cannot recall tonight, up when I get chance. Really makes you want to jump in her and go, does it not?
Im away for a Bollinger nightcap, more ploughing tommorow, lots of time to make up, Cheerio for now.
Good evening Saviem,
Yes, I knew someone in Wexford assembled TR 280’s in the early days…I just didn’t know who. Jim Somers of Slaney Commercials took over the franchise for the Berliet in the mid 1970’s and made a cracking good job of marketing them. Berliet TR280’s appeared all over the country giving very satisfactory service to both domestic and international hauliers.
The member on here “TR 280” has restored a really nice TR 280 a few years back and is currently in the middle of doing a nice TR 305
neversweat1:
MaggieD:
Hi Steve,Thanks for the info, it’s nice to know Dudley didn’t change,he was always chasing that elusive deal at Tilburys in Southampton
Peter Tilbury ran Southampton and his brother Michael ran Winchester happy days, I used to deal with a chap called Barry Gibson at the factory nice people to deal with.Regards
RichardHe was a very nice man Barry Gibson - Sadly no longer with us
Steve
Yes Gentlemen, Barry Gibson was an absoluteley superb man, both in connection with Renault Trucks, and also as a person. I would say that he did more to keep Renault customers going, and remain with the marque than anyone within the organisation in the UK. His product knowledge was immense, and his ability to solve problems was without bounds. And he did it all with a smile! I knew Barry from about 76, right up untill he was solving problems with my own Renaults for me in the 90s. He and Margaret were a lovely couple, sadly both have past on, a rare man indeed, and I miss his friendship.
Some of “TR 280’s” photos;
Yes Saviem,
As always you are correct!.. See below
Saviem:
neversweat1:
MaggieD:
Hi Steve,Thanks for the info, it’s nice to know Dudley didn’t change,he was always chasing that elusive deal at Tilburys in Southampton
Peter Tilbury ran Southampton and his brother Michael ran Winchester happy days, I used to deal with a chap called Barry Gibson at the factory nice people to deal with.Regards
RichardHe was a very nice man Barry Gibson - Sadly no longer with us
Steve
Yes Gentlemen, Barry Gibson was an absoluteley superb man, both in connection with Renault Trucks, and also as a person. I would say that he did more to keep Renault customers going, and remain with the marque than anyone within the organisation in the UK. His product knowledge was immense, and his ability to solve problems was without bounds. And he did it all with a smile! I knew Barry from about 76, right up untill he was solving problems with my own Renaults for me in the 90s. He and Margaret were a lovely couple, sadly both have past on, a rare man indeed, and I miss his friendship.
Hi Steve and Saviem,
I am so sorry to hear Barry has passed away,as you say Saviem nothing was too much trouble for him, I remember one day the driver of one of my Magnums phoned in en route from Hamburg to UK to say there was a knock in the engine,an experienced lad who had driven the truck from new,and it had now done in excess of 400,000 kms. He said he would nurse it to Zeebrugge and get the ferry to Dover,I duly sent my wrecker with a spare unit to meet him in Dover. It just happened that Barry phoned that day to say hello and catch up,I told him about the Magnum 420,he said when it arrives at Dover could I take it to the Renault dealer in Kent and get them to look at it, I explained the mileage and it was well out of warranty and I was going to bring it back to our workshop,but he still wanted me to go to the dealer, which we did as Barry insisted. A few hours later the service manager from the dealership phoned to say they were going to fit a new engine !! and I was not to worry as Renault were paying the bill !! and Barry had organised it,and the new engine was already on it’s way from France.
After a quick call to Barry he informed me that this Magnum was an early 420 and synthetic anti freeze has been used at the factory which caused air bubbles to get in the system,and mine happened to have been the first to fail.
He could quite easily have said hard luck you’ll have to sort it yourself, I shall raise a glass to him tonight,now where is that Bollinger !
Regards
Richard
PS I remember Barry in Roger Bastable’s (Abbey Hill) helicopter landing in the car park of a pub in Somerset for lunch,I think it took him a few years to get over it.
Afternoon Gentlemen, Riverstick, Steve Sturgess, that was the freelance journalists name that I could not remember, (old age)!
Looks a nice bit of review, which magazine was that in?
I still reckon that is some good looking lorry, just makes you want to get in her and drive, does it not.
Thanks, Cheerio for now.
Saviem:
Afternoon Gentlemen, Riverstick, Steve Sturgess, that was the freelance journalists name that I could not remember, (old age)!Looks a nice bit of review, which magazine was that in?
I still reckon that is some good looking lorry, just makes you want to get in her and drive, does it not.
Thanks, Cheerio for now.
35 years since it was built and what have we got now? Another foot the height of the cab and about six inches off the engine cover intrusion. Go back 35 years before it was built and there would be no comparison- Le Centaure would be beyond science fiction fantasy, to the people of 1943.
Saviem:
Afternoon Gentlemen, Riverstick, Steve Sturgess, that was the freelance journalists name that I could not remember, (old age)!Looks a nice bit of review, which magazine was that in?
I still reckon that is some good looking lorry, just makes you want to get in her and drive, does it not.
Thanks, Cheerio for now.
Hi Saviem,
Truck magazine was the publisher. They always gave Berliet/Renault products a good review. I remeber Pat Kennet giving the subsequent model, the R310. a great write up a few years later with a phrase like " we could hear little hisses from the Volvo F10 as the driver struggled with the splitter as we effortlessly sailed by him in our heavily laden R310 using its lowdown torque to propel us uphill quickly"
I note from the script a torque output of 1075 ibs/ft. Wasn’t that in the same region of the Scania 141? Le Centuare must have been a real flying machine to drive. Now I understand what you mean when you say ‘loads of low down creamy torque’.
Make you want to get in and drive?..Yes!
Morning all, anorak, what can I say?.. where on earth do you find these interesting bits from!!!
78, we adopted the Black, with red lining for all our TR demonstrators, and press vehicles. I remember working out to the last centime just how many “bling” extras we could afford to put on!!! Given the overall size of requirement for dealers, and the factory. We also had some of the most creative brains in French truck marketing within our marketing department. And given that there was a tight cap on expenditure, (Saviem/Berliet was losing mega money in the merger), there was no possibility of using external marketing agencies, we had to do things “in house”, and were probably more effective for that!!!
We produced some stunning looking lorries, and some quite outlandish ones as well…how about a big TR on massive dumper tyres, with a scarlet bull bar, coupled to a cone cement tank …or a TB dumper with a "Le Centaur type finish, plus of course the "black and reds, with various combinations of lamps, and air horns.
Press demos, were deadly serious business, and preparation was paramount, preparation, not “tweaking”, because it was a fundamental requirement that the end user when he got “his” TR would have a good experience, and similar performance to the press reviews. It was all about credibility. And it worked . Non more so than when we did the “Raid Economie”, a road regularity run, from Paris and Lyon, to Poland, Germany, Italy, Britain, Hungary , Spain, all target markets for the TR305 range. All vehicles were fully freighted, and driven to legal speed limits, (someone…oh dear…forgot that the UK was only 32tons…but the lorry was not stopped!!!
The results were outstanding, somewhere I will have the complete reports, but with a Savoyard tilt I think that the average across all routes taken was upside of 7.5mpg. One of the tractors came straight off the Raid, and was used in Pat`s 79 Eurotest, complete with its stickers showing the compass pointing to each country visited on the cab sides.
The image projected by the demos was used in a poster campaign, featuring all the vehicles. Anoraks little piece shows some of them, …and les girls…it is French after all!!
Saviem:
Morning all, anorak, what can I say?.. where on earth do you find these interesting bits from!!!
That one is on Youtube. If you click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the viewing frame, the video will open in that website. Links to similar videos will be listed in a panel on the right. There are lots of Berliets (and Saviems), old press films and new stuff showing the restorations of enthusiasts. There is a very smart preserved TR300, for example.
I found it while searching for another video, a copy of which I have in my hard drive. It is superior to the one I posted above- it is a proper moving picture of Le Centaure, including footage of Monique! God knows where I got this from, but I can’t find it now- to my knowledge, I have the only copy in existence! I tried to upload it to this site, but it is too big- TNUK posts have a maximum payload of 2MB, and this video was over double that. If anyone has a Youtube licence, or video-chopping software, send me a PM and I will email it to you, so we can all see it.
A link with the Berliet fondation.
fondationberliet.org/galerie … t-renault/
A few of the Black TR’s promotion…
The famous le Centaure ‘Shower Scene’
I guess the French guys really like to replay nostalgia after restoring their Berliets…Great to see the Ladies helping them along…I wonder will they be in Gaydon this year?
Hmmm…It looks like the moral police have tried to twart my ‘Freedom of Expression’…Well here is another way to look at a French lady’s attractive bottom
Riverstick:
The famous le Centaure ‘Shower Scene’
I guess the French guys really like to replay nostalgia after restoring their Berliets…Great to see the Ladies helping them along…I wonder will they be in Gaydon this year?
Hahaha! What a superb post. Vive la France.
Morning Gentlemen, Riverstick, super post!!
The little grey cells have been ticking over regarding our demonstrators, may I share a few thoughts?
When Saviem was created back in the 50s, to identify all the various products as “Saviems”, irespective of which stable they came from, Somua, Latil, Renault, or Floriat, all vehicles were finished in Saviem Blue, as a top coat from the works. Marketing was based around “the blues are coming” etc.
Now when Berliet became part of the Regie Renault, but because of concerns about merging the networks, (and there would without doubt be casualties), it was decided, (a rather disasterous and costly decision), both marques would remain seperate in the field. However it was logical that the “heavy end” would be the 100% French product from Venissieux. But apart from the magnificent new KB cab, the image was not totally good, (the early V8 having seen to that).
Engineering budgets were freed from constraints which had held back the development of the "maxi couple 12 litre under Citroen, and priority was given to the development of the fuel efficiency of this in line 6 engine, (and the new designed 8litre). Urgent redesign of the V8 took place 76/77. But it needed to be re launched, and it needed an image creating!
Now those of you that know France in the 60s and 70s probably remember the lack of perzaz in the livery area…with one or two natable exceptions…the Lefebvre families Trans Artois outfits…Andre Girauds maroon Scanias…my friends at Transports Onatra, but in the main the vehicles were dull visually.
Then came “our” black and reds, unashamadley borrowing chrome bling from the US style, then put a spectacular trailer behind, and add a (delightful) young lady, plus a chauffer who resembled every chauffer routiers hero, Max Meynier and the image began to build. Reinforce that with good media coverage, positive write ups, (and not all in trade journals), and people began to believe…and start to purchase.
Anyway, I have to leave it there for now, a modern 10spotlight beohmoth has just driven into the yard, and squashed some daffodills on the way in!! But I need the fertilizer in his trailer! Funny these modern lorries have no character…think it is a Scania are they not all so bland to look at…Cheerio for now.
