You will have noticed from other threads that DEANB is going through his old trucking mags and finding delights for us. Whilst doing so, he has also been keeping a weather eye out for anything pertaining to the ERF NGC for me; hence the Dutch article he posted this week on this thread. Here’s another excellent ‘find’: an article from TRUCK in January 1976 in which the editor looks back at the highlights of the previous year. One of the great highlights was, of course, the way the ERF NGC stormed round the Belgian test route. It’s a great eulogy and starts halfway down the third column. Robert
Evening all,
Robert, does it not strike you, and others reading the old copies of Truck, just what a great objective magazine Pat put together. Others have tried to copy the formulae…but something is always missing…just that spark of real enthusiasm and love for the industry!
And the initial copies of all Pats road tests came from a battered portable typewriter…but if he used the red ribbon…look out if it was addressed to you…for it was serious point that he was making…and needed to be noted!!
And I can remember red ribbon memos going to Sweden,Germany, and Holland…(not all for the same reason)!!!
His road testing formulae was to become the standard for European Journalists…I can remember spending a very late evening in a rather nice Paris Restaurant being grilled by the leading French Journalists Pascal Stich, and Roger Roy about Pats background, and methods…six months later their respective employers revised their road testing procedures to align with Truck`s.
His driving ability could not be doubted…but when conducting a road test he always asked the factory representative" how should I drive this lorry"…and he always drove as instructed…irrespective of how he would have driven that vehicle personally…and believe me that could lead to some mirth…and the odd little printed aside!!
It is nice to read the copy put up by DEAN B, I had long forgotten just how good were the articles, and the magazine itself.
I now regret getting rid of all of my copies some long time ago…but the memories of those Eurotests are still vivid in my head…Particularly when “my lorry” was one of the best…
I think a largish Bollinger will rekindle those memories…
Cheerio for now.
Saviem:
Evening all,Robert, does it not strike you, and others reading the old copies of Truck, just what a great objective magazine Pat put together. Others have tried to copy the formulae…but something is always missing…just that spark of real enthusiasm and love for the industry!
And the initial copies of all Pats road tests came from a battered portable typewriter…but if he used the red ribbon…look out if it was addressed to you…for it was serious point that he was making…and needed to be noted!!
And I can remember red ribbon memos going to Sweden,Germany, and Holland…(not all for the same reason)!!!
His road testing formulae was to become the standard for European Journalists…I can remember spending a very late evening in a rather nice Paris Restaurant being grilled by the leading French Journalists Pascal Stich, and Roger Roy about Pats background, and methods…six months later their respective employers revised their road testing procedures to align with Truck`s.
His driving ability could not be doubted…but when conducting a road test he always asked the factory representative" how should I drive this lorry"…and he always drove as instructed…irrespective of how he would have driven that vehicle personally…and believe me that could lead to some mirth…and the odd little printed aside!!
It is nice to read the copy put up by DEAN B, I had long forgotten just how good were the articles, and the magazine itself.
I now regret getting rid of all of my copies some long time ago…but the memories of those Eurotests are still vivid in my head…Particularly when “my lorry” was one of the best…
I think a largish Bollinger will rekindle those memories…
Cheerio for now.
You are right, Saviem, Pat Kennett was superb at what he did. I have numerous little cuttings with his take on all things mechanical in the world of lorries. He was a genius in his way: a Fred Dibna of the HGV world, perhaps. There is little passion in today’s accounts of what goes on in transport. It has all become so terribly clinical - probably because lorries are now so terribly clinical: or am I becoming a time-expired old cynic? Robert
Sorry, wandering from the thread here - I do seem to have this bad habit! Do either of you two know Peter Minnis?
Peter became one of the Caravan Subbies. Before I spoke with him I assumed he was Swedish. His naturally blond hair made blonder by the sun.
His truck (I’m sad to say I can’t remember what it was, but I think it may have been Dutch) was old and unreliable and he seemed to spend a disproportionate amount of time repairing it.
Peter was university educated, but fitted in comfortably with the rest of us and we had many a happy evening playing chess, at which he could be beaten, and scrabble, at which he was the master!
When he left in about 1982, he presented himself at Truck magazine and told them he thought their articles on Saudi were rubbish and was amazed to be told ‘well if you’re so clever, write us some’. He did and was very good at it - bringing to life travelling behind a steel rod carrying Tonka at night.The rods had slipped so far back they were dragging on the road. Peter described travelling behind this firework display.
He described the ‘Water Buffalo’ next to the main road near Abqaiq. It had been hit by a truck and died at the side of the road. As we travelled back and forth to Riyadh it got bigger day by day, gas inflating it, and also smellier! You couldn’t drive past it with the window open! Eventually it exploded and gradually disappeared, presumably eaten by scavengers, and became less smelly. No human hand removed it.
This kind of thing was an everyday occurrence for us, but must have seemed unbelievable to the ‘Truck’ audience of the time.
We exchanged letters for a while and I think he went on to the permanent staff, and eventually into publishing himself. We still exchange Christmas cards, but it’s a few years since we met now.
John
John West:
Sorry, wandering from the thread here - I do seem to have this bad habit! Do either of you two know Peter Minnis?Peter became one of the Caravan Subbies. Before I spoke with him I assumed he was Swedish. His naturally blond hair made blonder by the sun.
His truck (I’m sad to say I can’t remember what it was, but I think it may have been Dutch) was old and unreliable and he seemed to spend a disproportionate amount of time repairing it.
Peter was university educated, but fitted in comfortably with the rest of us and we had many a happy evening playing chess, at which he could be beaten, and scrabble, at which he was the master!
When he left in about 1982, he presented himself at Truck magazine and told them he thought their articles on Saudi were rubbish and was amazed to be told ‘well if you’re so clever, write us some’. He did and was very good at it - bringing to life travelling behind a steel rod carrying Tonka at night.The rods had slipped so far back they were dragging on the road. Peter described travelling behind this firework display.
He described the ‘Water Buffalo’ next to the main road near Abqaiq. It had been hit by a truck and died at the side of the road. As we travelled back and forth to Riyadh it got bigger day by day, gas inflating it, and also smellier! You couldn’t drive past it with the window open! Eventually it exploded and gradually disappeared, presumably eaten by scavengers, and became less smelly. No human hand removed it.
This kind of thing was an everyday occurrence for us, but must have seemed unbelievable to the ‘Truck’ audience of the time.
We exchanged letters for a while and I think he went on to the permanent staff, and eventually into publishing himself. We still exchange Christmas cards, but it’s a few years since we met now.
John
I don’t know this name. But it is possible that he wrote under a pen-name for the truck mags. Also - and DENB take note here - quite a few LDDs were written in the ‘My Mistake’ section of TRUCKING INTERNATIONAL in the very early '90s, including some excellent pieces of Middle-East overland stuff by Richard Larman and Lawrence Kiely. Perhaps ‘Saviem’ can give you a more satifying answer! Cheers. Robert
Evening all,
John, yes I remember Peter. I seem to remember that when he left Truck he secured some financial backing and floated a new magazine in the UK. Now it was either the Swedish backed Trucking International, or a short lived, but well put together Transport title, the correct title of which I will probably remember when I am cutting Hay tomorrow! Should I be able to wake up, Im so cream crackered tonight…and only a few acres cut!
When the Berliet Le Centaur was first launched we tried to put together an exclusive for Truck in the UK. to drive the first in service model. This had been delivered to the Aquilino Brothers Fleur de France operation in the Peranche Market s of Lyon. Aquilino Brothers had been a key Saviem operator in the heart of Berliet country. Running a number of SM340 V8s, and they did make them work…quick, and hard…
So the deal was sold to the Aquillino`s that Pat would drive the Centaure for a few Kms , and having explained in detail who Pat was, and what he had done, and that he was not the sort of chap they would expect to be a journalist…and off the plane at Lyon Brun…stepped Peter!!!
They were not keen on a substitute being allowed to drive…what really was a very, (expensive), new lorry and Lamberet Trailer…
But in the end agreed…talk about a tense atmosphere in the cab…and all the time trying to ensure that Peter did not know the attitude of the Aquillino`s to him piloting their pride and joy… but he did not hit anything!!!
And to this day I do not know if Truck ever printed anything on that day in Le Centaure.
Hope that he is doing well, seemed a decent sort of chap
Medicinal Bollinger is called for…
Yesterday my new Consultant advised me to “change my lifestyle”…“.to what?” I asked…no reply was forthcoming…
Cheerio for now.
Saviem:
Evening all,John, yes I remember Peter. I seem to remember that when he left Truck he secured some financial backing and floated a new magazine in the UK. Now it was either the Swedish backed Trucking International, or a short lived, but well put together Transport title, the correct title of which I will probably remember when I am cutting Hay tomorrow! Should I be able to wake up, Im so cream crackered tonight…and only a few acres cut!
When the Berliet Le Centaur was first launched we tried to put together an exclusive for Truck in the UK. to drive the first in service model. This had been delivered to the Aquilino Brothers Fleur de France operation in the Peranche Market s of Lyon. Aquilino Brothers had been a key Saviem operator in the heart of Berliet country. Running a number of SM340 V8s, and they did make them work…quick, and hard…
So the deal was sold to the Aquillino`s that Pat would drive the Centaure for a few Kms , and having explained in detail who Pat was, and what he had done, and that he was not the sort of chap they would expect to be a journalist…and off the plane at Lyon Brun…stepped Peter!!!
They were not keen on a substitute being allowed to drive…what really was a very, (expensive), new lorry and Lamberet Trailer…
But in the end agreed…talk about a tense atmosphere in the cab…and all the time trying to ensure that Peter did not know the attitude of the Aquillino`s to him piloting their pride and joy… but he did not hit anything!!!
And to this day I do not know if Truck ever printed anything on that day in Le Centaure.
Hope that he is doing well, seemed a decent sort of chap
Medicinal Bollinger is called for…
Yesterday my new Consultant advised me to “change my lifestyle”…“.to what?” I asked…no reply was forthcoming…
Cheerio for now.
Maybe to a “two up and two down” in Dudley 
Cheers Dennis.
Don’t recall/find if this info was posted earlier but on Brussels Show of 1973
two ERF NGC’s were launched, a 4x2 rigid and a 4x2 tractor.
On the attached pictures one sees at the left the rigid for Ets. Thibaut from
Strée with JJ.393 as registration and chassis # 24684, at the right the tractor
for Van Steenbergen/Transport Arendonk with AFU.615 as registration and
chassis # 22993, respectively the second and first NGC. Seperate also some
pictures during their operational life. Mind the (in the first years) assembled
Lucas-bulb-indicators.
Thanks for firming up that connection for us, A-J. I was never quite sure if the left-hand vehicle was the Thibault prime-mover or not. Great stuff! Robert
robert1952:
…as well as Dave Anslow, there were Jerry Cooke, Vince Cooke and Wobbe Reitsma at Gaydon this week. A very good ‘do’. Robert
You almost met myself and the the ERF ‘archivist’ too! I bumped into him in the foyer in front of the stall, but you were deep in conference with someone at the time. I didn’t get a chance to come back over and see you, I don’t know if he did?.
ERF:
robert1952:
…as well as Dave Anslow, there were Jerry Cooke, Vince Cooke and Wobbe Reitsma at Gaydon this week. A very good ‘do’. RobertYou almost met myself and the the ERF ‘archivist’ too! I bumped into him in the foyer in front of the stall, but you were deep in conference with someone at the time. I didn’t get a chance to come back over and see you, I don’t know if he did?.
Alas no. Please muscle in next time! I’ll be at Kelsall and Gaydon Retro. Sorry to have missed you! Robert
Now here is a fascinating and rare glimpse into Peter Foden’s attitude to the fortunes of the ERF NGC in particular, and their European thrust in general. It was a letter to TRUCK mag in July 1975, a month after the iconic Euro-Test in which that vehicle excelled. DEANB brought this marvellous cutting to my attention! Robert
Nice article, however less has been effected with regard to the small number of dealers and service agents.
Herewith the ■■■■■■■ ReCon for waterpumps a frequent ‘problem’ with the NGC’s
DEANB managed to secure some pictures of Horridge lorries from an old driver. Here’s another picture of Phil Horridge’s NGC standing in the yard. It’s probably at the end of its life there, as it’s lost its visor and is looking a little forlorn. Was it used as a yard shunter at the end? Robert
Heres an advert i found.
DEANB:
Heres an advert i found.0
Those are all RHD MV-cabbed ERFs for the Oz/NZ market in the pic.
I’m following up your leads about the possibility of Phil Horridge’s NGC (above) - KRH 253P - having a modified driveline. Cheers, Robert
DEANB:
Found these pics in one of my old Observers books.0
Ah! Well found! 
That must be the 1978 or 9 edition: I’ve often suspected that the NGC might lurk with those pages. It certainly doesn’t feature in the editions before or after it. Cheers, Robert
Nice find, however it was the 1974 edition.
