DEANB:
A couple of old adverts.@ DEANB. Very well done indeed! What fantastic evidence; and great detective work! In my quest for the fortunes of the ERF NGC, I value most those primary sources such as you have posted here. The vehicle shown appears to be KDM 460N: ERF’s test / demo unit for the famous (and for me, iconic) 1975 European truck test conducted by TRUCK magazine. Thank you for posting this. Robert
robert1952:
DEANB:
A couple of old adverts.@ DEANB. Very well done indeed! What fantastic evidence;
The patriotism in those adds is crying out but the government wasn’t listening in the form of imposing import barriers,as opposed to EEC membership and open door trade. 
Carryfast:
robert1952:
DEANB:
A couple of old adverts.@ DEANB. Very well done indeed! What fantastic evidence;
The patriotism in those adds is crying out but the government wasn’t listening in the form of imposing import barriers,as opposed to EEC membership and open door trade.
Always the transport politician, Carryfast (!) and I have some sympathy with your drift; but in this case yes: if UK operators had bought ERF NGCs instead of Scandi trucks it would have been good for Britain - but then we get back to the back-up on the road issues again, alas. If you are hinting at blatant French-style protectionism, then we are 40 years too late. Robert
Carryfast:
The patriotism in those adds is crying out but the government wasn’t listening in the form of imposing import barriers,as opposed to EEC membership and open door trade.
If import barriers had been put in place, there would have been no ERF European, of any specification. Why? Because, the European market would have responded in kind, blocking British imports, leaving ERF with no incentive to develop a vehicle for that market. GB would still, even to this day, be using 200bhp 32 ton vehicles. If you think that is far-fetched, look at another market which has, so far, resisted the urge to sample European automotive technology- former British colony, India.
Well you all know how highly I regard the NGC, but I am always prepared to wear a cynic’s hat! ERF had already missed a trick by delaying the release of the superb export NGC model to UK hauliers by two years. By 1975 the ‘buy British’ flag was falling limp, as UK hauliers flocked to buy DAF, MAN, Saviem, Mercedes, Volvo, Scania etc etc. Protectionism had already become a dirty word this side of the channel. It is surely no coincidence that those Buy British adverts bravely sporting pictures of an ERF NGC were placed in the very same issue of TRUCK magazine that contained the famous Pat Kennett Euro Test in which the ERF NGC so spectacularly excelled! Robert
robert1952:
Carryfast:
robert1952:
DEANB:
A couple of old adverts.@ DEANB. Very well done indeed! What fantastic evidence;
The patriotism in those adds is crying out but the government wasn’t listening in the form of imposing import barriers,as opposed to EEC membership and open door trade.
If you are hinting at blatant French-style protectionism, then we are 40 years too late. Robert
That’s more or less what I mean’t but at least in the form of clear honest tarriffs/quotas that enforced trade balance. 
[zb]
anorak:
If import barriers had been put in place, there would have been no ERF European, of any specification. Why? Because, the European market would have responded in kind, blocking British imports, leaving ERF with no incentive to develop a vehicle for that market.
Like today it’s best not to kick off an all out trade war with a net importer of your products.On that note I was actually referring to just enforcing a trade balance situation not keep everything out.While the ads were obviously all about domestic sales to domestic operators. 
Yes, the ads were clearly aimed at the more patriotically inclined operators. But the stable door by then was open and the horse had bolted because UK operators doing the Continent were buying Mercs, DAFs, Volvos and Scanias; because the ERF NGC had little back-up abroad; and because the NGC had not been released at home nobody was aware of how good it was. The more I think about that two-year delay, the more ill-conceived it seems to have been.
I’m even inclined to wonder if that that delay may have been an even greater reason for the low take-up in the UK, than the poor back-up abroad factor. Robert
Another nice book review this morning in the Scottish truck paper, Transport News (August 2016)!
It’s interesting that the review homed in on the single Scottish example in the book, Peter Davies’s picture of an NGC operated by Greer of Holytown. He mentions that it would have been hauling computers. This makes sense, as I remember using an identical 40-foot tandem box trailer for computer transport in the early '80s. Robert
robert1952:
I’m even inclined to wonder if that that delay may have been an even greater reason for the low take-up in the UK, than the poor back-up abroad factor. Robert
As usual more like the buying habits of the domestic customer base.Back up abroad at that point would have been based along the same lines as everywhere else.IE firstly prevention in the form of a reliable solid product,in this case with typical well proven ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ driveline.Being better than cure in the form of what would have followed the same lines throughout Europe of the strongest back up being in the domestic market of the product in question.
Realistically in this case we’re looking at no substitute for trade barriers to compensate for the less Nationalistic buying habits of the domestic market compared to all the rest.
Today’s Dave Wallace pictures show a trip from Enderby to Horton with a crusher at 105 tons gross. They also highlight that trailer with the dolly at the front. There was more to this story, to be revealed in Book 3!! Robert
That dolly looks like it was designed and made by a particularly smelly farmer. The overall idea seems sound though- with a bit of extra articulation in the vertical plane, it would look great, IMO. I like the way that- so it appears- the thing can be hooked up into the neck of the trailer with those hydraulic cylinders, for- I assume- light running, or a bit of extra traction. I’m guessing that that lift mechanism is clear of the dolly’s chassis in normal running.
[zb]
anorak:
That dolly looks like it was designed and made by a particularly smelly farmer. The overall idea seems sound though- with a bit of extra articulation in the vertical plane, it would look great, IMO. I like the way that- so it appears- the thing can be hooked up into the neck of the trailer with those hydraulic cylinders, for- I assume- light running, or a bit of extra traction. I’m guessing that that lift mechanism is clear of the dolly’s chassis in normal running.
The third pic down shows the dolly axle in raised position. Other pictures I have, show the same trailer with the dolly disconnected altogether and presumably parked up. Robert
Interesting pic’s there Robert! Haven’t seen anything similar before… I bet it was horrible to get it around corners though, I reckon those axles didn’t steer all that well at the back end 
Oh, and nice to hear there’s a third book coming!
Cheers, Patrick
Dont remember seeing this one before ?
DEANB:
Dont remember seeing this one before ?0
Yes, many pages back. It’s the Pountains ERF MDC with a replacement cab (probably an 8MW) and RHD. Robert
PS
Welcome back to the forum, DEANB! You’ve certainly livened it up this week with your usual flourish of photos and articles! Cheers, Robert
DEANB:
Dont remember seeing this one before ?0
Spot on and they look similar to some of the tractors at Cockerill in
Seraing (Liège) and the one from VanDriessche at Sidmar in Zelzate!
To Robert1952
Well it’s clear that YOU decide when input is relevant to the (old) pond you’re angling in and
it shows that you took management of this thread in terms of accepting/neglecting input.
I don’t mind as long as you remain honest but till now you show yourself as a very commercial writer eagerly digging for information to write your books. Good as it suits the goal here to read
posts on this lorry but it appears you frequently neglect posts from serious people.
No harm done, your books are nice to read with a glass in front of a fire-place or a garden-view.
Marianne & Luc
Macadam-woman:
To Robert1952Well it’s clear that YOU decide when input is relevant to the (old) pond you’re angling in and
it shows that you took management of this thread in terms of accepting/neglecting input.I don’t mind as long as you remain honest but till now you show yourself as a very commercial writer eagerly digging for information to write your books. Good as it suits the goal here to read
posts on this lorry but it appears you frequently neglect posts from serious people.No harm done, your books are nice to read with a glass in front of a fire-place or a garden-view.
Marianne & Luc
What?