Darlings, forgive me for banging on about these graceful creatures but I do think they were a delight to the eye, don’t you think? Robert 
![vermeulen-erf-02[2].JPG](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/trucknetuk/original/4X/9/d/5/9d53424286047f9f64526423802c1d0cbcb4256f.jpeg)
Dutch ERFs were something of a novelty. Robert
ERF-Continental:
To my opinion (anorak/saviem) ■■■■■■■ was quite established in France…due to various sectors
as construction, mining, marine, generators and automotive, but merely because of the experience
many operators had after WW2 with the army surplus…also Mack, White, Autocar and other US-
trucks found a well-spread bed to proceed, the need for spare parts was enormous as many operators
were tinkering and making their trucks operational. With all respect, I can’t and will not speak for DD
as in BeNeLux it was not a very common engine…but in FTF’s and GMC’s DD found it’s customers…In case a ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ is available between the Bollinger and doubtfull rosé…give a yell! A-J
Hey ERF, Yes DD was less common,some in the Bedfords were sold but not as much as the ■■■■■■■ Transcontinental.
Miesse offered them as an option to Gardner for more power. But with the surplus after WWII we had a lot of them with a DD in it. The two stroke diesel was even more powerfull as the ■■■■■■■ HB just after war. And there were enough DD’s coming out of the Cherman tanks,which we had by the dozen because of left behind after destroyment.
Because lots of Cherman’s had 2 GM engines of ± 200hp. In a lorry they told me it was between 160/180hp.
And for France it was the same story.
cheers Eric,
Well, nice side-pictures of Vermeulen’s…now we all know more about the shape…
Norma Sykes was the cause of nicknaming the ERF KV into Sabrina…how would
we now nickname the ERF NGC in relation to ‘her’ shape and dimensions? Nice day!
Wobbe Reitsma has very kindly agreed to my re-posting his articles on this thread. They are such a valuable contribution to our data-base of knowledge on the subject that I felt it would be a tragedy not to include them here. So I’ll post them now. Cheers Wobbe, if you read this! Robert 
ERF-Continental:
Well, nice side-pictures of Vermeulen’s…now we all know more about the shape…
Norma Sykes was the cause of nicknaming the ERF KV into Sabrina…how would
we now nickname the ERF NGC in relation to ‘her’ shape and dimensions? Nice day!
Not sure about that one! But the NGC acquired the nick-name ‘Sandbach Scania’ 40 years ago! Robert
robert1952:
Darlings, forgive me for banging on about these graceful creatures but I do think they were a delight to the eye, don’t you think? Robert0
To be honest, Bob…(Shed) 
Re;The Hans Burkhart ERF. He bought that from a family garage in Basel on their credit.It broke down so much it broke him & his health -he was a vsry short little guy with a grey beard.The garage reluctantly snatched the truck back. To pay off what he owed Hans had a deal with them.He would work from Monday to Friday doing odd jobs in the garage then go home to Zurich for the weekend. He slept in an old hay loft in the old garage ,so you would arrive at the garage ,think there was nobody there & this little elfs head in a bobble hat would pop up in the loft!
The garage thought they would make some money back getting me to help out driving the beast.It broke down in CH,F,UK & when I say breakdown I mean you lost at least a day or more in sub-zero temps.After about a month I had to jack it for personal safety reasons.You were battling the elements & the machinery
Hiya…
Shed then. I remember Ernie Wise trying to ‘sell’ Glenda Jackson to Eric Morecombe by telling him that she was advertised in the back of the Radio Times. Eric did that thing with his glasses, looked at Ernie and said, ‘So are garden sheds!’
I seriously wonder if Harry’s Swiss NGC might have been a duff one. Jerry Cooke reports that they were really reliable, even in adverse conditions; Eric Vick and Richard Read said much the same; that bloke who ran the Cunard units out of Jeddah said the same in his interview with Motor Transport; Jack Cooke described them as almost trouble-free; some of the Dutch hauliers Wobbe interviewed spoke highly of them. Perhaps Burkhard had a ‘Monday morning’ truck. Sorry Harry, I’m clutching at straws here but with a drive-line like that it shouldn’t have gone wrong, even if the cab was a bit draughty in the winter… Robert 
Well,the idea of trucking is to make money,with Hansli’s rig its patently obvious we didn’t? The other trucks with the same drive line -Whites- where also unreliable,to say the least. Only one truck worse was the terrible Maggie D.
.
Engine was great,it was what was bolted on that shook loose. The spec,on paper, is solid but in practise it fell apart.
harry:
Engine was great,it was what was bolted on that shook loose. The spec,on paper, is solid but in practise it fell apart.
I know we’re talking about the distant past, but if he was having trouble with all the other trucks, might this have been more of an in-house maintenance issue? Robert
Bingo! My fantasy ERF Arabian pic. Robert
Hiya …you’ve
3300John:
Hiya …you’ve left the palm branch of the front Robert !!!
John
Ah yes! Actually, when I was going down that way with lorries it only seemed to be the Syrians who placed palm branches across the grille. The odd northern European ‘Middle-Easter’ did it of course - bit like the bull-fighting spears for those who ran down to the Iberian Peninsula! This one is the reduced-bling version! Robert