But then you could be forgiven for thinking that no two cabs were ever the same anyway!.
Here is a 3MW (and it definitely is a 3MW) with the raised air intakes and different lower rear corners to either of the two cabs above…
The ERF master parts manuals for the 3MW and 5MW just do not make these distinctions.
There are two types of rear corner panel listed, yes, but NOT three!.
There is no mention at all of raised air intakes on any 3MW, yet here is proof in a photo they they were fitted.
A 5MW under construction at ‘■■■■■■■ Distributor Belgium’…
So, to summarise, briefly:
The first MW was the 3MW, which was first used in 1968(?)
The 5MW took over from this in 1972(?)
The 4MW came along at the same time as the 5.
There was no 2 or 6.
Thanks to 3300John, ERF and E R F Peterborough for clarifying the details. Long may the discussion continue.
PS That Belgian operation looks like a proper knife-and-fork job. Look at those axles piled up in a heap. I bet ERF did not offer any sort of paintwork or corrosion warranty.
Thanks ERF. I’m finding this very helpful (even though it’s playing havoc with the folders in my ERF files!!).
A good mnemonic / aide memoire / ezelsbrug to help us here is that auspicious date 18/01/73, for that is the date of the last 3MW, the first 5MW and the unveiled 7MW (if you consider that on that date the NGC 7MW stood on its show stand waiting to be exhibited the next morning). Robert
[zb]
anorak:
So, to summarise, briefly:The first MW was the 3MW, which was first used in 1968(?)
The 5MW took over from this in 1972(?)
The 4MW came along at the same time as the 5.
There was no 2 or 6.
Not quite.
The 4MW was very first MW in November 1968 (according to the records - but John’s pre July 1967 MW could have pre-dated this, but is not recorded). The very first recorded MW is chassis 16625, a 4MW2 cabbed model 6.6 RR220 - 13’1" wheelbase 6x4 tractor unit despatched ex Sun Works on the 4th November 1968. It was the first of a large batch of identical vehicles all UK registered PDD 173 to 199G and PDD 201 to 223G and delivered by road to Jordan Phosphate Mines Co., Amman, Jordan.
Note the air intake pipe up through the cab! - did the driver put his feet either side of it when he lay on the bunk I wonder?.
3MW was replaced by the 5MW from 18th January 1973 - we have a definite date for this now.
There was no 2 or 6 MW.
[zb]
anorak:robert1952:
Carryfast takes the argument a step further by wondering why ERF didn’t develop the NGC 7MW instead of investing in the B-series model, thus delaying the next stage of development until the arrival of the C-series. An interesting point of view, I think. RobertThe idea of developing the 7MW cab instead of the SP makes no sense. The SP was ten years more modern that the Motor Panels cab, plus it was an in-house job- ERF made all the money from the SP whereas, with the MW, it was effectively buying engineering from Motor Panels. Designing the SP cab to suit the entire range of vehicles, from small rigids up to long-distance tractors, was absolutely the right thing to do. If anything, ERF was hobbled by developing three ranges of cabs simultaneously- LV, MW and SP. The A-series cab was launched in 1972, the 7MW in 1973 and the SP in 1974. If the company had been more decisive in the late 1960’s, it would have poured its resources into an earlier SP introduction, and the European would have had an SP sleeper cab in 1972.
Hindsight, of course.
Just to clarify.Firstly I was suggesting that it wasn’t an issue of timelines but just engineering superiority of all metal v SP IE what not when.In which case the Motor Panels cab was superior to the SP regardless of their respective timelines.However having said that it would be fair to say that the final ERF Motor Panels types weren’t a 10 year old cab design on introduction they were up to date ‘developments’ of the Motor Panels design.While I’m also saying that the SP design was effectively a contemporary but retrograde introduction.Certainly to the point where my ( luckily limited experience of the SP in day cab B series form at least ) was arguably a shed reflecting back to an earlier age of plastic cabbed Brit heaps certainly when compared to the DAF 2800 cab.Although ironically if it had to have loads of plastic in the design the Foden S85 seemed to be as good as it got from a personal viewpoint.
On that basis I was suggesting that the ‘European’ type Motor Panels cab should have been maintained and the SP cab design ditched on the basis that the Motor Panels design wasn’t broke,at least by the standards of the 1970’s,so why fix it.Then just start off with a clean sheet in house all metal replacement for the Motor Panels cab along the lines of the SA 400 or Bedford TM ready for the 1980’s which 'would logically have been the replacement ‘C series’ having by passed/ditched what was the B series and its descendents. 
ERF:
A 5MW under construction at ‘■■■■■■■ Distributor Belgium’…0
CDB was a reliable partner when it comes to assembly. For other marques
like Indiana, Federal (and that since 1935) and rebuilds for Autocar, White
and by the time ERF was in the stables also Scania-Vabis, they managed to
show a consistent and trustworthy partner, that being a reason for ERF to
outsource the first 25 vehicles for the continent when EC was not born yet.
I suppose that in lots of 4 vehicles ckd-kits were delivered and on a made to
order but also some stock several MW were assembled, mainly 4x2 tractors
and further 6x4 rigids for tippers and tarsprayers.
Carryfast:
[zb]
anorak:robert1952:
Carryfast takes the argument a step further by wondering why ERF didn’t develop the NGC 7MW instead of investing in the B-series model, thus delaying the next stage of development until the arrival of the C-series. An interesting point of view, I think. RobertThe idea of developing the 7MW cab instead of the SP makes no sense. The SP was ten years more modern that the Motor Panels cab, plus it was an in-house job- ERF made all the money from the SP whereas, with the MW, it was effectively buying engineering from Motor Panels. Designing the SP cab to suit the entire range of vehicles, from small rigids up to long-distance tractors, was absolutely the right thing to do. If anything, ERF was hobbled by developing three ranges of cabs simultaneously- LV, MW and SP. The A-series cab was launched in 1972, the 7MW in 1973 and the SP in 1974. If the company had been more decisive in the late 1960’s, it would have poured its resources into an earlier SP introduction, and the European would have had an SP sleeper cab in 1972.
Hindsight, of course.
Just to clarify.Firstly I was suggesting that it wasn’t an issue of timelines but just engineering superiority of all metal v SP IE what not when.In which case the Motor Panels cab was superior to the SP regardless of their respective timelines.However having said that it would be fair to say that the final ERF Motor Panels types weren’t a 10 year old cab design on introduction they were up to date ‘developments’ of the Motor Panels design.While I’m also saying that the SP design was effectively a contemporary but retrograde introduction.Certainly to the point where my ( luckily limited experience of the SP in day cab B series form at least ) was arguably a shed reflecting back to an earlier age of plastic cabbed Brit heaps certainly when compared to the DAF 2800 cab.Although ironically if it had to have loads of plastic in the design the Foden S85 seemed to be as good as it got from a personal viewpoint.
On that basis I was suggesting that the ‘European’ type Motor Panels cab should have been maintained and the SP cab design ditched on the basis that the Motor Panels design wasn’t broke,at least by the standards of the 1970’s,so why fix it.Then just start off with a clean sheet in house all metal replacement for the Motor Panels cab along the lines of the SA 400 or Bedford TM ready for the 1980’s which 'would logically have been the replacement ‘C series’ having by passed/ditched what was the B series and its descendents.
There is a strange sort of logic to this that I still find a bit attractive. Anorak’s point was that bringing the cab building in-house made economic sense. But the perception still remains for Carryfast that the 7MW was good enough, so just supposing that Motor Panels had handed over the dies and tooling to ERF and let them make 7MW cabs under the ERF name: what then?
I found the NGC with its 7MW cab considerably more comfortable than the B-series in the driving seat. I was amazed subsequently to discover that quite a few other drivers had found the same. Wobbe Reitsma reported that Dutch and Belgian drivers had preferred the NGC but that the B-series were more frugal. A Horridge driver blogged on here ages ago, having driven both, and said much the same. Robert
I strongly doubt if you can (so simply) compare the NGC with a B, for sure with regard to less power
It would be awesome if the archives mention something on the 25 ckd-kits…towards CDB
ERF-Continental:
I strongly doubt if you can (so simply) compare the NGC with a B, for sure with regard to less power
I even got my rose-tinted spectacles on the National Health! Robert 
In fact ERF did quite well with their ‘policy’ to emphasize on different markets, both in terms of logistics,
marketing, customs and the hands-on goal …by supplying ckd-kits to Belgium to provide a suitable and
competitive lorry for BeNeLux, France, Switzerland…also ERF might have considered ckd-kits forwarded
to middle east-regions with then other/heavier demands and specs…actually the US-assembly-principle.
Out of my archives I now scanned Thibaut’s ERF 64CU335 from 1973. It concerns the ‘permit’ to enable to
get your vehicle approved for road-operations
ERF:
But then you could be forgiven for thinking that no two cabs were ever the same anyway!.
Here is a 3MW (and it definitely is a 3MW) with the raised air intakes and different lower rear corners to either of the two cabs above…0
The ERF master parts manuals for the 3MW and 5MW just do not make these distinctions.
There are two types of rear corner panel listed, yes, but NOT three!.
There is no mention at all of raised air intakes on any 3MW, yet here is proof in a photo they they were fitted.[/q
ERF-Continental:
Out of my archives I now scanned Thibaut’s ERF 64CU335 from 1973. It concerns the ‘permit’ to enable to
get your vehicle approved for road-operations
Good find! I’ve commented on this on the European 1975 thread. 
ERF:
A 5MW under construction at ‘■■■■■■■ Distributor Belgium’…
This picture shows also headlights/foglights in the bumper, like the Delcon-Transitliner, Trans Arabia #123
and Luxemburg’s T5171 (see CM240372) had.
Two ‘questions’ (for my own nightrest) on which type cab it actually is:
ERF-MW-X in the left upper corner, cab parked in front of the factory
ERF-MW-Y in the workshop of a true preserver
A-J
Just a remark…in my parts of the CDB-files there are no remarks on the type of cabs installed, only the vehicle-type
just like 64Cu335 etc
ERF-Continental:
…Two ‘questions’ (for my own nightrest) on which type cab it actually is:ERF-MW-X in the left upper corner, cab parked in front of the factory
I have the original large print of this photo, which I long ago scanned and put on Flickr, from where this copy was taken.
On the original print, I can see that the cab in question is a 4MW export flat split screen cab.
ERF-Continental:
ERF-MW-Y in the workshop of a true preserver
This too is a 4MW cab - a 4MW4 I would say with those 7" headlamps. I am led to believe this cab is from one of the Leicester Heavy Haulage MW tractor units, specifically GJU 718N, but in that photo it looks like a curved split screen cab to me, whereas I think I’m correct in saying GJU had a 4MW home market flat split screen cab.
Could this cab possibly be from RAN 648R, their other 6x4 unit, which I’m sure did have curved screens?.
I don’t know what became of this cab, apparently the vehicle was sold with the restoration incomplete.
All 3,4 and 5MW’s had split windscreens of course, but there was an option for curved and sundym glass.
The curved screens seem to be the same as fitted to the S40 Foden cab by the way.
ERF-Continental:
A-JJust a remark…in my parts of the CDB-files there are no remarks on the type of cabs installed, only the vehicle-type
just like 64Cu335 etc
The cabs are recorded on the build records. If you have chassis numbers they can be checked easily.
@ERF-P…thank you for your remarks!
To be honest…I think the majority of thread-participants will be interested in the
first vehicles, thus:
3MW #17099 tractor for André Lecoq (B)
5MW #22985 tractor for Ets. Thibaut (B)
7MW #22993 tractor for Van Steenbergen (B)
7MW #24684 rigid for Ets. Thibaut (B)
7MW #31927 tractor for Falcon Freight (being the last 7MW)
No hurry naturally…but perhaps you could inform us on what you know (or better
what has been registrated somewhere) on the approx. 25 CKD-kits with destination
CDB-Brussels. Perhaps there were also other planned destinations for assembly?
Thank you in advance!
ERF-Continental:
@ERF-P…thank you for your remarks!To be honest…I think the majority of thread-participants will be interested in the
first vehicles, thus:3MW #17099 tractor for André Lecoq (B)
5MW #22985 tractor for Ets. Thibaut (B)
7MW #22993 tractor for Van Steenbergen (B)
7MW #24684 rigid for Ets. Thibaut (B)
7MW #31927 tractor for Falcon Freight (being the last 7MW)
No hurry naturally…but perhaps you could inform us on what you know (or better
what has been registrated somewhere) on the approx. 25 CKD-kits with destination
CDB-Brussels. Perhaps there were also other planned destinations for assembly?Thank you in advance!
What specific information would you like to see on these chassis numbers A-J ?.
I have already posted the key information on some of these, but if there is anything specific I can ask the holder of the records to look for us.
The 25 CKD kits - that search could take him some time, but I will ask.
Any info on engines and gearboxes for those vehicles would be useful if available, especially gearboxes (as we know that the those particular NGCs had NTC 335s). Robert
