ramone:
gingerfold:
With Robert confirming the date of the Ford Transcontinental as April 1975, (Bewick thread) some 18 months after the Marathon, the latest information that AEC / Leyland were considering the Berliet cab for the Marathon is even more interesting. Hazarding a guess then I would suggest that cost would have been the deciding factor that made BL make do with a re-worked Ergomatic cab. The writer of the Marathon article in the AEC Gazette states that no matter what they tried they couldn’t easily eliminate the choppy riding characteristics of the day-cabbed Marathons and the main reason was that the raised cab was top heavy and unbalanced. The sleeper cabbed versions gave a much improved ride; the extra weight of the sleeper giving more balance to the cab.Incidentally I drove a demonstrator TL12 Marathon in 1974 and quite frankly it terrified me for the first hour or so until I got used to it. Up to then I had never driven an artic as powerful and fast as that. The cable operated gear change felt sloppy and the brake pedal felt unresponsive, but to echo Chris Webb’s comment, the performance had to be experienced to be believed.
Weren
t the Transcontinentals quite heavy , I wonder if the cab would have been too heavy for BLs liking and I dont remember a day cabbed version
Yes, the Berliet cab looked to be a heavy structure, plus the ■■■■■■■ engine was 7 cwt heavier than a TL12.