Kev73:
You may be lucky finding someone who still has one,but with the newest being
1996 on a P-reg AFAIAC,and with large numbers of contract lease buy backs
being sold for export many years ago,it may be a tall order!but there must be the odd one hiding away somewhere
Too true.
Mine ended up going to Africa…
acd1202:
From 1993 onwards the brochure and price list had both twin steer and mid-lift available in the UK.
So do you have the brochure? does it have photos or is it more a list of numbers?
Amongst others Shanahans 1626.
Van Gend and Loos.Are they still trading?
Haungarocamion at Dover
Pegasus of Fulham 1617.
And again.
John Collier at Rosslare.Are these still trading?
Big 44 car at Keelings Dublin.
Pat McMahons 1617.
Meadows 1633 at Old Trafford.
Meadows 1626
Clada 1735 at Dublin fruit market
Would it be being overly picky to point out that for Euro2,the 2538 had the
OM442 14.62ltr V8 engine,but a derated OM442LA?
Just as the Euro2 1827 and 1831 used derated OM441LAs
I got to drive 5 different SK’s…
1617,1625,1628,1733 & a 1835 All of them tractor units( 
1817 T/U !! )…
Massive steering wheels, but I liked them… Never had one breakdown on me…
Edited because I can’t count how many I’d driven… 
…
whiplash:
Van Gend and Loos.Are they still trading?
Whiplash, Van Gend & Loos were bought out over 10 years ago, but for the moment I can’t remember who bought them out…
Geoffo
Would the 1617 be one of the ones with the 7 speed gearbox? technically
a close ratio 6 speed + crawler.remember PDI=ing a load of them,with some
1621s (also 7 speed) for argos in1989
Use to do groupage in to Van Gend & loos , in Eindhoven for International Express
Thanks lads,re V.G.L.
acd1202:
8LXBV8BRIAN:
Spec sheet for Mercedes 2435S it has the same V8 engine as the 2538ls.
Sorry to contradict you but the '38, is not the same engine as the '35, both V8 true. The 35 engine was the 14.62 litre (128x142) unit first seen here normally aspirated in the 25 and 28 and turbocharged but not intercooled. The later 38 engine was the earlier 12.76 litre short stroke block (125x130) used in the 26 but had both turbochargers and intercooler. You could tell the difference when driving them, because whilst turbos and electronics gave a 38 more torque than a 26 could ever have dreamed of, and indeed more than a 35; when compared to the 14.62 litre engines of the 35, 44, 48, 50 or 53, the 38 always reved more freely, the engine note was a bit higher pitched and the exhaust brake less effective.
Interesting stuff, this. When were all these different variants built? IIRC, the '35 was Merc’s first turbo effort, in 1980. Was a later type '35 not launched (1984?) to complement the '44, with the G cab, and called Powerliner?
[zb]
anorak:acd1202:
8LXBV8BRIAN:
Spec sheet for Mercedes 2435S it has the same V8 engine as the 2538ls.Sorry to contradict you but the '38, is not the same engine as the '35, both V8 true. The 35 engine was the 14.62 litre (128x142) unit first seen here normally aspirated in the 25 and 28 and turbocharged but not intercooled. The later 38 engine was the earlier 12.76 litre short stroke block (125x130) used in the 26 but had both turbochargers and intercooler. You could tell the difference when driving them, because whilst turbos and electronics gave a 38 more torque than a 26 could ever have dreamed of, and indeed more than a 35; when compared to the 14.62 litre engines of the 35, 44, 48, 50 or 53, the 38 always reved more freely, the engine note was a bit higher pitched and the exhaust brake less effective.
Interesting stuff, this. When were all these different variants built? IIRC, the '35 was Merc’s first turbo effort, in 1980. Was a later type '35 not launched (1984?) to complement the '44, with the G cab, and called Powerliner?
hi anorak,
the first 1635 in south wales was the one below d661 mep.she was new in 1986 and was the then new entry level powerliner model,that replaced the 1633 which was a twin turbo v8 that had been available in the uk since 1983.the then bigger brother to the 35 was the 44 usually with the larger g cab.around 1989 the 1635 became the sk 1735 and the big brother 1748.these were then replaced with the 1838 and 1853.joint motorways ran
several dozen sk’s over the years.a real good workhorse in their day and i would love to own a eurocab 1853 now 
[album][/
]
Thanks for the info chaps. More history of the NG here:
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_NG
It appears that the '38 preceded the '35/'44, being launched in 1980, along with the option of the wider “G” cab:
…and here:
media.daimler.com/dcmedia/0-921- … 0-0-0.html
According to this, the '38 had the longer-stroke OM422 engine, with an intercooler as mentioned above. The 1633 lacked the intercooler. It does say that the much later SK1838 returned to the smaller OM402 engine size.
Must have been a nightmare ordering parts for them!
Do Sparshatts have any pictures of Coulling Brothers lorries, it would be reall great to some pictures
TDL102:
Andy L:
When working at Sparshatts as an apperentice in the early 80s. We had a 1628 customized it was called The Muscle Truck.
Does anybody have photos of it.TDL102 do you have some■■?.
It was painted black chassis and the colours were like Tiffany Sharwood colours champange i think
Air stack coming up the door pillar, full chassis infill and some art work by John the brush,Air kit, Airhorns and many more bitstream
I think Mercs used for promo work?There were two “Truckers Trucks” one silver 4x2 and one black 6x2, the black one got sold to T Brady off the motor show stand if I remember rightly.
We have some pics somewhere I think, will have to dig them out.
Kev73:
GeoffoWould the 1617 be one of the ones with the 7 speed gearbox? technically
a close ratio 6 speed + crawler.remember PDI=ing a load of them,with some
1621s (also 7 speed) for argos in1989
I don’t know about tractor units but the 1617 rigids I drove all had the 4-sp ‘slap-over’ range change.
acd1202:
8LXBV8BRIAN:
Spec sheet for Mercedes 2435S it has the same V8 engine as the 2538ls.Sorry to contradict you but the '38, is not the same engine as the '35, both V8 true. The 35 engine was the 14.62 litre (128x142) unit first seen here normally aspirated in the 25 and 28 and turbocharged but not intercooled. The later 38 engine was the earlier 12.76 litre short stroke block (125x130) used in the 26 but had both turbochargers and intercooler. You could tell the difference when driving them, because whilst turbos and electronics gave a 38 more torque than a 26 could ever have dreamed of, and indeed more than a 35; when compared to the 14.62 litre engines of the 35, 44, 48, 50 or 53, the 38 always reved more freely, the engine note was a bit higher pitched and the exhaust brake less effective.
hallo ACD you have right the first '38 was with the OM402 engine,over here it was a disaster less powerfull as the '35 and higher fuel consumption.
i knew a company who changed it’s orders for the '34 (OM401) V6,who was better on fuel but had no power anymore.
Than came the '38 with the engine volume (14’6L) as the '35 (OM442) and was as good as the '35 (OM422).
The 1928 was followed by the 1929 which had a exact 15 liter engine V8 but was not long lived here.
In belgium, only the '35 could be seen as real competitor for scania and Volvo. Even not the '44,'48 '50 or '53.
Cheers Eric,
When i first started in the trade in 1989,the 1729 and 2429 (twin steer)
were considered the mainstream,and the 1735/2435 were the dogs doo-dahs if
you got one! Incredably,even then,some people ran 1726 at 38tons!!
Kev73:
GeoffoWould the 1617 be one of the ones with the 7 speed gearbox? technically
a close ratio 6 speed + crawler.remember PDI=ing a load of them,with some
1621s (also 7 speed) for argos in1989
I had a 1617 with a 7 speed fitted with a granning lift axle plated at 23 tonnes, went as fast empty as it did loaded but time i’d finished with it it had done well over 1million kms wasnt dear to run just slow off the mark !That was one a D REG. Bought a 1733 after that that had been stretched with an EPS box that did well with no significant problems,the tag axle was the worst part of that one but the Merc part was fine that was a H plate. As the 1733 was so good bought a 1834 on a N reg and stretched that and put a drag trailer behind it but found it wasnt the lorry the 1733 was .Its fate was sealed with liner problems had the engine rebuilt but wasnt the same so it had to go abroad with the others.
