We occasionally get a photo that inspires much discussion, about what was going on, with whom and why! Usually lots of vehicles are involved, possibly in an exotic location. I was prompted into writing this thread, by this pic on the LHD S/A 400 thread, and the discussion that accompanied it:
More please… 
I was just looking at the picture below found somewhere in cyberspace. It shows a 1967 registered D-series Ford with a 10m tilt. Well, it looks like a 10m tilt to me because I passed my lorry test on a D-series Ford coupled to a 33’ (10m) trailer so it probably is! I wonder what those three fabric panels are on the tilt canopy. Would they have been markers for the crane driver to attach lifting gear to - a sort of precursor to the marked lift points a decade later? And where is the port? It looks a bit like Ipswich Docks to me, though the last time I tipped there was in '86. Something to ponder on.
Thought you might like to ponder on this Danish cab, Anorak! Its styling is in keeping with other locally built cabs of the era in Denmark.
ERF-NGC-European:
I was just looking at the picture below found somewhere in cyberspace. It shows a 1967 registered D-series Ford with a 10m tilt. Well, it looks like a 10m tilt to me because I passed my lorry test on a D-series Ford coupled to a 33’ (10m) trailer so it probably is! I wonder what those three fabric panels are on the tilt canopy. Would they have been markers for the crane driver to attach lifting gear to - a sort of precursor to the marked lift points a decade later? And where is the port? It looks a bit like Ipswich Docks to me, though the last time I tipped there was in '86. Something to ponder on.0
Now thats a rarity , lhd, uk 67 plate d1000, bet you could count them on the fingers of 1 hand.
Tony
tonyj105:
ERF-NGC-European:
I was just looking at the picture below found somewhere in cyberspace. It shows a 1967 registered D-series Ford with a 10m tilt. Well, it looks like a 10m tilt to me because I passed my lorry test on a D-series Ford coupled to a 33’ (10m) trailer so it probably is! I wonder what those three fabric panels are on the tilt canopy. Would they have been markers for the crane driver to attach lifting gear to - a sort of precursor to the marked lift points a decade later? And where is the port? It looks a bit like Ipswich Docks to me, though the last time I tipped there was in '86. Something to ponder on.0
Now thats a rarity , lhd, uk 67 plate d1000, bet you could count them on the fingers of 1 hand.
Tony
Good heavens! I hadn’t noticed it was LHD. And it’s got GB stickers too so is clearly intent on taking the tilt with him over the water and bugger the crane! So it could be Antwerp docks. I reckon it’s a Dagenham publicity picture. Still doesn’t explain the panels on the tilt. The thick plottens!
ERF-NGC-European:
Thought you might like to ponder on this Danish cab, Anorak! Its styling is in keeping with other locally built cabs of the era in Denmark.0
I think that rather splendid and quite roomy for the era. Is that a trade plate or the Danish equivalent?
tonyj105:
ERF-NGC-European:
I was just looking at the picture below found somewhere in cyberspace. It shows a 1967 registered D-series Ford with a 10m tilt. Well, it looks like a 10m tilt to me because I passed my lorry test on a D-series Ford coupled to a 33’ (10m) trailer so it probably is! I wonder what those three fabric panels are on the tilt canopy. Would they have been markers for the crane driver to attach lifting gear to - a sort of precursor to the marked lift points a decade later? And where is the port? It looks a bit like Ipswich Docks to me, though the last time I tipped there was in '86. Something to ponder on.0
Now thats a rarity , lhd, uk 67 plate d1000, bet you could count them on the fingers of 1 hand.
Tony
Funnily enough at about that time I was looking at the possibility of providing traction for a large company who delivered cars for Ford. So I was casting about for a unit when I was offered a new LHD D series. I was told Ford had a good few to offload for some reason. I did not pursue that so do not know any further details. But perhaps this explains this one.
Dipster:
tonyj105:
ERF-NGC-European:
I was just looking at the picture below found somewhere in cyberspace. It shows a 1967 registered D-series Ford with a 10m tilt. Well, it looks like a 10m tilt to me because I passed my lorry test on a D-series Ford coupled to a 33’ (10m) trailer so it probably is! I wonder what those three fabric panels are on the tilt canopy. Would they have been markers for the crane driver to attach lifting gear to - a sort of precursor to the marked lift points a decade later? And where is the port? It looks a bit like Ipswich Docks to me, though the last time I tipped there was in '86. Something to ponder on.Now thats a rarity , lhd, uk 67 plate d1000, bet you could count them on the fingers of 1 hand.
TonyFunnily enough at about that time I was looking at the possibility of providing traction for a large company who delivered cars for Ford. So I was casting about for a unit when I was offered a new LHD D series. I was told Ford had a good few to offload for some reason. I did not pursue that so do not know any further details. But perhaps this explains this one.
One of these, perhaps…
ERF-NGC-European:
I was just looking at the picture below found somewhere in cyberspace. It shows a 1967 registered D-series Ford with a 10m tilt. Well, it looks like a 10m tilt to me because I passed my lorry test on a D-series Ford coupled to a 33’ (10m) trailer so it probably is! I wonder what those three fabric panels are on the tilt canopy. Would they have been markers for the crane driver to attach lifting gear to - a sort of precursor to the marked lift points a decade later? And where is the port? It looks a bit like Ipswich Docks to me, though the last time I tipped there was in '86. Something to ponder on.0
Looking through the central rear window,I think there is another panel central to the front of the tilt,
with letters"fes",might this be reference to Fyffes the banana imports?
Bit tenuous but a possibility?
David
ERF-NGC-European:
Thought you might like to ponder on this Danish cab, Anorak! Its styling is in keeping with other locally built cabs of the era in Denmark.0
Thanks for the thought . The cab is indeed a work of art- it is as if they looked at an F86 and thought, “We need something more bubbly.” 
The roof must have taken hours to make, on a wheeling machine. I doubt they would do a fibreglass mould for a one (or two, or three)-off. The destination board (it must be a bus component!) is reminiscent of several German designs we have seen on here. The driver certainly enjoyed first class travel, like those German drivers granted the luxury of a Wackenhut conversion on their LP’s. In those days, it seems the long distance driver was treated like a business traveller, in Europe as well as GB.
ERF-NGC-European:
I was just looking at the picture below found somewhere in cyberspace. It shows a 1967 registered D-series Ford with a 10m tilt. Well, it looks like a 10m tilt to me because I passed my lorry test on a D-series Ford coupled to a 33’ (10m) trailer so it probably is! I wonder what those three fabric panels are on the tilt canopy. Would they have been markers for the crane driver to attach lifting gear to - a sort of precursor to the marked lift points a decade later? And where is the port? It looks a bit like Ipswich Docks to me, though the last time I tipped there was in '86. Something to ponder on.
This is intriguing, for several reasons.
Just as interesting is the arrangement of oddities on the front of the cab- it appears that Ford’s R&D people were using the vehicle for some experiment or other. It looks like a hole has been cut, inboard of the right-hand flap, exposing what looks like a coolant filler cap. There is also a cable passing down, from the hole, through a guide to the lower grille panel. Were they testing experimental cooling systems, or alternative engines? Had they recruited some ex-AEC engineers, who were paranoid about cooling problems on V8s?
[zb]
anorak:ERF-NGC-European:
I was just looking at the picture below found somewhere in cyberspace. It shows a 1967 registered D-series Ford with a 10m tilt. Well, it looks like a 10m tilt to me because I passed my lorry test on a D-series Ford coupled to a 33’ (10m) trailer so it probably is! I wonder what those three fabric panels are on the tilt canopy. Would they have been markers for the crane driver to attach lifting gear to - a sort of precursor to the marked lift points a decade later? And where is the port? It looks a bit like Ipswich Docks to me, though the last time I tipped there was in '86. Something to ponder on.This is intriguing, for several reasons.
I think the vehicle might have been part of Ford’s internal fleet, delivering parts between their European and GB plants. Would Ipswich take complete artics in the late '60s? I think the panels on the tilt are peepholes, so Ford men and customs officers can check what’s inside, without breaking the TIR seal.
Just as interesting is the arrangement of oddities on the front of the cab- it appears that Ford’s R&D people were using the vehicle for some experiment or other. It looks like a hole has been cut, inboard of the right-hand flap, exposing what looks like a coolant filler cap. There is also a cable passing down, from the hole, through a guide to the lower grille panel. Were they testing experimental cooling systems, or alternative engines? Had they recruited some ex-AEC engineers, who were paranoid about cooling problems on V8s?
The other alternative engine was the V8-185 ■■■■■■■ that they offered on these at the time. Here’s a sleeper-cabbed example of a D-series Ford the following year (on a G-plate) that had that engine with a five-speed ZF / two-speed Eaton axle.
The flip side of the sleeper cab argument- while the Danish Mercedes might have been built to give its driver luxurious accommodation, the Ford certainly was not- Italy in one hit, with one driver expected to sleep with the racket of a 3,000 RPM V8 beneath him.
I had forgotten about Ford’s use of the VALE engine- my suspicions about the activities of their engineers with the LHD tractor, further up the page, are reinforced. By 1968, they will have been fully familiar with the half-a-job ■■■■■■■ had done on the development of the engine, so might have been doing whatever they could to make their vehicles right for their customers.
[zb]
anorak:
The flip side of the sleeper cab argument- while the Danish Mercedes might have been built to give its driver luxurious accommodation, the Ford certainly was not- Italy in one hit, with one driver expected to sleep with the racket of a 3,000 RPM V8 beneath him.I had forgotten about Ford’s use of the VALE engine- my suspicions about the activities of their engineers with the LHD tractor, further up the page, are reinforced. By 1968, they will have been fully familiar with the half-a-job ■■■■■■■ had done on the development of the engine, so might have been doing whatever they could to make their vehicles right for their customers.
I occasionally got to drive a D-series with the V8 ■■■■■■■ in it (see pic below) and it wasn’t a great performer as you can imagine, but to be fair it pulled better then the Scania 80 on the same work
[zb]
anorak:ERF-NGC-European:
I was just looking at the picture below found somewhere in cyberspace. It shows a 1967 registered D-series Ford with a 10m tilt. Well, it looks like a 10m tilt to me because I passed my lorry test on a D-series Ford coupled to a 33’ (10m) trailer so it probably is! I wonder what those three fabric panels are on the tilt canopy. Would they have been markers for the crane driver to attach lifting gear to - a sort of precursor to the marked lift points a decade later? And where is the port? It looks a bit like Ipswich Docks to me, though the last time I tipped there was in '86. Something to ponder on.1
This is intriguing, for several reasons.
0
I think the vehicle might have been part of Ford’s internal fleet, delivering parts between their European and GB plants. Would Ipswich take complete artics in the late '60s? I think the panels on the tilt are peepholes, so Ford men and customs officers can check what’s inside, without breaking the TIR seal.Vx was essex reg which would tie it into the ford fleet. I’ve got a close up of that sleeper d series in my official ford bodybuilder book, always liked the look of it
TonyJust as interesting is the arrangement of oddities on the front of the cab- it appears that Ford’s R&D people were using the vehicle for some experiment or other. It looks like a hole has been cut, inboard of the right-hand flap, exposing what looks like a coolant filler cap. There is also a cable passing down, from the hole, through a guide to the lower grille panel. Were they testing experimental cooling systems, or alternative engines? Had they recruited some ex-AEC engineers, who were paranoid about cooling problems on V8s?
ERF-NGC-European:
Back-up evidence! ^^^ :
Heres another clipping about that Ford D from 1969.
I don’t think that D1000 at the Docks is part of the Ford fleet, would it not have Ford logo’s on and be the same livery as the Ford factory D1000’s shown in the other pics! Alfred Ellis who I worked for in the Northeast kept his D1000’s in the original factory paintwork with no signwriting added, as this one seems to be. The wiring on the the front panel could also be a badly located radio aerial fitted there for the cable to be easily run into the cab, is the dark circle not just a sticker. Franky.
