Great pictures Fergie. Thanks for putting them on here. Johnny
Back to Long Noses with the Willème WR8, also called LD 810. Circa 1960.
Built specially for Michelin to test truck tyres on public roads, and able of some 130 kph. The cockpit was issued from a Citroën DS.
Under the endless bonnet, of course the 18 litre Willème Straight-8, with an output of 250 bhp. I think 2 were built, and this one was restored by Michelin.
Fergie47:
pete smith:
Hi Fergie,
Nice pictures mate, here is one for you to spoil the kids with!Ah, a baby donkey…sweet…however Pierre, the kids might be a trifle too old for that, at 46…42. 37 and 35 years old they wouldn’t fit on it either, however the grandchildren would like it !!..
Fergie, I prefer “Grey Menace” than baby donkey! How about this one, a V8 with lots of chimneys 
oiltreader:
Snapped in Holland, I guess “sacre bleu” would be apt.
Oily
Morning all,
I am undone!..No escaping the Emulsion Roller today…
Oilly, thanks for posting one of Pierre Tissier`s, from Villeneuve le Roi, ADPT, (Application Process Pierre Tissier), patented creations. He built these , with two, three, and four axle bogies , on DS, CX, and even on a Renault Espace. There was one, built on a Citroen Maserati SM.
The first “Centipede” was built in 1972, in conjunction with his business as a Panhard motor car dealer, as he could not find a suitable transporter to carry individual cars down to Spain. The first commercial sold example delivered in 1973. There were flat bed recovery units, vans, (2 tonnes payload), Ambulances, and all sorts of other derivatives. How about a “small” Limousine, the Highness, or a mega sized one, the Majesty. Even the Financial Times in France ran one. I remember an Ambulance version in Toulon,and some had 4 door crew cabs…
Most still exist, well worth looking at if you get the chance, beautiful engineering, Tissier utilised the Citroen hydraulics to perfection…and there were motor caravan versions as well…none were, or today are, cheap, but what beauties, (and what a nightmare to use in a town with tight corners!
Then there was the utterly bonkers Michelin test version, 10 wheels, two Chrysler Hemi V8s, to test car, and light truck tyres up to 250kph…loaded…As was the extreme Michelin Willeme straight 8 test lorry…Michelin, and its excesses, now there is a story…
But the roller calls…
Cheerio for now.
The Tissier CX pictured by Oiltreader was from the transport company Hollander based in Paris suburb, it had newspapers contract to haul through main European towns, mainly by night, also owns a few Volvo TF 88.
One example with trailer…
Now, there’s ugly, then there’s friggin ugly, then there’s this…Even it’s mother couldn’t have ever loved it, I’d have had it put down at conception, let alone the birth… 
… Was this the one saved by Michelin I wonder…
pete smith:
Fergie47:
pete smith:
Hi Fergie,
Nice pictures mate, here is one for you to spoil the kids with!Ah, a baby donkey…sweet…however Pierre, the kids might be a trifle too old for that, at 46…42. 37 and 35 years old they wouldn’t fit on it either, however the grandchildren would like it !!..
Fergie, I prefer “Grey Menace” than baby donkey! How about this one, a V8 with lots of chimneys
Bet that wouldn’t run for two days solid on a tank of TVO…
Done this a few times over the years…strip-out…
Evening all,
there I was, all day , up, and down, rollering away, (but that Crown Obliterating emulsion is worth its premium price…wonderful finish…even if my colour choice is wrong…white, or magnolia…that is it!
But one thing about painting, your mind can “free wheel”…as mine always does. Just going back to Pierre Tissier`s creations, (sadly this genius left us around 2010), and Michel reminded me of the fleet of vans that Hollander who distributed newspapers ran, but they also had a 12 metre recovery version…the idea if a van broke down, then it was lifted onto the recovery, and completed its journey!
There was also a spectacular motorhome version, sponsored by Penthouse Magazine, with an Italian interior fit out…all red leather, and heavy Draylon…As well as the mundane, (oh never mundane), ones operated by the "Laboratory Portes et Chaussées, (Roads and bridges highway dept), from sunny Bordeaux…designed to test adhesion ratios on the new Autoroutes, they carried massive water tanks, and towed a single wheel for measurement, at speeds of 160 kph…and could do more, but the measurements were standardised @120 kph.
There were copies, …in the USA, CXA of Middlesex New Jersey, got Citroen very hot under the collar about there take on Tissiers designs…but did not infringe his patents…then in Slovenia, Emil M Laker Engineering, from Bistrica, made a fair job on the CX, with 24 Valve V 6 petrol power…but none were as well engineered as Tissiers originals.
Nice family man, big guy, and the look of a real “motor trader”, dark hair, round spectacles, droopy moustache, but a brilliant engineer, who produced incredible light commercials, the like of which no one has ever equalled…and under the European “Super State”…no one ever will.
Now Fergies “black and whites” contain some gems, none more so than the little Scammell/FAR from the SNCF, with its little Citroen petrol engine.
But then you have the archetypal French Heavy Haulage outfit post WW2, Diamond T 680, (with French coachwork), coupled to the most fameous of all, the M9 Rogers 45 ton Tank Transport trailer, with its 24 8.25x15 wheels. Boy were these cheap to buy, ex the SNVS, (Service National Des Ventes Surplus) sites, throughout France. These trailers were converted by operators such as , Mayer of Nancy, Dessirier H Zucchoni, Paris, Gary De Favies Paris, Bourgey - Montreuil, Chambery, STSI, and STAG, (Societie, Transports Automobiles Gennervilliers), into semi low 16 wheel artics, dollies, 2, and 1 axle, and had their rear ends, with the 16 wheel 15 inch bogies grafted as a replacement onto the 90 ton M15 (Fruehauf) 38ft 5 in long x 12ft 6 in wide tank recovery trailer, more often seen behind the Pacific M26 6 cylinder Hall And Scott 17 litre petrol engine recovery/transport outfit. The M9 Rogers back end facilitating easier loading over the rear by use of the loads motive power, or the Pacific, or Diamond Ts Garwood winches…and unlike the 8 wheel 1400x24 4 mini bogie tandem configuration of the original…the Rogers had a parking brake!!
These were still in use well into the 2000s, and in my days in France everyone ran them…they were the normal trailer/dollie/ bogie/conversion to use!
Then we have a Pelpel #1 cab, on a 150 licence built Gardner powered Bernard 6x4 for the iconic Cirque Pinder…what a Circus, what a background, and what a “■■■■■■■” of a lorry…only 35 mph, but climb a mountain with 35 plus tonnes behind her!
When I was first driving in France in the 60s those “Flanc Blancs”, white wall tyres were still around, as were those little , (actually not so little ), Somua`s. Smart, and comfortable, but that Esso one has a very long wheelbase, most were about 8ft 6in, and ran at 35 tonnes. Formed the core of Saviems heavy range from 1955. Smooth 6 cylinder engine, and good brakes…and those windscreens opened…comfort on a hot day!
Fergie, what can I say about my beloved Willeme “Shark Noses”…they never photograph well, but what a lorry, beautiful to drive, and the opening shots of Froggys film clip showing your, (and my), dream machine the TV Bernard were shot from a" Nez de Requin"… Louis Willeme really did build incredible lorries…that LD610, on Fergies picture is from the 1950s…remember what we had here back then?
But then I get torn…how could any man choose between Piaf, and Bardot■■? Yoy put up a shot, outside the works of Georges Pelpel of a Pelpel #3 sleeper cab on a Bernard…what utter class…that cab was unlike anything available, spacious, comfortable, (you could have Leather seats), quiet, (the Gardner throb was a distant rumble), …and how didBernards engineers make that Gardner throttle so much lighter?..
But then Fergie shows the stylish alternative , the beautiful Cottard from Bourg en Bresse cabin, and just look how the streamlining reaches down to the drive axle. That Alsatia example has the short day cab, but the sleeper was just as elegant, (but the bunk was 10 cms narrower than the Pelpel#3)! But look at that bonnet, and imagine the view as you devoured the kilometres from Strasbourg down to the South, or East…No wonder the driver of a Bernard was a “Gentleman of the Road”…driving that you would have to have been…
But sandwiched in the middle of those two photographs is a monster…a nightmare of the French Lorry industry…a Dinasaur…The Berliet T2 Tank transporter…Conceived in 1947, when De Gaulle wished to rid the French Military of their reliance upon the USA, Berliet`s engineers worked tirelessly upon a replacement for the 1943 designed Pacific “Dragon Wagon”.
The T 12 #1, and T12#2, were what they came up with…8x8, MS 12, 140x160mm, 29556 litre multifuel V12, (in effect two 6 cylinder 14778 cc TLM diesels in 90 degree format), 550 hp@1800 rpm. the T2 having a Clark C16 420 4 speed auto box and torque converter, and 2 speed transfer box, with an arrangement to disengage drive from axles 1 and 2, plus cross and diff locks. Front and rear bogies were triple reduction Berliet 400x12, running on 1600x20 XSmichelins. Road speed was proposed @50kph, @103 tonnes.Cabin was a variant of the Carrier, (Argenteuil), TBO12 one.
The original design was to cope with the proposed French Heavy Tank, which emerged as the AMX 30 @82 tonnes, but for testing @ Valbonne, (as Fergies picture), an M60 82 ton US Tank was utilised on the Coder, ( as Fergies picture), or Kaiser triple axle test trailers.
Performance was well within the military requirements, except for fuel consumption…Even the aged Petrol Pacifics with their consumption in excess of 7 litres per kilometre made the T12 look thirsty…
So France waited for the TBO, and GBO Berliets…what machines they were…as iconic as any of our Scammell`s, and so easy to drive…
I must away to my bed, and I have a small Bollinger here getting warm!..
Thanks for the memories Gentlemen, I hope that I have not bored you,
Cheerio for now.
This 1957 Renault R 4154 belonged to a farmer friend of mine. Stopped in 1985, it was kept sheltered from rain, and used to store rubbish and scrap.
In 2010, I arranged to have it sold, to M. Pujos, a truck enthusiast near Bordeaux. Just changed the fuel filter, brought a good battery, and the “fainéant” (lazy) engine started as on its first day. So-called “lazy” because it’s fitted horizontally behind the cab, like on the “Unterflur” MANs. 120 bhp for the Type 572 6.2 litre 6-cylinder. Later, they were sold under the Saviem brand, and produced until 1968.
There it is, being roped onto M. Pujos’ trailer.
And about to leave for La Ferté-Alais, where it was displayed at the “Locomotion en Fête” show.
Saviem:
Thanks for the memories Gentlemen, I hope that I have not bored you,Cheerio for now.
BORED US. ! ! …John, P. L. E. E. E. E. A. S. E…,… your comments on the pictures are what makes this thread.
I can safely say that we’ve all learnt so much about the vehicles and haulage industry in France.
Froggy55:
And about to leave for La Ferté-Alais, where it was displayed at the “Locomotion en Fête” show.
Another saved…and you had a hand in it…nice one…
I just wish someone would buy that little Saviem tractor unit I posted up a few pages back. It was under cover for so many years, now it’s out in the open. Every day I pass it I wish it wasn’t there, and it has gone to good home…if only I had the time and money … 
This photographic bonanza, on this post is very good , years ago we never had a chance to see all these bonneted beauties on the roads ,as going to FRANCE was like never possible to the ordinary working man, so now we see what we have missed ,thanks.
deckboypeggy:
This photographic bonanza, on this post is very good , years ago we never had a chance to see all these bonneted beauties on the roads ,as going to FRANCE was like never possible to the ordinary working man, so now we see what we have missed ,thanks.
jsutherland:
Great pictures Fergie. Thanks for putting them on here. Johnny
You’re both welcome…I was fortunate enough to have been there in the late sixties and seen many of them…nice to see that alot of these old girls are being rescued, restored, and on the show scene…
i think i may have posed the question some time ago on a different thread , but why in the 60s when the french were producing such lorries and even considering driver comfort did the british lorry builders still stick a tin chicken shed on a chassis and think it was all we needed . i know cabs were improving gradually , but there was basic and british basic ,which seemed to be the accepted norm . dave