michel please photos of your 141 thanks rowly
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anorak:
Hello again Tiptop, and all the other fans of European vehicles in the 1950s and ‘60s. This is the period which most interests me, because it was a time of rapid progress in the design and marketing of lorries. The manufacturers which embraced that notion were the ones which survived into the future, I think, and it is fascinating to investigate the different ways in which they all achieved their goals.You mention the German “Pullman” type cabs being the leaders, ahead of the L4951/F88- do you mean the “round” or “square” Mercedes, or other types? There was an article on Biglorryblog last year, showing a Wackenhut conversion of a 1965(?) LP1924. The interior finish and fittings looked superior to many luxury cars of the period, including Mercedes’!
Hallo Anorak, About the Mercs,the first model '64 '65 LP1920 had only the short cab picture 1 and the drivers didn’t like them so MB offered a chassis for building a Pullman cab on it Picture 2. But a lot of customers let extend their cabs.Afterwards MB offered them it’s own long cab version picture 3 and so the Wackenhut fade away.About typs the first two figures is the max weight the other the HP’s
'65 200HP
'67 230HP
'68 240HP
between times 1920 205HP then 1921 with the 1924 engine down rated at 210HP much sold for liquid tank artic’s.
And of course the 1418 sold much at yours,for us was it only a light weight tractive unit
(for example furniture haulage).
Cheers Eric,
tiptop495:
Hallo Anorak, About the Mercs,the first model '64 '65 LP1920 had only the short cab picture 1 and the drivers didn’t like them so MB offered a chassis for building a Pullman cab on it Picture 2. But a lot of customers let extend their cabs.Afterwards MB offered them it’s own long cab version picture 3 and so the Wackenhut fade away.About typs the first two figures is the max weight the other the HP’s
'65 200HP
'67 230HP
'68 240HP
between times 1920 205HP then 1921 with the 1924 engine down rated at 210HP much sold for liquid tank artic’s.
And of course the 1418 sold much at yours,for us was it only a light weight tractive unit
(for example furniture haulage).Cheers Eric,
Hi Tiptop, the second photo shows the vehicle featured on Biglorryblog. Was there a more luxurious vehicle on the road, in the mid-'60s?
Somewhere else on this forum, one of our Scandinavian contributors marks the standard Mercedes cab down for having a “cold” atmosphere in the cab, due to its having more spartan interior, compared to his preferred Vabis. In the Commercial Motor report on the 1964 Earls Court show, they say much the same thing, even suggesting that the British vehicles in the show were trimmed to a higher standard! The Wackenhut versions were an emphatic answer to this criticism.
The Mercedes website says that the 1920 was launched in 1963 and the ’24 in 1964- their first direct injection lorry engine, some 30 years after Gardner et al made it the norm. Was the 1923 an indirect injection alternative, to satisfy operators who did not trust the “new” technology? Either way, 240bhp was the European standard in 1965 and the British makes had been left behind, in that respect.
To bring the focus back to L4951s and F88s, it seems that they were competitive on power in 1965 and, of the popular makes of the time, only Magirus Deutz could match the Volvo’s tilt cab.
My mate Dereck Miller bought this from D.J.Light after five years service with them and ran it for another ten or so years,cheers Buzzer.
There’s another name I thought I’d forgotten!
Retired Old ■■■■:
There’s another name I thought I’d forgotten!
Have you forgotten this one as well ROF
Hi Anorak, to come back for the last time because it is a Volvo site.
Mercedes had the LP,L334 still with the indirect injection OM326 engine in the beginnings of the '60’s. But offered a direct injection from about '62/'63 in the 334 for export.,It was still the same engine with an other head called OM346 which was a bit of disaster in the beginning.But for Germany Mercedes offered still the OM326 indirect injection engine in the L/LP1920. But from '67 on they offered the L/LP 1923 with the all new OM355 direct injection engine who was an everlasting engine and lived furthermore in the 1924. And with turbo in south Amerika and the
Middle East and gave 280HP.
And it was also a bit powerfull with 240 HP and a flyer too and you was good geared with the 12 speed box, and stronger and more torquely as it’s successor the 1926/24 V8 who was completly torqueless, but an everlasting one too.
About other makes with the same output or more (on paper mostly as SAE HP) as the F88 ,with or without turbo couldn’t keep up with it.And about turbo’s even in the fifties most had turbo engines in their avertising brochures but didn’t recommended them to their customers,because they knew it could be a disaster.Of course existed strong natural aspirated reliable engines with high cylinder capacity in V 8,10 or even 12 cylinders but were mostly a calamity on fuel economy. And the complaining about Mercedes that they were cold or spartan cabs maybe yes !! but Mercedes offered a very good ride and roomy cab what did not the F88. Yes the Sweeds had the Bostrom seats,were to handle like a car, the doors didn’t rattle if you closed them and had a very nice power steering in spite of it was a ZF like most other too.And of course nice to drive and a higher sit position as other (so you could look down the others if you overtook them 
),but later in the seventies killed off by the Transcontinental with it’s then unusual high cab.
Cheers Eric,
Back when I had this it was the dogs ,bought secondhand from A E Stuart Exeter and it had pulled a double deck livestock trailer from new.Running around on general was like semi retirement for it, 240, 16 speed box and it was like driving a car back then.
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Buzzer:
Retired Old ■■■■:
There’s another name I thought I’d forgotten!Have you forgotten this one as well ROF
Yes, indeed, matey- just over the border from God’s own county!
Dont know if this has bin posted before but an early model from Scotland one of Duncan Barbours off or on Townsend Thoresons but dont know where it was taken,any ideas cheers Buzzer.
Heres a pic of an F88 we bought and did up but it was pressed into service before we had time to paint her this is how it came,cheers Buzzer.
Does anyone remember Truck Magazine criticising Volvos for poor build quality? The argument was usually that the mechanical parts were up to standard but bits used to fall off the cab: trim and fittings etc. Were they right, or was it a case of their being used to British motors, which had fewer bits to fall off? I remember the “What Went Wrong” cartoon (weren’t those things just excellent? I used to study them for hours, looking for the dogs peeing on the lamp-posts and the couples doing naughty things in the upstairs windows) of the then-new F12, with the VO:VO badge on the front!
Proper idea was to buy a 2nd-hand Volvo- The first owner had hopefully fastened all the cab parts on properly!
hi every 1…does anyone on here know were there is a volvo f88/f10/f12/f16 for sale, preferably restored for sale
Anyone know why the 240’s & the F86 had smaller diameter hubs like american trucks 
?
boris:
Anyone know why the 240’s & the F86 had smaller diameter hubs like american trucks
Boris i think they did and from what i remember of the running of 2 F88 240’s early on the worse problem was the wheels would freeze on to the hubs and one day a fitter showed me how to get them of with the aid of a wheel brace breaker bar by placing it between the wheel and the spring shackle and use the power steering to force the wheel out, this had to be done in increments by turning the wheel a little at a time and in the end if you were lucky the wheel would pop.After this we used to apply a liberal coating of copperite grease to make it easier in the future,cheers Buzzer.
Can anyone help with any info on this Firm they ran out of Kirby, Liverpool next door to Frigos depot , My dad worked for them till they were taken over by Christen Salvesen
Gents
Nothing to contribute except my thanks to all for a fascinating thread. I never had the pleasure of piloting an F88 but at least now I can pick an 88 from an 88-290 from an 89 - my capacity to store useless information is apparently boundless. Some grand photos of wagons here too - I know the old saying about rose-tinted specs but I still think both the wagons and the game itself were better back in the 70s and 80s.
Adios amigos