ramone:
The T45 was the end product of a long development programme and the first ones started out around early 1980 on V registrations ,the cab interiors were made up of cheap plastic components poorly put together ,there was a short documentary on tv about the development of this range and 1 of the designers was more interested in the “sausage shaped” markings on the front of the cab matching parts of the dashboard instead of the real issues putting together a lorry range that could compete with the Swede offerings.As for the 2800 ,this cab left alot to be desired trust me ive been abroad in a few and if youre over 6ft which i am you got neck ache stooping to see out of the windscreen .Maybe AEC wouldnt allow Daf to take the AEC blocks and develop them ,what was the maximum power Leyland got out of the 680 engine around 240 bhp ? The 1 thing here that puzzles me is you are the only one who saw the limitless potential of the TM ,i have never heard anyone rave about this Dunstable dustbin before maybe you knew something no one else did.Bedford produced a large cab raised up in the air just like Leyland ERF SA and Ford did it was just another attempt that never had the development or finance thrown at it.Ford borrowed a Berliet cab raised it and you could opt if you wanted for a big ■■■■■■■ but they werent too popular either because of their high unladen weight And for the umpteenth time US trucks had absolutely nothing to do with the demise of the British truck industry it was more to do with our manufacturers producing poorly designed and put together vehicles under developed and in many cases unreliable.They didnt keep up with progress or development and they certainly didnt invest anywhere near the financial clout that was necessary to compete with the imports.The F88 was a cramped cab but Volvo produced the F10/F12 with unrivaled comfort ,things like air con power steering synchro boxes radios insulated cabs .And when this was introduced they weren`t long out before they were improving them they never stood still and these "backward hauliers " were buying them just like you said they wouldnt
Firstly if the combination of the 2800’s cab comfort levels and engine and drivetrain capabilities hadn’t been up there with the F10/12,if not better, DAF would never have got to where it is today considering the level of the competition ranged against it during all the years it was in production.My experience of driving both the F10 and the 2800 was that the 2800 was the better wagon and it would have needed at least the F12 to match it especially after the DAF’s further 3300/3600 developments.
The fact is that the T 45 was a damage limitation excercise not a serious attempt by Leyland to do the impossible of making up the lost ground in development caused by the domestic market’s resistance to more modern,comfortable,powerful trucks at the time when the British manufactuers needed to be developing them.
At the time when it mattered there were very few,if any,other British manufacturers that had anything in their armoury that could have matched the TM’s potential in providing a credible starting point to match the levels of development of the foreign competition at the time.
As I’ve said the TM was/would have been the only real credible competitor to the DAF 2800,Volvo F10/12,or the Scania 110/140 at the time when it mattered in the mid-late 1970’s and certainly better than anything that Leyland,ERF or Foden could have developed themselves in the time sacle required.
‘Unless’ that is someone with some foresight had been able to set up a local manufacturing operation of American trucks not just the stop gap approach attempted by,what remained of most of the British industry,of using obsolete American componentry like naturally aspirated ■■■■■■■ engines and 9 speed fuller transmissions in the other ranges of outdated day cabbed British trucks which just delayed,while adding to the causes of,the inevitable.In the case of the Ford Transconintental,like the TM,there have been references to it’s introduction having been more a question of the timing when it was brought into the British domestic market place (too early) than to it’s ability by the standards of the day compared to it’s competition.Too early for what?.As I’ve said it’s my case that ‘too early’,in this case,means too early for the demands of the British domestic market to have caught up with developments taking place in the European and American truck manufacturing industries.Unlike the situation in those manaufacturers’ domestic markets.
For the umpteenth time,as I’ve said,it would have been the production here of American trucks that would have been the only way to have made up the lag in development here which had been caused by those,backward,outdated demands of the domestic customer base.The American industry certainly did keep up,or was even ahead,in most regards,with development and certainly did have the financial clout required to compete with the european manufacturers at the time when it mattered.One thing is certain the KW Aerodyne,as just one example,wasn’t an overweight underdeveloped ‘dustbin’ compared to it’s european competition at the time or since.Which is probably why Kenworth still exists but Leyland doesn’t and it’s questionable as to wether that same discription would fit the TM either at least in it’s 4400 form,unlike in it’s day cabbed,7 Litre non turbocharged V6,32 tonner form.As I’ve said yes those backward domestic British customers did ‘eventually’ change their buying habits and did 'eventually start buying more comfortable more powerful trucks.But it was all too late for the British truck manufacturing industry unfortunately.
Which is the form in which most British buyers ordered it,while never ordering the 4400 at all.
However not surprisingly it seems that it’s someone who seems to prefer the heavy slow shifting synchro boxes found in the scandinavian wagons over a 13 speed fuller who doesn’t seem to agree that it’s the American wagons that were/still are,ahead.
while Scania are already busy getting on with making their 350 turbocharged V8 and ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ later on Volvo were all busy with getting on with their turbocharged 300 hp + six cylinder motors while Detroit would be putting the turbocharged 92 series into production shortly.All of which would provide better power at lower engine speeds therefore better productivety and efficiency.The same issue also applies in respect of all those orders for the naturally aspirated Gardner 240 8 cylinder powered wagons.
