ramone:
Just to redress the balance,we took delivery of 5 new Scania 400s with the opticruise box earlier this year and we have had them back numerous times for sticking in gear and they still havent solved the problem each time they say theres no fault when there obviously is,we had 1off the road most of last week with a poor attitude from the dealer ,it went back in today.Last week we took delivery of 4 new 450 Volvo FMs 1 went back yesterday for the night heater not working when i enquired about it today they didnt know that they had it in their garage ,then told me it would be ready tomorrow,after a rant we got it back at 2pm…maybe the BL attitude is spreading to Scandinavia!!!
You could well be right there “ramone” but I am in no position to comment now anyway! Don’t MAN/VW own Scania now? that will probably be the cause of Scania’s problems if those “tossers” at MAN are interfering with them.Bewick.
To be fair Dennis the Foden i had was like a Rolls Royce compared with the newer foreign motor i had before it,the only problem i had was the flat roof im 6ft 5 and the headroom was limited,by the way the foreign motor was a Renault 290 GT …NOW THAT WAS A PILE OF CRAP
Bewick:
Muckaway:
Dieseldogsix:
I did read somewhere a few years back, that although Leyland trucks were profitable, the money was used to prop up the loss making car industry, leaving no cash for further development.
I’ve read this too.It was impossible for BL to make decent cars when all the staff regularly had one hand in the air
Someone mentioned the Guy order books being full, weren’t Foden’s doing well when they were finished? Why exactly was Foden axed?
From what I re-call Fodens had reached their sell by date because lets face it by 1980 they were a total joke with the designs they were persisting with.bewick.
Dieseldogsix:
I did read somewhere a few years back, that although Leyland trucks were profitable, the money was used to prop up the loss making car industry, leaving no cash for further development.
I’ve read this too.It was impossible for BL to make decent cars when all the staff regularly had one hand in the air
Someone mentioned the Guy order books being full, weren’t Foden’s doing well when they were finished? Why exactly was Foden axed?
From what I re-call Fodens had reached their sell by date because lets face it by 1980 they were a total joke with the designs they were persisting with.bewick.
Nothing wrong with the F, N and S regs I had Bewick…Better than the DAF with a kite glued on that I’ve got now (in terms of driveability anyway) but I’m still holding off being offered one of the new motors…
We have 11 Daf CF 85s and they are worse than the Scanias ,ad blue lights ,ebs faults and transmission faults a regular occurance …so why did British Leyland fail?? lol
TIPIT:
Not wanting to distract from Ramone’s origional question … I can understand B.L. getting into trouble because of the diversity of companies it owned.
But what would you say finished Bedford off ? they looked to have had a strong hold on the light end of the market and M.O.D.
Back to BL again … you would imagine once their money was all in one pot, they would have been able to put the best of it’s ideas together and come up with the right products.
Wasn’t there something printed in Commercial Motor or Motor Transport in the mid 60’s, that sometime in the future they could see there being only 4 or 5 manufactures on the market.
The way the big transport companies have taken over the smaller ones it’s starting to look like the days of varied liveries are numbered now as well, all white or green … Bring back BEWICK’s !!!
Well I did try!!! not very hard,but I did try!! How could I have kept a “straight face” in 1976 and said,right lads,I’ve decided to re-equip with this fine Bl product—the Buffalo!! I’d have been better off using the real thing to pull Ox carts!! at least they would have got to London and back without needing a vet!!!
Dieseldogsix:
I did read somewhere a few years back, that although Leyland trucks were profitable, the money was used to prop up the loss making car industry, leaving no cash for further development.
I’ve read this too.It was impossible for BL to make decent cars when all the staff regularly had one hand in the air
Someone mentioned the Guy order books being full, weren’t Foden’s doing well when they were finished? Why exactly was Foden axed?
From what I re-call Fodens had reached their sell by date because lets face it by 1980 they were a total joke with the designs they were persisting with.bewick.
Foden ran into financial trouble in the recession of 79/80
Unable to repay loans taken out to redevelop the factory in the early 70s
The goverment of the time refused to step in probably too busy funding
British Leyland!!!
The real Biffo:
Just about the time that I started there as a young lad, the government of the time “persuaded” the Leyland management to take on the ailing British car industry, in the form of Morris-Austin, Triumph and the other various bits that finished up with the BL badge on.
.
Very minor point, in the context of the thread, but Leyland Motors bought the near-bankrupt Standard-Triumph in 1961, before even the AEC acquisition of 1962, and did a very good job of turning it around. It also introduced Leyland to Giovanni Michelotti, who had styled the Triumph Herald (followed by the rest of the Triumph range), and thus he came to design the Scammell and Ergomatic cabs.
The real Biffo:
This engine was also fitted to the National bus, so you can imagine the problems/ numbers there were. In fact Ribble motors sorted the problem by modifying things so the “old” 680 flat engine could be fitted instead.
You are absolutely right - in fact a little note in my anorak pocket tells me that it was UHG 755R… A further indiginity for Leyland was that the National 2 was also engineered to take a Gardner engine, as was the Olympian 'decker which replaced the Atlantean.
For what it’s worth, many of the older and long-serving drivers I work with still rate the Bison-went well and was good on the tips and the engine hump made a great child seat as I can attest to (even though I had to sit on a coat to stop my arse burning!)
Muckaway:
For what it’s worth, many of the older and long-serving drivers I work with still rate the Bison-went well and was good on the tips and the engine hump made a great child seat as I can attest to (even though I had to sit on a coat to stop my arse burning!)
Agreed 100%
My Dad ran a Bison & after that 4 Constructor Sixes (amongst several four wheelers & one eight) all capable & reliable vehicles. A good driver could get a Constructor into most places - building sites, wet tip sites, ploughed fields when spreading lime etc, but the four-spring Bison was even better in tough going. A big factor for us was a ‘sensible’ width day cab ie one where you can still see the wheel arches!!
I too served my formative years on a Bison engine cover, & prior to that, a couple of Marshals!
ramone wrote:
you can tell how far we`ve come now,when mechanics come to repair vehicles armed with … wait for it…a laptop!!!
Mechanics? what are they ? dont you mean vehicle technicians
Its not the choice of the ‘vehicle technician’, I’m one of the above but still prefer to call myself a Diesel Fitter just like in the days when I started. There has been rapid changes just within the last ten years apart from the steady change in technology since the Sixties and today Electronics are the ruling principle in how a goods vehicle operates. Once you couldn’t do anything until that big smelly, oily lump under the cab had started and air, electrical power and other ancilleries were fully up and running, today that quiet, clean, squared off shape covered in conduit and smelling like next doors cat has used it for a toilet won’t even murmur if the many computerised bricks located all over hasn’t gave it the go ahead, which it seems quite often it doesn’t. That’s why the ‘Technician’ turns up with a laptop and not a length of tubing and a can of diesel. Its all too much for some of us older lot, yes you still get the same problems but sorting them out means you can no longer just pull things to bits and try this and that, you could end up doing more damage. You even have to use your computer to tell the vehicle computer the brake pads have been changed!
I wonder how the old long gone British makers would have fared with this modern technology, would the type of changes I’ve mentioned have been the end for British Leyland if they had of survived until today, and would drivers be arguing about the best Vehicle Technology System rather than what engine was better than another, doesn’t really have the same ring to it. Roll on retirement! Franky.
I wasnt having a go at mechanics Frank ,it was a statement to say how far things have moved on ,some of the improvements have made more problems than they are worth.Adblue is a big problem for us ,the sensors playing up all the time and all in the name of global warming i have a question for our politicians have you looked out of your window lately cos if this is global warming what on earth would we be living in if everyone drove V12 Jags....its a con and a stealth tax.What we need is an economical,powerful,reliable vehicle that stops starts ,is comfortable and warm and doesnt need a computer …Maybe a GUY Big J with a heater ,a suspension seat and a 240 Gardner!!!
Muckaway:
For what it’s worth, many of the older and long-serving drivers I work with still rate the Bison-went well and was good on the tips and the engine hump made a great child seat as I can attest to (even though I had to sit on a coat to stop my arse burning!)
Agreed 100%
My Dad ran a Bison & after that 4 Constructor Sixes (amongst several four wheelers & one eight) all capable & reliable vehicles. A good driver could get a Constructor into most places - building sites, wet tip sites, ploughed fields when spreading lime etc, but the four-spring Bison was even better in tough going. A big factor for us was a ‘sensible’ width day cab ie one where you can still see the wheel arches!!
I too served my formative years on a Bison engine cover, & prior to that, a couple of Marshals!
Regards, Andrew
I know the whereabouts of an AEC Marshal 6 wheeler with feed body; be a good project or a good supply of spares…
I didn’t do many rides in a Bison as they were being phased out, it was an X reg Constructor and later (obviously) Fodens
The Bison and Constructor were good lorries,on tipper work in the 80’s and early 90’s they were as good as anything.A lot of hauliers in this area ran them and still speak highly of them.There are stil a couple of Constructor tippers operating here nowadays,also a local fuel firm runs two constructors and a Freighter on deliveries,the drivers swear by them,as they are easier to get in tight places,also the gearing is good for quarry work.
A further indiginity for Leyland was that the National 2 was also engineered to take a Gardner engine, as was the Olympian 'decker which replaced the Atlantean.