Years ago (16 to be exact) I drove a Volkswagen LT31 Flatbed with a flatbed drawbar trailer usually attached. It was usually pulling valves and other engineering products from Yorkshire, and a regular load of chemicals from the midlands. I was full on roping and sheeting on every load, but with a relatively light weight and a pokey six cylinder motor (which made a lovely sound I recall) it was a pleasure to drive. And of course, no HGV licence needed…
There were regular trips to the container base at Stourton, Leeds, to drop stuff off for export, and when I was parked up I used to get a lot of comments from drivers of the bigger trucks on the lines of ‘I want to get out of the big wagons and get one of these instead’.
Without the trailer and with no load you could almost cruise at car speed, but you knew it when you had the drawbar and a full load on, especially on some of the hills.
I haven’t ever seen another setup like this - there is the occasional big transit with a tilt/flatbed setup, anyone drive such a motor or ever see one?