ERF-Continental:
As promissed herewith some information out of Commercial Motor of 1972 dealing with ERF in particular!
A-J
Thanks for your contribution. It is always a pleasure to learn about things from abroad. That 1972 Commercial Motor article, if I am not mistaken, details the first of ERF’s ultimately doomed attempts to establish themselves in Europe. If I remember correctly, they also had a go with the B series in France, then the E and EC in Spain. The Belgian effort appears to be their best effort, utilising local assembly to overcome import taxes and local patriotic prejudice, albeit a decade or so late, compared to the Swedish and other British makes.
The article does not make it clear which cabs the first Belgian ERFs had- were they the plastic LV type or steel MW? The caption by the photograph on the 3rd page says that the cab on the first vehicle supplied had been replaced with the MW type shown. Was it the MW cab which was the source of the complaint about leaks and draughts?
A question for “general” ERF experts- when did ERF first build MW-cabbed chassis?
The second page of the article says that ERF was in the process of redesigning the interior of the cab, to overcome criticism of that aspect of the vehicle. Presumably, this work resulted in the 7MW Continental version, with the “Scania” front panel.
When did the Belgian ERF assembly operation stop, and why?