ERF:
newmercman:
ERF, you raise an important point, customer loyalty, would, in this case, AEC customers, buy Leyland badged vehicles? I believe they would, as long as nothing changed but the badges, on the surface at least, ultimately shared technology between the different marques would bring both a cost saving to the group as a whole and provide buyers with a better lorry.I don’t disagree about the Ergomatic cab, it was revolutionary and much better than anything from the competition, I spent my childhood in the lorries of the era and my personal favourite by far was the Mandator. Easy access, very important for a kid, clambering up wheel nuts to reach the cab could be a painful experience lol, quieter than the rest, definitely warmer and the engine hump was the perfect height to rest my weary head, but the direction that the V8 was heading required an even better version, it should have gone hand in hand with the new high powered model, a proper range topper.
The Daf CF has been mentioned a few times and is a good example, it’s the 760 Mandator of today, whereas the XF range is the top of the line and gets the high power option, same with all the other manufacturers, the big power option always comes with a bigger cab. In the case of the V8, it would have solved one of its fundamental flaws too. A missed opportunity.
I remember tremendous anti Leyland feeling among customers at the time, who felt very bitter that their chosen marque had been closed down. Compounded by the fact that Leyland immediately raised the price of parts for these withdrawn marques by a considerable margin.
Carryfast stated in his post that it’s all about the product, not the name. To some of these operators it was ALL about the name. Hell could freeze over before they would have the word ‘Leyland’ going down the road on the front of their lorries. By the 1980’s these operators had a wide choice of well designed and reliable goods vehicles at their disposal, and they used it!.
I can completely see where you are coming from on cabs. The premium spec vehicle having greater road presence etc, but remember this was the 1960’s. Can you imagine turning up at a traditional British haulage yard in 1968 with the Leyland 3VTG concept vehicle as a sales demonstrator? The kids (myself included!) would have stood open mouthed in awe of the exhaust stacks, chrome air horns and cruising lights. The boss would’ve flung open his office door barking “get that [zb] circus waggon out of here”!
A moot point . Alan Firmin removed all branding from the front of his vehicles, AEC complained but were told that since they were not paying to advertise on his vehicles the name had been removed, if they cared to agree a fee then the badges would be reinstated. If one looks at the few period pictures of his vehicles it can be seen that the AEC triangle has been replaced with one showing IIRC his initials and various crops. All manufacturers were treated the same way. There were certainly ERFs running around with triangle badges.