ERF-NGC-European:
Wonder if the back end was off an F89 or an earlier Volvo model… Robert
I have asked the french driver who told me this if he knows ?
Re no 44 on the register !
I have had the following reply on a french forum from a driver. The online translation is crap as normal
but it looks like it “may” have belonged to Transport Dubois in Paris. Really could do with it translating
properly as not sure what the other bit means ■■?
Now i have done a quick search and Transport Dubois seems to have different colour schemes,so i am
wondering if it was a bit of a franchise sort of company made up of different hauliers in different areas.
Possibly a reason for the different colours ■■
A bit like Britannia Leatherbarrows which is a large network made up of different companies under one
umbrella company.
DEANB:
Re no 44 on the register !3
I have had the following reply on a french forum from a driver. The online translation is crap as normal
but it looks like it “may” have belonged to Transport Dubois in Paris. Really could do with it translating
properly as not sure what the other bit means ■■?2
Now i have done a quick search and Transport Dubois seems to have different colour schemes,so i am
wondering if it was a bit of a franchise sort of company made up of different hauliers in different areas.
Possibly a reason for the different colours ■■
A bit like Britannia Leatherbarrows which is a large network made up of different companies under one
umbrella company.1
0
I got the impression that the French poster was remarking that the trailer hauled by the ERF looked as if it might be an ex-Transport Dubois trailer; not that the ERF belonged to them. That ERF was on Middle-East work and was photographed in Yugoslavia by the late Martin Phippard so it was most likely an owner driver with a second hand trailer. Perhaps more Parisian grey matter will be stimulated by the exchange and more info will come! Robert
Great pics! 
Now here’s an interesting detail. I earlier reported that the breather pipes up the back of the Eric Vick NGCs were braced to the rear of the cab and tilted with it. This was confirmed by both a driver and a mechanic who worked on them. This is evidenced by the colour pic below. However, Truckerash has alerted me to the pipe arrangement on the black and white picture, which shows the pipes being anchored to the chassis. These pictures show the same unit: KFH 249P. It would seem that the unit started out with the chassis-anchored arrangement and progressed to the cab-anchored arrangement, probably as a result of them wobbling about on the rough route to the M/E. Robert
ERF-NGC-European:
Now here’s an interesting detail. I earlier reported that the breather pipes up the back of the Eric Vick NGCs were braced to the rear of the cab and tilted with it. This was confirmed by both a driver and a mechanic who worked on them. This is evidenced by the colour pic below. However, Truckerash has alerted me to the pipe arrangement on the black and white picture, which shows the pipes being anchored to the chassis. These pictures show the same unit: KFH 249P. It would seem that the unit started out with the chassis-anchored arrangement and progressed to the cab-anchored arrangement, probably as a result of them wobbling about on the rough route to the M/E. Robert10
Like you say Robert, no doubt vibrating eventually made the bracket/brace fail. Out of intrest how many
were built like this ? Alot of the NGC’s that operated on the middle east route never had twin breather
pipes. I wonder if it was a trial originally,and then maybe they decided they did not need twin pipes ■■?
DEANB:
ERF-NGC-European:
Now here’s an interesting detail. I earlier reported that the breather pipes up the back of the Eric Vick NGCs were braced to the rear of the cab and tilted with it. This was confirmed by both a driver and a mechanic who worked on them. This is evidenced by the colour pic below. However, Truckerash has alerted me to the pipe arrangement on the black and white picture, which shows the pipes being anchored to the chassis. These pictures show the same unit: KFH 249P. It would seem that the unit started out with the chassis-anchored arrangement and progressed to the cab-anchored arrangement, probably as a result of them wobbling about on the rough route to the M/E. Robert10
Like you say Robert, no doubt vibrating eventually made the bracket/brace fail. Out of intrest how many
were built like this ? Alot of the NGC’s that operated on the middle east route never had twin breather
pipes. I wonder if it was a trial originally,and then maybe they decided they did not need twin pipes ■■?
Only six NGCs to my knowledge were fitted with these pipes for Middle East work: KFH 248P & KFH 249P (Eric Vick), KFH 250P & KFH 251P (Richard Read); JLG 35N, ERF’s demo that went to Kuwait; and GEH 513N which briefly did M/E in Beresford colours. [see p39 of book 2]. They were retro-fitted.
I like the new Cauvas pic up the page you put on! Robert
Posting stuff freely on this thread continues to pay dividends. Someone recently contacted me to ask about the rails on the roofs of some of the VIJORE units. That got me looking into the subject. Well, I stated in earlier posts (and books) that ERF had designed the roof-hatch to accommodate a Kysor air-conditioning unit. I also reported that the roof structure was not really equal to the stresses and strains of supporting a Kysor A/C on Middle-East roads and that Trans Arabia installed a form of Acro-prop within the cab to stop the ceiling from sagging. It’s quite clear from later pics of Eric Vick’s two NGCs and two of Richard Read’s, that rails were added to the roof to distribute the weight of the A/C units in order to prevent roof sagging on the rough roads down to the Middle East. You either had rails or props! Robert
ERF-NGC-European:
Posting stuff freely on this thread continues to pay dividends. Someone recently contacted me to ask about the rails on the roofs of some of the VIJORE units. That got me looking into the subject. Well, I stated in earlier posts (and books) that ERF had designed the roof-hatch to accommodate a Kysor air-conditioning unit. I also reported that the roof structure was not really equal to the stresses and strains of Middle-East roads and that Trans Arabia installed a form of Acro-prop within the cab to stop the ceiling from sagging. It’s quite clear from later pics of Eric Vick’s two NGCs and two of Richard Read’s, that rails were added to the roof to distribute the weight of the A/C units in order to prevent roof sagging on the rough roads down to the Middle East. You either had rails or props! Robert0
Interesting stuff Robert. I’ve posted somewhere else on here about bouncing down the central reservation, in Scotland, trying to avoid a head on. That would be about 40 seconds or a minute. Going across H4 probably had 10 or 15 miles of such bumping in what I remember as a 25 mile trip ( others may dispute the mileage, I can’t remember exactly.)
It would be difficult as a vehicle designer then to imagine what you were likely to encounter on even a single trip. Even Bulgarian cobbles made your teeth ache!
John
John West:
ERF-NGC-European:
Posting stuff freely on this thread continues to pay dividends. Someone recently contacted me to ask about the rails on the roofs of some of the VIJORE units. That got me looking into the subject. Well, I stated in earlier posts (and books) that ERF had designed the roof-hatch to accommodate a Kysor air-conditioning unit. I also reported that the roof structure was not really equal to the stresses and strains of Middle-East roads and that Trans Arabia installed a form of Acro-prop within the cab to stop the ceiling from sagging. It’s quite clear from later pics of Eric Vick’s two NGCs and two of Richard Read’s, that rails were added to the roof to distribute the weight of the A/C units in order to prevent roof sagging on the rough roads down to the Middle East. You either had rails or props! Robert0
Interesting stuff Robert. I’ve posted somewhere else on here about bouncing down the central reservation, in Scotland, trying to avoid a head on. That would be about 40 seconds or a minute. Going across H4 probably had 10 or 15 miles of such bumping in what I remember as a 25 mile trip ( others may dispute the mileage, I can’t remember exactly.)
It would be difficult as a vehicle designer then to imagine what you were likely to encounter on even a single trip. Even Bulgarian cobbles made your teeth ache!
John
Yes! It is extraordinary what those '70s built lorries with (let’s face it) '60s technology endured on those runs. Endless well-argued discussions can be found on the M/E threads about the merits and demerits of various models on long-haul work. Some had unforgiving suspension. Some had utterly reliable power plants. Some had comfortable cabs - but there were never any definitive answers. Fiat/Iveco was a classic example with its fantastic engine, strong chassis and utterly useless build-quality from the chassis upwards! Nobody has ever yet come up with the perfect long-hauler and probably never will. Robert
ERF-NGC-European:
DEANB:
ERF-NGC-European:
Now here’s an interesting detail. I earlier reported that the breather pipes up the back of the Eric Vick NGCs were braced to the rear of the cab and tilted with it. This was confirmed by both a driver and a mechanic who worked on them. This is evidenced by the colour pic below. However, Truckerash has alerted me to the pipe arrangement on the black and white picture, which shows the pipes being anchored to the chassis. These pictures show the same unit: KFH 249P. It would seem that the unit started out with the chassis-anchored arrangement and progressed to the cab-anchored arrangement, probably as a result of them wobbling about on the rough route to the M/E. RobertLike you say Robert, no doubt vibrating eventually made the bracket/brace fail. Out of intrest how many
were built like this ? Alot of the NGC’s that operated on the middle east route never had twin breather
pipes. I wonder if it was a trial originally,and then maybe they decided they did not need twin pipes ■■?Only six NGCs to my knowledge were fitted with these pipes for Middle East work: KFH 248P & KFH 249P (Eric Vick), KFH 250P & KFH 251P (Richard Read); JLG 35N, ERF’s demo that went to Kuwait; and GEH 513N which briefly did M/E in Beresford colours. [see p39 of book 2]. They were retro-fitted.
I like the new Cauvas pic up the page you put on! Robert
Robert, I wonder if it was a sort of prototype to have 2 breather pipes for the ones they were selling
to hauliers that were going to use them on the middle east run ? Its a bit odd that most never had them
but then they re appeared on the B series ■■ Maybe Chris Till or Cookie who drove them can tell us more ?
DEANB:
ERF-NGC-European:
DEANB:
ERF-NGC-European:
Now here’s an interesting detail. I earlier reported that the breather pipes up the back of the Eric Vick NGCs were braced to the rear of the cab and tilted with it. This was confirmed by both a driver and a mechanic who worked on them. This is evidenced by the colour pic below. However, Truckerash has alerted me to the pipe arrangement on the black and white picture, which shows the pipes being anchored to the chassis. These pictures show the same unit: KFH 249P. It would seem that the unit started out with the chassis-anchored arrangement and progressed to the cab-anchored arrangement, probably as a result of them wobbling about on the rough route to the M/E. Robert21
Like you say Robert, no doubt vibrating eventually made the bracket/brace fail. Out of intrest how many
were built like this ? Alot of the NGC’s that operated on the middle east route never had twin breather
pipes. I wonder if it was a trial originally,and then maybe they decided they did not need twin pipes ■■?Only six NGCs to my knowledge were fitted with these pipes for Middle East work: KFH 248P & KFH 249P (Eric Vick), KFH 250P & KFH 251P (Richard Read); JLG 35N, ERF’s demo that went to Kuwait; and GEH 513N which briefly did M/E in Beresford colours. [see p39 of book 2]. They were retro-fitted.
I like the new Cauvas pic up the page you put on! Robert
Robert, I wonder if it was a sort of prototype to have 2 breather pipes for the ones they were selling
to hauliers that were going to use them on the middle east run ? Its a bit odd that most never had them
but then they re appeared on the B series ■■ Maybe Chris Till or Cookie who drove them can tell us more ?0
I think they appeared on B-series BEFORE they appeared on NGCs. That pic looks like a very early B-series - possibly 1974. Don’t forget that the B-series came out only a year after the NGC and would have already been in a very advanced state of development by the time the NGC came out. No pipes appeared on an NGC until 1975 (that we know of). So you’re probably right about the prototype. Bear in mind, too, that the ones fitted to that day-cab B-series would have been for run-of-the mill domestic quarry and construction site use. The Middle-East version probably didn’t differ significantly, if at all. Bon weekend! Robert
New picture! This demo has a visor and a Trailor Savoyarde tilt so it’s almost 100% certain that it is KDM 460N on the 1975 Euro-Test for TRUCK magazine. Robert
ERF-NGC-European:
New picture! This demo has a visor and a Trailor Savoyarde tilt so it’s almost 100% certain that it is KDM 460N on the 1975 Euro-Test for TRUCK magazine. Robert
Nice ! I do like a good black and white photos ! I take it you have bought it chap ?
Think you are right definately looks like it could be KDM460N. 
DEANB:
ERF-NGC-European:
New picture! This demo has a visor and a Trailor Savoyarde tilt so it’s almost 100% certain that it is KDM 460N on the 1975 Euro-Test for TRUCK magazine. Robert1
Nice ! I do like a good black and white photos ! I take it you have bought it chap ?
Think you are right definately looks like it could be KDM460N.
0
Yep, spot on! One for the book Insha’Allah! Robert 
I’ve been pondering the NGC demonstrators. It seems that we only know about five:
UK prototype (no vent, no water lid) >>>>>>>>> wrecker (prob)
KDM 460N (Euro-Test) >>>>>>>> ?
JDH 132N >>>>>>>>>> Beresford >>>>>>>>> T.A.
JLG 35N >>>>>>>>>>> Kuwait
Best Trucks (NL) >>>>>>>> Barend Sjouw (41-54-NB)
I wonder what became of KDM 460N then. Robert
ERF-NGC-European:
I’ve been pondering the NGC demonstrators. It seems that we only know about five:UK prototype (no vent, no water lid) >>>>>>>>> wrecker (prob)
KDM 460N (Euro-Test) >>>>>>>> ?
JDH 132N >>>>>>>>>> Beresford >>>>>>>>> T.A.
JLG 35N >>>>>>>>>>> Kuwait
Best Trucks (NL) >>>>>>>> Barend Sjouw (41-54-NB)I wonder what became of KDM 460N then. Robert
Plus we never found out who owned the blue one MMG772P
Someone built a model ! 
DEANB:
ERF-NGC-European:
I’ve been pondering the NGC demonstrators. It seems that we only know about five:UK prototype (no vent, no water lid) >>>>>>>>> wrecker (prob)
KDM 460N (Euro-Test) >>>>>>>> ?
JDH 132N >>>>>>>>>> Beresford >>>>>>>>> T.A.
JLG 35N >>>>>>>>>>> Kuwait
Best Trucks (NL) >>>>>>>> Barend Sjouw (41-54-NB)I wonder what became of KDM 460N then. Robert
Plus we never found out who owned the blue one MMG772P
Someone built a model !
0
Oh-ho! That looks interesting. It appears to be a model based on Frank Waller’s Road Transport Images 1:76 scale kits. Interesting that it has been converted to 6x4 and that it has been displayed with the registration KCH 95N. I’m always pleased to see models; especially if they stretch the imagination a little! Robert