Saw this on Facebook earlier, guessing you have seen it,but just in case.
Steve
vwvanman0:
Saw this on Facebook earlier, guessing you have seen it,but just in case.Steve
Top man! Yes, we already have it, but we would miss or lose a lot of valuable material if it were not for contributors like you being on the ball and sharing this stuff! Keep 'em coming, Steve; it doesn’t matter if we’ve seen it before because folk are still constantly stumbling upon previously unseen/unknown material and posting it on here. Good luck old mate! Robert 
Newly improved version posted on the drawings thread! Artwork by Benkku, posting from Finland 
. Robert
I sent a pic of the new ERF that was in the SNCF catalouge to P.Brame just to make sure it was not his.
I didnt think it was, but worth checking. He has confirmed that it was not his one.
DEANB:
I sent a pic of the new ERF that was in the SNCF catalouge to P.Brame just to make sure it was not his.
I didnt think it was, but worth checking. He has confirmed that it was not his one.0
Good work, Dean! At least we can eliminate that possibility from our enquires. Robert
I’m hoping for some NGC pics taken in the paint shop at Aldridge… (watch this space!). Robert
Here is a bit of a quandary. I found a book at Gaydon called Vintage Lorry Annual No. 1 (1979) by Nick Baldwin. In it I discovered a well illustrated article about Motor Panels cabs. Below is the scan of the page showing an ERF NGC.
You will notice that Nick Baldwin refers to the 7MW cab as a MP Mk 3 cab. On an earlier page he also refers to the Crusader cab as a Mk 3. He refers to the SA 400 / Foden etc cab that followed as the Mk 4. Now we have been calling the 7MW a Mk 4 (albeit the wide, tall version) based on a very well-researched and well-written article in Commercial Motor by Brian Weatherley. Brian is very clear that the 7MW/Crusader cab was the Mk 4 and that the one that followed was the Mk 5. I scanned his article and posted on this thread very early on.
Both these writers are very well-respected transport men. We need to see further evidence that one of them was right!
Robert
ERF-NGC-European:
You will notice that Nick Baldwin refers to the 7MW cab as a MP Mk 3 cab. On an earlier page he also refers to the Crusader cab as a Mk 3. He refers to the SA 400 / Foden etc cab that followed as the Mk 4. Now we have been calling the 7MW a Mk 4 (albeit the wide, tall version) based on a very well-researched and well-written article in Commercial Motor by Brian Weatherley. Brian is very clear that the 7MW/Crusader cab was the Mk 4 and that the one that followed was the Mk 5. I scanned his article and posted on this thread very early on.Both these writers are very well-respected transport men. We need to see further evidence that one of them was right!
Robert
I don’t get the connection between Crusader cab and 7 MW while 3 and 4 respectively sounds more realistic in that regard ?.While the SA 400 was arguably the ultimate development and only for that application. 
When ironically as I’ve said previously,with the exception of the Bedford TM,the government should have stepped in and actually forced the use of the SA 400 type cab right across the UK truck manufacturing industry including the Leyland T45.
Re the above ^^^ posting: I’ve looked through the brochures and references (posted by various folk on this thread) of Motor Panels itself and I notice that MP studiously avoid any reference (in the little literature we have) to Mark 3, 4 or anything else. I wonder if the Mk 1-5 references are a code system invented by enthusiasts, or did MP have indeed their own code system of Mk 1-5 etc. Robert
Carryfast:
ERF-NGC-European:
You will notice that Nick Baldwin refers to the 7MW cab as a MP Mk 3 cab. On an earlier page he also refers to the Crusader cab as a Mk 3. He refers to the SA 400 / Foden etc cab that followed as the Mk 4. Now we have been calling the 7MW a Mk 4 (albeit the wide, tall version) based on a very well-researched and well-written article in Commercial Motor by Brian Weatherley. Brian is very clear that the 7MW/Crusader cab was the Mk 4 and that the one that followed was the Mk 5. I scanned his article and posted on this thread very early on.Both these writers are very well-respected transport men. We need to see further evidence that one of them was right!
Robert
I don’t get the connection between Crusader cab and 7 MW while 3 and 4 respectively sounds more realistic in that regard
.
The Crusader cab, the 7MW and the French Mack cab were all 3 the same cab. The difference was that Jack Cooke at ERF designed it to tilt, gave it a Scania-looking grille and massively enhanced the interior. The Crusader version was fixed, having a swing-out radiator arrangement for surprising good access to the engine. The Mack was a bit of a rare flash in the pan. These were the only tall full-width examples of the Mk 4 cab (or Mk 3 if Nick Baldwin is to be believed!). Robert
The only way you will probably know for sure is if you can find a motor panel cab brochure to confirm
what they called it ? Maybe another idea is if there is any mention in the Scammell Crusader brochures ■■?
DEANB:
The only way you will probably know for sure is if you can find a motor panel cab brochure to confirm
what they called it ? Maybe another idea is if there is any mention in the Scammell Crusader brochures ■■?
Yes, all 3 are mentioned in the brochures but they not called ‘Mark’ anything (ie Mk 3 / Mk4). Robert
EDIT. Sorry Dean I misread your post!! I’m on to the case researching now. R
ERF-NGC-European:
Carryfast:
I don’t get the connection between Crusader cab and 7 MW while 3 and 4 respectively sounds more realistic in that regard
.The Crusader cab, the 7MW and the French Mack cab were all 3 the same cab. The difference was that Jack Cooke at ERF designed it to tilt, gave it a Scania-looking grille and massively enhanced the interior. The Crusader version was fixed, having a swing-out radiator arrangement for surprising good access to the engine. The Mack was a bit of a rare flash in the pan. These were the only tall full-width examples of the Mk 4 cab (or Mk 3 if Nick Baldwin is to be believed!). Robert
Not sure if the sleeper section of the 7 MW cab seems to be deeper and set lower at its base relative to the engine hump.While at face value the Crusader’s seems like a relatively more primitive pidgeon loft type design with resulting higher set bunk ?.If not then that would probably explain the connection as everything else seems as close as makes no difference.But really shows the superiority of the SA 400 in either case. 
Here is a great ‘before and after’ sequence. You may remember a page or two back Dean posted pictures of a yellow unit I identified as being 12-97-FB. This unit started with Groenenboom of Ridderkirk (NL), then went to Steef Slappendel who operated it as an O/D and took it to the Middle East (Jeddah) where it passed to Trans Arabia - I’d like to know the story there! TA sent it to Aldridge to be sorted out and re-liveried as TA 139 and here are the pictures (taken in Aldridge). Robert
Here’s another picture, this time of TA 110. Don’t know the story of what happened here. I expect we’ll get the low-down ere long! Cheers, Robert
Carryfast:
Not sure if the sleeper section of the 7 MW cab seems to be deeper and set lower at its base relative to the engine hump.While at face value the Crusader’s seems like a relatively more primitive pidgeon loft type design with resulting higher set bunk ?.If not then that would probably explain the connection as everything else seems as close as makes no difference.But really shows the superiority of the SA 400 in either case.
It’s the cab shell we’re looking at here. Actually, I’ve just re-read Brian Weatherley’s article in CM and he gives a very precise detailed account of the Mark 3, 4 & 5. Until convinced otherwise, I’m sticking with his nomenclature for now. Robert
I’ve just been sent this pic of TA 125 - note the missing indicator! Great photo of Jerry Cooke there standing on the left. Looks like a fish-eye shot of some kind. Robert
Good pics Robert, especially good to see the one of Slappendel one !
Here’s a picture of several Vijore group lorries in a layby. The rear one is KFH 249P, piloted by Chris Till whom I had the pleasure to meet once again at Gaydon over the weekend, along with Steve Little. Robert
