Someone (I think Jerry) told me they thought someone was looking into salvaging it and repatriating it. This may only be a rumour of course, and getting anything like that out of the Gulf is probably a nightmare, especially if it’s in Saudi. Robert (retired)
FLOURPOWER:
ERF C EXPORT
Great pic! A good discovery Flourpower. Cheers! robert 
robert1952:
FLOURPOWER:
ERF C EXPORTGreat pic! A good discovery Flourpower. Cheers! robert
This pic is out of TRUCK magazine, when they were looking at the latest export offerings from Brit manufacturers. Ive got this issue somwhere, by memory, i think the C series had a 13spd Fuller, Hendrickson back-end and a 350 ■■■■■■■■ pretty common C57-spec. It also had the larger size pre and air filters. The sump-gaurd, double bumper, air-con, visor and headlight grilles gave it a proper ‘tough’ look!
The other lorry featured in this article was the Scammell S24, painted in a custom metallic green,with the Nudge-bar, air filter tanks, bumper and 4 airhorns decked out in chrome.
Chris.
STRAIGHT EIGHT:
robert1952:
FLOURPOWER:
ERF C EXPORTGreat pic! A good discovery Flourpower. Cheers! robert
This pic is out of TRUCK magazine, when they were looking at the latest export offerings from Brit manufacturers. Ive got this issue somwhere, by memory, i think the C series had a 13spd Fuller, Hendrickson back-end and a 350 ■■■■■■■■ pretty common C57-spec. It also had the larger size pre and air filters. The sump-gaurd, double bumper, air-con, visor and headlight grilles gave it a proper ‘tough’ look!
The other lorry featured in this article was the Scammell S24, painted in a custom metallic green,with the Nudge-bar, air filter tanks, bumper and 4 airhorns decked out in chrome.
Chris.
Cheers Chris! The 'box was a 14609A (9-speed) according to the references to it further up this page, but I’d be very interested to see the whole article, not only for the ERF but also for the Scammell (think of Bob Pogianni’s LHD ‘Scud’ S26 with its Astran trailer!). Robert 
Oh yeah, i wonder what ever happend to the ‘Scud’? That old girl looked the part.
STRAIGHT EIGHT:
Oh yeah, i wonder what ever happend to the ‘Scud’? That old girl looked the part.
I recently put several pics of her on the Astran thread. Robert
Well this is interesting. On a combination of ERF, Fuller, ■■■■■■■ and ‘other’ threads, I have recently been calculating a variety of outcomes should one wish for a certain spec for long-haul units. To cut a long story short, if you wanted a LHD sleeper-cabbed forward-control 4x2 tractive unit with a 14-litre ■■■■■■■■ a 9-speed Fuller, assembled in Europe in significant volume, you needed look no further than the ERF C-series. One of its predecessors, the ERF NGC comes closer than most. Actually, I can find no high-volume numbers of US-built equivalents either. A large number of 290-powered Fuller-9 C-series 4x2s would have made an excellent overland fleet in the '80s - pity it never happened! Robert
I have stumbled upon a very interesting article in Commercial Motor 12/05/84 about the alarming dip in exports for British truck manufacturers. It contains some fascinating comments on ERF’s experiment in Europe, giving the figures of those trucks exported to each country: France 90, Belgium 66, Holland 40 and Swiss 10. It also comments on why the experiment in Greece didn’t work (exchange rate). It comments on the 450-500 ERFs exported to the Middle-East and gives other figures that tally with Saviem’s remarks earlier on this thread. I have removed the entire section on Foden but if anyone wants to see that component I can post it for you.
Here is the article: Robert
British builders take a long view of exports
IN THOSE HALCYON days of 1979 when British commercial vehicle registrations were reaching an all-time high, imported vans, lorries, coaches and buses accounted for 23 per cent of sales.
Since then, the plunge in commercial vehicle sales (although reversed in the first few months of this year) has been accompanied by a contradictory rise in the importers’ share of our market; in 1983 their share was up to 34 per cent.
That is not a healthy trend, but it is only half of the picture. If we could match these imports with our own exports the equation would balance. In the same way as foreign manufacturers got a toe in the door in the early seventies and are now sitting comfortably in the living room, it should have been possible for our manufacturers to offset domestic market depression with an export sales drive.
Two manufacturers that could have been expected to take that action are Foden and ERF. These close neighbours in Sandbach have seen their home sales slide alarmingly in the past three to four years. Seemingly as yet unable to re-establish their fortunes at home, these two more than anyone, need to sell abroad.
They say necessity is the mother of invention. Faced with a small home market the Scanelinavian vehicle manufacturers have turned themselves into exporters par excellence. Scania, for instance, exports no less than 90 per cent of its production, partly thanks to assembly plants outside its native Sweden. Foden’s Roger Smith: “Continental Europe is a good place not to be in for a British manufacturer. There is tremendous oversupply and some silly competition. And at the same time, selling into an established market like Europe requires a big infrastructure and a lot of investment up front.”
A mile or so down the road in Sandbach at ERF the export story is slightly different, but has headed in the same direction. Said ERF export sales manager, Derek Bill: “We’ve developed a policy of concentrating on certain specific markets. We are not General Motors or Ford. We can’t spread our wings all over the world.”
In the late Sixties and early Seventies ERF considered Europe as a potential market and in particular identified Belgium as a prime target. It had no indigenous lorry manufacturer and was a sufficiently small country to allow good penetration with a minimum of dealer infrastructure.
Having set up a Belgian distributorship and dealers ERF moved into the French market, hoping to be able to break down the French chauvanistic attitude. The Netherlands and Switzerland were also tried, but ERF eventually gave up the struggle in Europe in the late Seventies and finally wound up its distributorship agreements three years ago. In all that time only 90 vehicles had been sold in France, 66 in Belgium, 40 in the Netherlands and 10 in Switzerland.
Derek Bill explained that these European exports had been expensive to produce: “Their specification was so dissimilar. We were 32 'tons right hand drive while they were mostly 38 tonnes left hand drive. Therefore we had to produce separate vehicles in low volumes – not a profitable exercise”.
During the late Sixties and early Seventies ERF had a good market in Ghana and was sending about 60 vehicles a year Out there. They were specially developed tractive units for hauling timber out of the country’s forests. But Ghana’s lack of foreign exchange in the late Seventies meant that these exports dwindled and the production line disruption caused by the building of these specials became too great, so ERF pulled out. There was little incentive to persist in those days – the home market was buoyant and ERF could sell all it could build, and more.
Although out of West Africa ERF still had South Africa. In 1964 ERF had formed its own wholy-owned subsidiary there called ERF (South Africa). This has continued to do well ever since and in 1977, for instance, contributed 11 per cent of total ERF turnover and 22 per cent of
the profit, making South Africa the number one export destination.
The South African factory builds 6x4 tractive units and 8x4 rigids; most of the components are local including the Atlantis engines, axles and some of the cabs.
Looking to replace the quickly fading European and Ghana business, ERF turned, like Foden, to the Middle East. The company had previously done one-off deals there (notably 50 tractive units for Jordan Phosphate Mines in 1969), but did not appoint a distributor in the main Middle Eastern market of Saudi Arabia until the mid-Seventies. The largest single order to come out of Saudi was gained twoand-a-half years ago for 130 6x4 tractive units with ■■■■■■■ NTE 290 engines for Taseco-TLS. This has now been added to and stands at 220.
In total there are 450-500 ERFs running in Saudi. Derek Bill is currently looking for a new distributor there, having sacked the last one in January for lacking the effort now needed in the slightly-downturned Saudi market. Last year ERF sold only 25 units there and hopes a new distributor will improve matters.
Saudi Arabia is not the only Middle Eastern destination open to ERF. Derek Bill has recently come back from Oman where he attended the opening of the company’s distributor’s new truck centre. He is also looking at the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan. On his foreign travels the one name he always runs up against is MercedesBenz which he described as the “arch exporter”.
Since 1981, when a new distributor was signed up for Zimbabwe, ERF has sold about 50 vehicles there. Later. this year Derek Bill is to visit Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to assess their potential, although he admits that these countries’ lack of foreign exchange limits their attraction. Already ckd kits from Sandbach are assembled by an independent assembler in Kenya, which also does similar work for Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and Hino.
About five years ago ERF was selling a useful volume to Greece, but the pound/drachma exchange rate became so unattractive that it effectively put ERF out of that market.
On balance, said Mr Bill, there is not a great deal of difference from a financial point of view in selling on the home market or exporting. Spares use among foreign customers is higher because of tougher conditions and less competition from spurious parts manufacturers, but the greater infrastructure cost partly offsets this.
According to Mr Bill, ERF has always wanted to be an exporter. “But shall we say that since the bottom fell out of the UK truck market this has heightened our desire to export. Before then we sometimes felt that our export effort would be at the expense of our home market,” He denies that ERF’s latest export drive will be a short-term step to make up for low British demand. “Any moves we make abroad will be a long-term commitment.”
In the past few years ERF exports have been 10-15 per cent of production (in turnover value this proportion has been slightly higher because of the higher average cost of the heavier duty export models). Derek Bill would like this production figure to rise to nearer 30 per cent as a result of his foreign forays. He has high hopes of one large deal in the Middle East in particular. That is still in its early stages. If this comes off it will be a step in the right direction.
Thank you Robert
robert1952:
I have stumbled upon a very interesting article in Commercial Motor 12/05/84 about the alarming dip in exports for British truck manufacturers. It contains some fascinating comments on ERF’s experiment in Europe, giving the figures of those trucks exported to each country: France 90, Belgium 66, Holland 40 and Swiss 10. It also comments on why the experiment in Greece didn’t work (exchange rate). It comments on the 450-500 ERFs exported to the Middle-East and gives other figures that tally with Saviem’s remarks earlier on this thread. I have removed the entire section on Foden but if anyone wants to see that component I can post it for you.Here is the article: Robert
British builders take a long view of exports
IN THOSE HALCYON days of 1979 when British commercial vehicle registrations were reaching an all-time high, imported vans, lorries, coaches and buses accounted for 23 per cent of sales.
Since then, the plunge in commercial vehicle sales (although reversed in the first few months of this year) has been accompanied by a contradictory rise in the importers’ share of our market; in 1983 their share was up to 34 per cent.That is not a healthy trend, but it is only half of the picture. If we could match these imports with our own exports the equation would balance. In the same way as foreign manufacturers got a toe in the door in the early seventies and are now sitting comfortably in the living room, it should have been possible for our manufacturers to offset domestic market depression with an export sales drive.
Two manufacturers that could have been expected to take that action are Foden and ERF. These close neighbours in Sandbach have seen their home sales slide alarmingly in the past three to four years. Seemingly as yet unable to re-establish their fortunes at home, these two more than anyone, need to sell abroad.
They say necessity is the mother of invention. Faced with a small home market the Scanelinavian vehicle manufacturers have turned themselves into exporters par excellence. Scania, for instance, exports no less than 90 per cent of its production, partly thanks to assembly plants outside its native Sweden. Foden’s Roger Smith: “Continental Europe is a good place not to be in for a British manufacturer. There is tremendous oversupply and some silly competition. And at the same time, selling into an established market like Europe requires a big infrastructure and a lot of investment up front.”A mile or so down the road in Sandbach at ERF the export story is slightly different, but has headed in the same direction. Said ERF export sales manager, Derek Bill: “We’ve developed a policy of concentrating on certain specific markets. We are not General Motors or Ford. We can’t spread our wings all over the world.”
In the late Sixties and early Seventies ERF considered Europe as a potential market and in particular identified Belgium as a prime target. It had no indigenous lorry manufacturer and was a sufficiently small country to allow good penetration with a minimum of dealer infrastructure.Having set up a Belgian distributorship and dealers ERF moved into the French market, hoping to be able to break down the French chauvanistic attitude. The Netherlands and Switzerland were also tried, but ERF eventually gave up the struggle in Europe in the late Seventies and finally wound up its distributorship agreements three years ago. In all that time only 90 vehicles had been sold in France, 66 in Belgium, 40 in the Netherlands and 10 in Switzerland.
Derek Bill explained that these European exports had been expensive to produce: “Their specification was so dissimilar. We were 32 'tons right hand drive while they were mostly 38 tonnes left hand drive. Therefore we had to produce separate vehicles in low volumes – not a profitable exercise”.
During the late Sixties and early Seventies ERF had a good market in Ghana and was sending about 60 vehicles a year Out there. They were specially developed tractive units for hauling timber out of the country’s forests. But Ghana’s lack of foreign exchange in the late Seventies meant that these exports dwindled and the production line disruption caused by the building of these specials became too great, so ERF pulled out. There was little incentive to persist in those days – the home market was buoyant and ERF could sell all it could build, and more.
Although out of West Africa ERF still had South Africa. In 1964 ERF had formed its own wholy-owned subsidiary there called ERF (South Africa). This has continued to do well ever since and in 1977, for instance, contributed 11 per cent of total ERF turnover and 22 per cent of
the profit, making South Africa the number one export destination.
The South African factory builds 6x4 tractive units and 8x4 rigids; most of the components are local including the Atlantis engines, axles and some of the cabs.Looking to replace the quickly fading European and Ghana business, ERF turned, like Foden, to the Middle East. The company had previously done one-off deals there (notably 50 tractive units for Jordan Phosphate Mines in 1969), but did not appoint a distributor in the main Middle Eastern market of Saudi Arabia until the mid-Seventies. The largest single order to come out of Saudi was gained twoand-a-half years ago for 130 6x4 tractive units with ■■■■■■■ NTE 290 engines for Taseco-TLS. This has now been added to and stands at 220.
In total there are 450-500 ERFs running in Saudi. Derek Bill is currently looking for a new distributor there, having sacked the last one in January for lacking the effort now needed in the slightly-downturned Saudi market. Last year ERF sold only 25 units there and hopes a new distributor will improve matters.
Saudi Arabia is not the only Middle Eastern destination open to ERF. Derek Bill has recently come back from Oman where he attended the opening of the company’s distributor’s new truck centre. He is also looking at the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan. On his foreign travels the one name he always runs up against is MercedesBenz which he described as the “arch exporter”.Since 1981, when a new distributor was signed up for Zimbabwe, ERF has sold about 50 vehicles there. Later. this year Derek Bill is to visit Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to assess their potential, although he admits that these countries’ lack of foreign exchange limits their attraction. Already ckd kits from Sandbach are assembled by an independent assembler in Kenya, which also does similar work for Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and Hino.
About five years ago ERF was selling a useful volume to Greece, but the pound/drachma exchange rate became so unattractive that it effectively put ERF out of that market.
On balance, said Mr Bill, there is not a great deal of difference from a financial point of view in selling on the home market or exporting. Spares use among foreign customers is higher because of tougher conditions and less competition from spurious parts manufacturers, but the greater infrastructure cost partly offsets this.
According to Mr Bill, ERF has always wanted to be an exporter. “But shall we say that since the bottom fell out of the UK truck market this has heightened our desire to export. Before then we sometimes felt that our export effort would be at the expense of our home market,” He denies that ERF’s latest export drive will be a short-term step to make up for low British demand. “Any moves we make abroad will be a long-term commitment.”In the past few years ERF exports have been 10-15 per cent of production (in turnover value this proportion has been slightly higher because of the higher average cost of the heavier duty export models). Derek Bill would like this production figure to rise to nearer 30 per cent as a result of his foreign forays. He has high hopes of one large deal in the Middle East in particular. That is still in its early stages. If this comes off it will be a step in the right direction.
What worries me now is that in fact ‘only’ 20% of the French ERF’s (7MW- and B-series) is known/registered. That being said we may assume that quite some
C- and probably E-series slipped through? For BeNeLux and Switzerland a known-ratio of > 50% is not bad at all. I was however not familiar with the official
stated numbers by ERF themselves in your CM-article.
Others may have slipped through the net, like tippers and tar-sprayers. Robert
Hey age-colleague! I admire your goal for a perfect route to M/E however how many tippers
and sequently tar-sprayers you expect to have in total? With all respect…I can admit there
was a lot of parallel-sales…not only with Mack, Kenworth, IHC (all very strong out of Brussels)
and not to forget the ‘silent’ network of CDB as A-J often highlighted. Autocar and White were
sold in quite some quantities…as ERF did by the way for their M/E-sales…
In Belgium a very large company (also internationally known) did a lot of roadbuilding with
Autocar, International and quite some Caterpillar-equipment, named SOGETRA of Overijse.
From the net I will post some input as also from own archives, just as Sabena no longer here
En-Tour-Age:
Hey age-colleague! I admire your goal for a perfect route to M/E however how many tippers
and sequently tar-sprayers you expect to have in total? With all respect…I can admit there
was a lot of parallel-sales…not only with Mack, Kenworth, IHC (all very strong out of Brussels)
and not to forget the ‘silent’ network of CDB as A-J often highlighted. Autocar and White were
sold in quite some quantities…as ERF did by the way for their M/E-sales…
You are right. Those figures may not have been accurate, or even have come from ERF. They may also have been out of date. Mind you, I agree with A-J that the figure for France is puzzling, as we have found only a few French ERFs. Having said that, there may have been ERFs that were registered in France - ‘flagged out’ - like that Berrisford NGC for example, which is believed to have been flagged out. I know of two LHD E-series with Twin-splitters that ran on French plates for EH Nicholls of Sittingbourne. Robert
Here’s some excellent news from ‘Richmond’ who has just posted these pics on another ERF thread: this C-series left-■■■■■■ in the desert has now been rescued! (Spot the 9-speed Fuller). We await further news with baited breath… Robert
Apparently now running in Bahrain. Robert
I notice it has a front-mounted exhaust, so I wonder if perhaps this unit was one of the many C-series ERFs supplied to Taseco to haul tankers. Robert 
Wirlinmerlin has started an excellent thread on Taseco of Dammam. Here’s the link: Robert