Just been reading Commercial Motor 15/12/2005 issue got a poll of greatest ever truck . The F88/89 came out on top of their poll. For me the greatest truck is the 3 Series Scania , for ease of driving , good mirrors and all round vision and a bomb proof driveline in its day it was head and shoulders above everything else. But I didnt start driving HGV until 1985 so missed out on driving F88/89s for a living. I know its a matter of opinion , so what is you`re greatest truck and why?
im going to have a think about this, interesting question. i never drove an 88/89 i only started in 1980 myself also. i drove an f86 i thought that was pretty good seeing as i came out of a scammel into it 
i have to admit that the 3 series is a overall damned good bus, i drove the r113 360 and 320 + the r143 450, it had twin stacks and sounded like a demon, the only thing about them i hated was the bottom bunk was a barsteward to get in and out of! the mirrors were bang on as you say, and the steering on the tag axle motors out of this world.
are they the greatest? i dunno, but theyve got to be amongst them, i know the topliner 4 seris i drove was a load of ■■■■■■■■ compered, the left leg aint got no room!
Hard to say because memories of trucks are inevitably linked to the jobs you were doing at the time, but for me the F89 is hard to beat. Mainly because it was the first of the ‘modern’ trucks with multi speed boxes power steering and warm, comfy cabs.
I did enjoy many of the older motors though and my last truck, the Magnum 430.
Salut, David.
good point dave, if you hated the job it makes liking the motor hard!
Another thing, what do we judge the motor on? i mean, them swedes were good if you were a driver, but some continentals were damned heavy compare dto british built. we could carry over 21 ton legal with the buffaloes and tandem axle 40 ft’s light outfits, as an owner i might see it differen. its an interesting question though certainly.
I only started driving in 1985 but drove 111’s F89, F86, F7, ERF A,E, EC’s, Foden Wedge roofs and Leyland Roadtrains but my all time favorate was the XF95/480 SCab I drove on FM work part time for a bloke.
Scarest was the F7 at 36 tonnes trying to brake for 5 Lane Ends Roundabout on the A1.
thinking about it, i did like the cab layout in the 2 series scanny batter, there was a neat little cupboard in the dash handy for tea making gear! and the floor was lower i think either that or it was missing the hump in the 3 series?
the f88 was a great truck of its time and so was the scanny 140 and 141.but for me it was the f12 385 globetrotter with the twin headlamps as a kid that was the motor i always thought id be roaming around europe in never did though oh well
2 series and 3 series we good , and f12 was nice aswell, but i still am driving a f12 globby and wont come out of her well not for a fh or 4 series anyway, but for comfort well i mean easy to get in out off and all switch gear in easy to reach positions i say the FL, yep i know crap it was but so easy to get in and out of with good vison aswell,daz
i agree with you globby i drove one years ago it was 6 months old on an r plate when i had it and i used to do five bestway stores around london every monday and every thursday and you could put that old girl anywhere and drive it for hours and you never felt tired at the end of a shift.the only thing was it were a 360 and a bit under powered at 41 ton.i always liked the look of the fl12 globetrotter
i dont think the fl’s were crap daz, i remember getting in one in 1987, it was a sponfire new FL10 unit and i got it for 2 weeks while the driver was away. it completely ruined me that ■■■■■■■ lorry did!, the gears clutch seating, heating, mirrors ect i thought it was great and never forgot the experience. i was never the same driver and after that and wanted luxury! i had an fh12 globe and didnt like it much at all!
BUT, the character of the old monsters takes some beating, although stuff like a atki, an aec mandator or routeman was a ■■■■■■■ torture chamber to do a weeks work in! no doubt somebody will disagree, but i say them old motors were a trial not a comfort, i loved them in spite of it!
may have said it a little wrong mal, i ment crap in cab space no good for been away all week but as for driving etc they were spot on one of the best motors in there time i say, daz
got you daz, i agree mate! i never did a week out in one, but it would be tight on i can see.
When I thought about what made the 3 series the best for me I guess it was from a driving / drivers point view. I nearly chose the 2800 / 3300 / 3600 Daf range , always liked the full width cab / bed and they always pulled well. But what swung it for me was the issue of reliability . I ran Daf / Volvo/ Mercedes and Scania on european work and in the cold winters you tend to get abroad I never had a breakdown in the Scanias , they always started even if it was -15 , the Volvo would start to as long as you had not killed the batterys with the cold start that came on with the ignition and made all the interior lights dim even if you had managed to get it going, also the Volvo would lose air over night and the brakes would be stuck on with the broom brake popped out so you couldnt get a tow start 
. The Daf used to freeze its brakes if it got really snowy even if you had the ether bottle filled up and turned on [ no air dryers then ] and always took an age to build up the air [ at least 5 mins ]. The diesel used to freeze on the Daf too so I used to put 10 ltrs of petrol in to stop it [not recommended ] . The one thing that endures a truck to me is the ability to complete a job and get me back home .
I’ve not driven much apart from newish rigids, but an FL7 six wheeler was the best of them.
used to have a 3300 ati, good cab, hated the flat type steering wheel and gearstick in ya leg in 8th, as they saying is in isnt a daf if it didnt pea oil out and loose air with in 10 mins of been stood still, and yer they did take ages to build air up aswell r143, but saying that they was a good motor in there day for cab size well better than the 2500 lol, daz
I should really have chosen the 2 and 3 series Scania 
. I tend to lump the two together because they shared the same basic cab . The A reg 112 intercooler I had never missed a beat I ran it to Italy every week for 18 months until I moved onto an E reg 142-420 V8. the first time i took it up the Blanc it was so powerful it started wheelspinning over the steel joints on the flyover over the steelworks causing me to back off for fear of doing a halfshaft. The other good thing the 2 series had which they done away with on the 3 series was the trailer brake , it gave real reasureance in snow &ice by pulling you back without risking a jacknife.
most def the 142 blue cab lovely bed easy to wire up, then the limo of them all was the 143 450 much better than the edc versions 400,420,470 and 500,s and so much easier to wire,
For me the F88 in the 70s compare to ERFs of the the day were I aggree something else , but the sweetest lorry , for me again was the MAN 321 twin steer of 84 , it was smooth , quiet , pulled well and it was home from home with a double bed , did 82 on the flat at 38 tons this one, drove it for five years , The worst would be an Atkinson Borderer in 75 or an F7 in 89 . Now that Magnum , great street cred , enjoyed it but wouldnt want to do any shunting with it . The Ford Iveco I thought was nice to drive , it was my fist Lorry with an electric sunroof , gismos , I love em
Frenchy
Odd choice as the greatest truck ever but I’ll say the Volvo FL6 - more different applications than any other truck ever surely? Mixers, tippers, gully suckers, tankers, fire engines, brick lorries etc.
Not a bad drive either. My little tipper used to really fly, it was like driving a go kart! 