ERF 'European' (1975)

[erf-ngc-european]

David Miller:

And then there’s this one taken by Chris Till in Harem TIR-park Istanbul. Both Eric Vick’s NGCs are visible with tilt trailers, along with a Richard Read NGC pulling their fridge trailer en route to Baghdad. Another Read NGC with a tilt can be seen. In the foreground I notice a Dodge with a tilt from Ticehurst, East Sussex. Also visible is an Oryx F89. And isn’t that a Dow Freight artic parked at the back? Robert

If you look there are actually 2 Oryx there. One with the companies own trailer and one with a blue rental. Though my memory is getting worse I think I was the one with the company trailer, and it was Butch Levet with the rental. And who was the hero with the non-sleeper Dodge?

David

Ah yes! I see it, David. That’s the one I mistook for a Dow unit. As for the loony with the day-cab Barrieros Dodge: at least he would have had a 9-sp Fuller to help compensate! Robert

[erf-ngc-european]

I’ve been looking at the type of external sun-visors worn by some NGCs. They appear to fall into three categories: factory NGC visors, visors from B-series units, and Dutch-style plastic visors. Here is an example of one of each:

note that the factory NGC visor is carefully spliced with the pillar foil - this arrangement is consistent throughout all units thus equipped

note that the B-series visor has a longer external down piece and is differently shaped

The plastic ones came in all colours

The VISOR situation @ 040517

FACTORY NGC VISORS:

KFH 248P
KFH 249P
KFH 250P
KFH 251P
NFH 120P
PDF 444R
KDM 460N
JLG 35N
ZH120919
And all six Van Steenbergen units

B-series VISORS
KRH 153P
Q824 RGC

DUTCH PLASTIC VISORS
41-54-NB
DB-77-52
16-37-FB
21-96-NB
83-75-HB
06-09-TB
84-56-JB
BER.329

Robert

[erf-ngc-european]

As you can see, I fully intend to continue to serve the dual interests of exploring all things NGC on this thread whilst simultaneously researching material for the Lorries of Arabia series by facilitating the flow of useful information and encouraging new discoveries.

Talking of worthy contributions, it seems to be a while since we heard from our friend DEANB! Perhaps he’s taking a well-earned break . Robert

[erf-ngc-european]

Little moments to please the enthusiastic soul - I received this morning an original ERF press photograph issued by the publicity office in Sandbach. It’s a familiar pic on here (black and white / tautliner trailer) but nice to have an original! Robert

[fergie47]

In issue 35 of the French magazine “Camions and Hommes” there is an article on ERF Europeans, by the editor Francis Cany, with eight photo’s supplied by Dean Bartlett…would Mr Bartlett be a member of Trucknet and have posted on here ?..if not I could post them up if I get permission …

[erf-ngc-european]

Fergie47:
In issue 35 of the French magazine “Camions and Hommes” there is an article on ERF Europeans, by the editor Francis Cany, with eight photo’s supplied by Dean Bartlett…would Mr Bartlett be a member of Trucknet and have posted on here ?..if not I could post them up if I get permission …

Well spotted, Fergie! It’s good to know people like you have got their eyes skinned for material like this. If you check the article posted half way down page 120 of this thread you’ll find what I think is maybe the piece you have in mind. If not, please post it on here! Cheers, Robert.

[fergie47]

ERF-NGC-European:

Fergie47:
In issue 35 of the French magazine “Camions and Hommes” there is an article on ERF Europeans, by the editor Francis Cany, with eight photo’s supplied by Dean Bartlett…would Mr Bartlett be a member of Trucknet and have posted on here ?..if not I could post them up if I get permission …

Well spotted, Fergie! It’s good to know people like you have got their eyes skinned for material like this. If you check the article posted half way down page 120 of this thread you’ll find what I think is maybe the piece you have in mind. If not, please post it on here! Cheers, Robert.

Yep, that’s the article, I’ve bought this months today, I’ll see if anyone has replied to that particular article…

[fergie47]

Australian perhaps ?

[dieseldog66]

robert1952:
^^^

Here, continuing the Best Truck Import theme; and again courtesy of Hans Witte, is the ERF NGC price list for August 1975. The image shows the original; and beneath it is full translation. Fascinating stuff - especially as I have no English price list info from Sanbach records .

0

Best Truck

Price list August 4, 1975

NGC 420 series 270 – 335 SAE HP
Tractor 4 x 2 ƒ 95.000,00
Truck 4 x 2 ƒ 92.500,

Basic spec:
Sleeper cab with curtains and one bed, sprayed in your colour, two Viking Bostrom seats, co-drivers’ seat with head- and armrests, radio-cassette player, fire extinguisher, coco mats, 2- line + 24 V including curling-hoses, automatic cooler fan, Jacobs engine brake, York Big D coupling, rear mudguards, tow hook in front bumper, and Luberfiner oil filter which enables an oil-change every 20.000 km’s.

Optionals at extra costs:

Central lubrication device from ƒ 2.000,00
Air dryer instead of anti-frost pot 750,00
Electric connection 12 = 24 V 175,00
Second bed 450,00
12.00 x 20 Michelin X 18 P.R. 950,00
Michelin XZA at front axle 250,00
Air horn 250,00
Toolbox from 250,00
Sun visor transparent 350,00
Laminated front screen 500,00
ML tectyl treatment 300,00

Hazardous Transport equipment: price at request.

All prices above are excluded VAT.

---

Comparison
Prices in Holland August 1975, for comparable 4x2 tractors with 2 bed sleeper cab.
Prices are theoretical, in practice the real prices were negotiated.

ERF NGC ƒ 95.450,00
DAF FT2800 DKS 95.750,00
Mercedes-Benz 1932 S (long sleeper cab) 102.950,00
Saviem SM340 90.500,00
Scania LB 140 S 101.650,00
Volvo F89 107.185,00

---

So have I missed something here, as it means nothing without the exchange rate for 1975, or the price in Pounds.

[erf-continental]

I’ll bet that good old John (Saviem), who is regretably no longer with us, could give strong
feedback when it comes to prices. Remember that published prices are seldom the price
you get invoiced, extra’s (with high margins) excluded.

For Belgium, ERF was 33% cheaper than Scania, hence Scania 50% more expensive!!! Do I
need to say more?

[erf-ngc-european]

Fergie47:
Australian perhaps ?

Probably. It has an MV cab, BTW. Robert

[erf-ngc-european]

Dieseldog66:
So have I missed something here, as it means nothing without the exchange rate for 1975, or the price in Pounds.

You’ve missed nothing! I was rather hoping we might get an exchange translation from someone. R

[carryfast]

ERF-NGC-European:

Dieseldog66:
So have I missed something here, as it means nothing without the exchange rate for 1975, or the price in Pounds.

You’ve missed nothing! I was rather hoping we might get an exchange translation from someone. R

It says Holland but it looks like BEF ? in which case the info suggests ( 80 = 1 GBP ).Not Guilders ( around almost 6 = 1 GBP ) in the day.

[erf-ngc-european]

A bit of old chat here on a French forum - here’s the link:

photosdecamions.com/t2514p25 … s-loste-59

[erf-ngc-european]

Only my humble opinion; but I always think that the 7MW is displayed to its best when both the top of the grille and the visor catch the light or are lightly dusted, as in the example shown . Robert

[deanb]

I dont recall seeing this before but i have not really looked at the Trans Arabaia stuff much.

[deanb]

Re the price of a new NGC. Using the gilder price of 95,000 then it would have cost £ 16,788.01 .

That is using the Bank of England exchange rate for the 4th of August 1975,which was 5.6588 which was the date on the invoice. That sounds about right as i remember my grandad buying a new F88 in 1975 and that was also £ 16,0000 pounds.

[erf-ngc-european]

DEANB:
I dont recall seeing this before but i have not really looked at the Trans Arabaia stuff much.

0

Hello Dean, welcome back ! As for the pic; well it appeared in an article in REVS (by Cookie) that I posted on this thread. It appeared again (in colour) in the book Beyond the Bosphorous, and again on here long ago. Cheers, Robert

[erf-ngc-european]

DEANB:
Re the price of a new NGC. Using the gilder price of 95,000 then it would have cost £ 16,788.01 .

That is using the Bank of England exchange rate for the 4th of August 1975,which was 5.6588 which was the date on the invoice. That sounds about right as i remember my grandad buying a new F88 in 1975 and that was also £ 16,0000 pounds.

1

0

Bargain!! Robert

[erf-ngc-european]

Someone who’s been in touch with the driver of the Estra/Calor unit was able to confirm for me this morning that HMO 220N was the only NGC they had . This is useful info because we needn’t waste energy chasing an imagined fleet of Calor Transport NGCs!

This got me thinking about other channel-hopping NGCs operated by UK hauliers. For some reason, Estra registered their NGC in the UK even though it was based in Holland. However, this was not always the case. Long before ‘flagging out’ became popular (ie registering a lorry abroad on foreign plates whilst still operating from a base in the UK), certain UK operators established bases in French channel ports and operated their French-registered units from there. These units were used for the Continental leg of international journeys and usually entailed dropping trailers off at French channel ports for unaccompanied shipment to UK channel ports. Two examples that spring immediately to mind are Beresford’s NGC based in Le Havre and EH Nicholls’s two LHD E-series ERFs based in Calais.

Now the thing about this is that very few people on this side of the channel would have been aware of the vehicles involved in this kind of operation because they would never see those units at work. Clutching at straws a little here, it makes me wonder if there might have been more NGCs that fell into this category. So here is another tentative lead: to delve a little deeper into those operations.

Robert