MOL acquired Perez and Raimond ,who had bought themselves the rights after the demise of Willeme .Here building heavy 8x4 PRP with Pelpel cabs.
michel:
MOL acquired Perez and Raimond ,who had bought themselves the rights after the demise of Willeme .Here building heavy 8x4 PRP with Pelpel cabs.
Thanks for the info “michel”,thats a great pic. 
How about this beauty Patrick !!! 
Look very tidy and i would have thought that was a steal at that money in 2006.
DEANB:
How about this beauty Patrick !!!Look very tidy and i would have thought that was a steal at that money in 2006.
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Would that be when Scott bought it, or sold it I wonder.
I met the man, Scott, can’t remember his first name, many years ago, early 90s I should think. My wife Fran and I had been donated a half cruise from the Canary Islands and one day we heard running feet and a loud cry ‘come back here Fran’. 
Naturally we were much taken aback but it turned out that the Fran concerned was Scotts young son. We became quite friendly and chewed the fat about transport a lot, especially on the heavy side. I was still manager at Toray but getting fed up and cab happy so he said, come up to Chesterfield and see us and if there is anything going, its yours.
Some months later I dropped in when passing and asked him for a job. He was a bit stressed out at the time as the pallet store next door had been torched during the night and I think his premises were affected in some way.
Anyway I asked him for a job as I was keen to get back into heavy haulage as a driver but he said that he had a full complement at the moment but what he really needed was a transport manager, and offered me that. 
We parted on friendly terms though I had politely declined, the whole point was that I wanted to get back on the road. 
A good job really because some years later I had the chance of voluntary redundancy and used the money to pay off all debts and move here permanently, if I had taken his offer I would still be in Boris’ Blighty Heaven. 
After moving here and before Gauthier offered me a job, I again contacted him as I knew he had talked about employing continental based drivers. He offered me a job again. As a car pilot with my own little Saxo painted yellow at his expense. Once again I had to decline.
They are still operating, a few weeks ago I saw an interview on the telly with his Operations Manager decrying the problems for international haulage. I haven’t applied a third time.
Spardo:
pv83:
Can’t understand why you don’t like it David, as it heats up rapidly and you’re not exactly 6ft5 tall…?It’s not the tallity Patrick, if it has a heater at all, I agree with you, and don’t forget the best advantage.
Both right and left turns can both be signalled using hands.
BTW, on the question of height, I am 5’6" and a previous colleague at Toray was 6’7". Standing together in the yard we never saw eye to eye, but once seated in the car we were both the same height. In other words it is all in the legs and they are they first to go. I have seen enough really tall people struggle in old age to be thankful for my compactness.
I like how you turned that into your advantage David, compactness
Dennis Javelin:
Pickfords moving a loco from the North British works in Glasgow to (I assume) the docks for export
Cheers Dennis, I was watching a clip the other day of one of the 100 tonners when MRS owned it, I’ll try to post a link on here.
Froggy55:
pv83:
E. LafeberVery dissimilar, but interesting fleet!
Indeed, although the fleet only consists of DAF, MAN and Volvo nowadays…
pete smith:
Spardo:
pv83:
Can’t understand why you don’t like it David, as it heats up rapidly and you’re not exactly 6ft5 tall…?It’s not the tallity Patrick, if it has a heater at all, I agree with you, and don’t forget the best advantage.
Both right and left turns can both be signalled using hands.
BTW, on the question of height, I am 5’6" and a previous colleague at Toray was 6’7". Standing together in the yard we never saw eye to eye, but once seated in the car we were both the same height. In other words it is all in the legs and they are they first to go. I have seen enough really tall people struggle in old age to be thankful for my compactness.
I thought you were taller than 5’6" PV, I wondered why they put a high chair next to the table in The Salt Box!
Having a senior moment there Pete? As you well know I’m at least 5’8" and a bit! Always had porridge for breakfast you see
pete smith:
And again for you PV!
Oh deary me… “the style movement, if it ain’t Dutch it ain’t much”…
DEANB:
Nice pics Patrick.What happened to FTF,did they shut down or were they taken over ■■
MOL heavy haulier. Believe Willeme were the originals of this particular tractor unit ?
Click on pages twice to read.
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2
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michel:
MOL acquired Perez and Raimond ,who had bought themselves the rights after the demise of Willeme .Here building heavy 8x4 PRP with Pelpel cabs.
Merci Michel, I hope that’s one of your questions answered Dean
Interesting brochure and workshop pic’s, much appriciated lads
Regarding FTF, they just shut down production basically, they were never considered real competitors in the first place I reckon, as most of the trucks they’d built were for niche operations, heavy haulage being one of them, the last heavy haulage unit left the premises in '91, the last tractor unit for general haulage in '95.
One of the main reasons for the downfall was that they didn’t sold enough new ones, as the ones they’d sold years ago were just bullit proof and kept on going and going ( I believe that Mammut Columbia is still using two earlier models, must be over 40 years old now), the other reason was that developing a brand new model was just too expensive, so after they stopped building trucks, the main focus was on building trailers again (something they never stopped doing), and after a few years under the wings of Nooteboom, they’re now part of a group with 3 other Dutch trailer manufacturers.
If FTF was still on the market, what would it have looked like I wonder, as they used the Motor Panels Cab nearly from the beginning. And what sort of engines would they had on offer now, as they mainly fitted Detroit Diesels.
DEANB:
How about this beauty Patrick !!!Look very tidy and i would have thought that was a steal at that money in 2006.
0
YES!!! What a bargain for that price though…
Spardo:
DEANB:
How about this beauty Patrick !!!Look very tidy and i would have thought that was a steal at that money in 2006.
0
Would that be when Scott bought it, or sold it I wonder.
I met the man, Scott, can’t remember his first name, many years ago, early 90s I should think. My wife Fran and I had been donated a half cruise from the Canary Islands and one day we heard running feet and a loud cry ‘come back here Fran’.
Naturally we were much taken aback but it turned out that the Fran concerned was Scotts young son. We became quite friendly and chewed the fat about transport a lot, especially on the heavy side. I was still manager at Toray but getting fed up and cab happy so he said, come up to Chesterfield and see us and if there is anything going, its yours.
Some months later I dropped in when passing and asked him for a job. He was a bit stressed out at the time as the pallet store next door had been torched during the night and I think his premises were affected in some way.
Anyway I asked him for a job as I was keen to get back into heavy haulage as a driver but he said that he had a full complement at the moment but what he really needed was a transport manager, and offered me that.
A good job really because some years later I had the chance of voluntary redundancy and used the money to pay off all debts and move here permanently, if I had taken his offer I would still be in Boris’ Blighty Heaven.
After moving here and before Gauthier offered me a job, I again contacted him as I knew he had talked about employing continental based drivers. He offered me a job again. As a car pilot with my own little Saxo painted yellow at his expense.
They are still operating, a few weeks ago I saw an interview on the telly with his Operations Manager decrying the problems for international haulage. I haven’t applied a third time.
No remorse then David, for not having taken the job as TM? How old were you when you went from being a TM back to driving, if you don’t mind me asking? As I’m looking into ways of leaving a permanent driving position in a few years time from now, I don’t reckon I would be much good as a TM, but I would like to be involved in the heavy haulage sector one way or another.
pv83:
Spardo:
No remorse then David, for not having taken the job as TM? How old were you when you went from being a TM back to driving, if you don’t mind me asking? As I’m looking into ways of leaving a permanent driving position in a few years time from now, I don’t reckon I would be much good as a TM, but I would like to be involved in the heavy haulage sector one way or another.
No, no remorse at all. I was 40 when I decided that the international transport managers licence (TML/CPC) that I had had from the day they were first introduced, like my HGV licence, grandfather rights, needed to be put back to use before I got too old for the road.
I spent a year driving a mini skip, no nights out, so I was free for interviews before getting the job at Courtauld’s, later Toray, but after 11 years I had had enough of taking to the road myself whenever I could to get a fix. So I told them I was going nuts and asked to be a driver, which was granted. I was 52 by then and happy enough with my new F10 wagon and drag but my successor’s insecurity thinking that at any moment I would claim my job back tainted it, so when I heard they were looking for redundancies I grabbed it and legged it to France within the week.
3 years with Gauthier before retirement and then 7 of playing petanque before the itchy feet took over again. So I discovered that dogs needed rescuing and delivering all over Europe and I was back in business.
The road is a drug Patrick to some of us, are you sure you will be able to kick the habit?
pv83:
Some footage from the Spanish archives (nmp)
Pics 6 & 10 are especially interesting!
Pic 6 is a Pegaso (maybe Z 206 ?) with a 6x6 axle layout; that I had never seen before.
Pic 10 looks like a Leyland-powered Krupp. Or perhaps the other way round, a Krupp-cabbed Leyland. Would any of you know more? Thnaks!
Froggy55:
pv83:
Some footage from the Spanish archives (nmp)Pics 6 & 10 are especially interesting!
Pic 6 is a Pegaso (maybe Z 206 ?) with a 6x6 axle layout; that I had never seen before.
Pic 10 looks like a Leyland-powered Krupp. Or perhaps the other way round, a Krupp-cabbed Leyland. Would any of you know more? Thnaks!
Don’t think it’s a Krupp cab, although it looks like one. There are a few detail differences, for example the shape of the windscreen/A post. I think it may be a Leyland, with a (very stylish) Spanish cab. What was a Leyland 6x4 export tractor in those days? Super Beaver? Hippo?
You’re absolutely right! I had a close look to a Krupp cab, and it appears just the style is the same. Probably, as you say, a locally built cab, but very neat. What was the difference between the Super-Beaver and the Hippo? Both 6x4s with a nicely balanced bonneted cab; perhaps the max allowed weight?
Spardo:
pv83:
Spardo:
No remorse then David, for not having taken the job as TM? How old were you when you went from being a TM back to driving, if you don’t mind me asking? As I’m looking into ways of leaving a permanent driving position in a few years time from now, I don’t reckon I would be much good as a TM, but I would like to be involved in the heavy haulage sector one way or another.No, no remorse at all. I was 40 when I decided that the international transport managers licence (TML/CPC) that I had had from the day they were first introduced, like my HGV licence, grandfather rights, needed to be put back to use before I got too old for the road.
I spent a year driving a mini skip, no nights out, so I was free for interviews before getting the job at Courtauld’s, later Toray, but after 11 years I had had enough of taking to the road myself whenever I could to get a fix.
3 years with Gauthier before retirement and then 7 of playing petanque before the itchy feet took over again. So I discovered that dogs needed rescuing and delivering all over Europe and I was back in business.
The road is a drug Patrick to some of us, are you sure you will be able to kick the habit?
I consider myself lucky in that respect Dave , I couldn’t contemplate life off the road but heart problems saw my licence gone overnight at 62 .I had to put it behind me mentally straight away but I have many workmates plodding on into their late70s because they couldn’t alter their mindset . No use trying to get out of driving , you have to be determined to do it from the off and have a determination to change your lifestyle . I think you will agree that you’ll live longer if you aren’t stuck behind a wheel . I’ve talked my son round and he retires at 55 next year after 33 years driving while he still , hopefully , has his health .Thankfully our grandson went into computers and makes more in a month than I could make in a year .
PV83
Hi Patrick, picture no:5 is that what looks like a scammell lowloader unusual for use in europe in those days, like the ex US army trailers, used a few them back in old days.
[zb]
anorak:Froggy55:
pv83:
Some footage from the Spanish archives (nmp)Pics 6 & 10 are especially interesting!
Pic 6 is a Pegaso (maybe Z 206 ?) with a 6x6 axle layout; that I had never seen before.
Pic 10 looks like a Leyland-powered Krupp. Or perhaps the other way round, a Krupp-cabbed Leyland. Would any of you know more? Thnaks!Don’t think it’s a Krupp cab, although it looks like one. There are a few detail differences, for example the shape of the windscreen/A post. I think it may be a Leyland, with a (very stylish) Spanish cab. What was a Leyland 6x4 export tractor in those days? Super Beaver? Hippo?
It’s got bit of a Krupp style to it for sure, only better looking IMHO! Most deffo a local crafted cab I reckon.