But the one I would really have liked to drive,…a “cheese grater” Pegaso 8x2,
Ah Saviem, Saviem! Now you’re talking. In Spain they were known as the ‘bighead Pegaso’ and were of the period when Pegaso were really designing and building 'cutting edge vehicles - for example this same model could be specified with an all aluminium V6 in it (I have seen one such unit but never heard one run). The ‘pinnacle’ of Spanish road transport at that time was the delivery of live shellfish from the North Western coast to Madrid - one hell of a trip back then - which had to be done in one hit to ensure that the cargo was still alive on delivery and operators specified vehicles (99.5% Pegaso) that were faster and faster.
They were interesting things to drive - I have had the pleasure just once - because the range-change was controlled by rotating the ball on top of the gear stick. Simple enough you may think but unless you are very careful you make a rotating motion with your hand almost every time you change gear - and they really hated being dropped into high range half way up any of the hard climbs on the N6. Anyone who remembers Spain before the motorways that the EEC so kindly paid for will know what I mean.
The most common configuration for these shellfish fridges was chinese sixes like this though there were also lost of 8 wheelers but either way it was indeed a drivers truck!
David
