Hi Dennis took my test in a Mastiff in 73, I will let someone with more knowledge than me tell us what this is in my picture, Buzzer
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Hi Dennis took my test in a Mastiff in 73, I will let someone with more knowledge than me tell us what this is in my picture, Buzzer
Apart from the ridiculously tiny mirrors, that is a creditable sleeper cabbed LAD Leyland. Not sure why or when only Albions sported those deep doors though. I had both types.
I ran SAABS for 25 years, great cars, and the best was the estate car as shown in the photo. German Ford V4 engine. I one had 10 adults in it. ( It had 3 rows of seats, I was a lot younger and just a bit more silly)
Great cars until General Motors got hold of the company.
Love the SAABs. That NZ wagon isn’t a proper D-series by any stretch, I wonder what it really is.
I’ve always wanted a V4 SAAB 95. Don’t ask me why but I just want one.
I think the regular servicing is a big factor there Dennis but also not pushing them .I remember my dad saying years ago that he reckoned he could have kept a V8 Mandator going and the reason most didn’t was because they were flat out with them all the time. He was brought up on the old AECs and if you kept pushing them they would blow.Probably why he had a 1959 38 mph Mammoth Major right up until 71/72 .The bloke who got it after him blew it up within a week of getting it and told my dad that was his intentions the reason being that the drawbar drivers were on more money than the rigid drivers.
Not sure if its true but i had a week off not so long ago and when i got back i noticed my motor was holding on to gears much longer before changing up than it did when i left it.Someone told me it was because the driver that took it was driving with his foot to the floor all the time and the gearbox computer recognised it and changed accordingly. Could be a load of bull
I’ve ran nothing but Volvos GOM since i was 23 i think im on my 22nd now the best being my current one but the 960 i had was brilliant. A 164E is the one i’d like but only for show.I worked for a bloke who ran haulage and dealt cars a few years back and we often moved cars around on a saturday morning and i took a dark green Saab 9000 i think down to the auctions at Leeds and was amazed by it.There must have been half a cow in leather in that motor, very nice
My Dad bought a 164 automatic saloon (reg no CJR 164K) brand new in 1970 or 71.
Lovely car, A dark green (not quite British racing green) lots of chrome and tan leather seats.
Moved on to the 264, had 2 of them, then a 940 estate,
Just googled Waitoa Haulage and found their F/B page which had the above photo of another of their Fords with a very similar reg no. There is a bit of conversation going on re the engine but the jury appears to be out wether it is a Cat V8 or Cummins V8.
I really like the 164s. My dad had a 1974 164E but it was past its best when he got it. The 264 and 760 had the PRV V6 and were thirsty and not the best engines .The 960 was like the 164 a straight 6 3 litre pure Volvo engine. Smooth as silk.
Thank you for the the reply. I know it resembles a D-series cab but it’s not a D-series chassis so what is it?
I don’t claim to have much knowledge on this Leyland but I believe it was part of a large export fleet of sleeper-cabbed Leyland Beaver units to operate in East Germany (DDR). Here are some more pictures of this fleet.
It is probably a Ford and maybe started life as a six wheel tipper or LWB rigid that used the D series cab out there and had a axle grafted on.
The NZ haulage scene is a lot different to the UK. Not much articulation but a lot of eight wheel rigids with trailers, especially in the agricultural, livestock and timber sectors.
I have been out there a few times and most of the truck makers seem to have a chassis specifically for this market.
The mirrors get better and better.
What was a Leyland Bear?
I often wondered what Buzzer was doing once he handed over D IT to the Lads !
MAP has no chance if this is Buzzers firm
Hiya ramone I can say in support of what I said about the two Mastiffs that my first new motor was a D1000 with the Cummins V8 engine and I looked after it the same as the Perkins V8 and it ran like a sewing machine for nearly the three years I ran it never missed a beat ! I treated it with care and worked it bloody hard and that’s why I was able to put the first Mastiff on the road twelve months later as my second motor !