Lastly…one of those “I’m lucky to be alive” photo’s
Thanks again Fergie for the excellent photos. Great video tribute to Monsieur Berliet.
Johnny
jsutherland:
Thanks again Fergie for the excellent photos. Great video tribute to Monsieur Berliet.
Johnny
No problem John…here’s a couple more,
First one is near us at Quimper, can’t find any current info, so assume the company has long gone.
Second one , well, just looks lonely… 
Evening all,
Fergie, a master class of images…those engines…the magical Willeme straight 8, all created from pre WW2 Deutz water cooled design, all sharing, 130x170mm bore and stroke, whether 4 cyl 518 T4 @130hp, 6 cyl, 518T6 @190 hp, (for the 35 tonners)!!!, or the “mega” power 8 cylinder @ 225 hp…and that went in the Oil Field 100 tonners with the Sahara cab by Geneve, and Cottard.
That 8Cylinder sounded, and drove very much like our 8 cylinder Gardner…sort of quick through the revs before you needed the next gear in te 12 speed ZF box, but the available torque was so great, to drive them, a bit like a Gardner 240…they just flattened the banks, and never ever seemed short of breath.
Now the T6, as Fergie shows, she drove very like a 180 Gardner, hung on, but really did not rush at all…but that could not be said of the Turbo T6c. Gosh I remember driving one of these, well worn, but pulling a laden Fridge out of Marseille back in 75, the old boy who owned her, Guilliame Bramé had owned her from new, and unlike many of these T6cs his had been well tended in terms of clean oil, and had not exploded…as so many had…(the failure of this engine had pushed Louis Willemes sons towards AEC, and their unberstable .690, and .760 engines, that became the standard unit for Willeme in the early 60s.
Now the 518T6c gave 255 hp, @1900 rpm, quite a good count for a 1960s lorry, but was fragile…Guillaumes was not, "plus fort" comes to mind, ....boy she could go.....and she was "heavy", that Trailor Frige had plenty of Algerian fruit in it!.......old.......but a strong pensioner........ The Cottard built "Horizon" cab was mint, as only a lorry loved by its owner could be, comfortable, and a big 600mm bunk behind the seats, but quite quiet, and despite the heat outside quite cool......(I well remember just how "warm" Mr Fodens "plastic pig", S21 Micky Mouse was down there)!.......So a deal was done...........an SM340 V8 went out.........(in Saviem Blue.....as normal, without rear wings).......and into stock for SaviFrance came Guillaumes Willeme!
Now I realise that I should have bought this pure gem of French engineering for myself, to cherish, and love…but then it was just another lorry that I had enjoyed driving…(stupid me)!!! What a gem she was…but so was the Sahara cab W8 SAT, recently returned from unimaginal toil in the oilfields of Algeria…I drove this 3.5 metre wide behemoth up from the dockside in Marseille to our yard without any thought, (and none of the chaotic traffic around the Vieux Port seemed to think that she was anything special), but what a machine…no wonder a few years later Paul Berliet remarked to me , “Louis, (Willeme), really had the edge in the sand, his lorries were superb”!..the acknowledgment from one true expert, of just how good anothers engineering truly was!
It really pleases me to see that Willeme`s engines are still well regarded, and preserved for all to hear…but so much better if they were in a lorry to be driven!
Cheerio for now.
Willeme W8 SAT in Sahara.
Willeme engine 518.T.6 brochure.
michel:
Willeme engine 518.T.6 brochure.
The 6 plates on the side of the engine, are they there so you could change the crankshaft bearings,
(big-ends / mains ) without removing the sump ?
Fergie47:
michel:
Willeme engine 518.T.6 brochure.
The 6 plates on the side of the engine, are they there so you could change the crankshaft bearings,
(big-ends / mains ) without removing the sump ?
Possibly, though I wonder if the engine also had marine applications because the Board of Trade used to insist on checking engine bearings periodically at one time so most marine engines had those removeable plates for easy inspection as, being in a boat, they couldn’t remove the sump? Just guessing really.
Pete.
Evening all,
Pete you are bang on, that was the reason for the plates on the Deutz licence built Willeme 4, 6, & 8 Cylinder engines!
They were superb designs of their day…the basic design was 1937, and then gradual uprating. Beautiful piece of kit, very like a Gardner, all precision construction. The problem with the Turbo Charged 6 cylinder, (as I think that it was with the Turbo Charged Berliet unit, was the lag of lubrication technology, which meant that the oil “broke down” at the loadings placed upon it. It drove Berliet to forsake the design for many years, until they could as a manufacturer exert pressure on the Oil Company…ELF, to refine a product suitable for the exclusive use of the demands of the Turbocharged engine).
Sadly Willeme did not have that clout, but they went down the road of joint partnerships with our AEC. But again the 760 encountered overheating problems under the last version of the Horizon cab, (then produced in tilting form by Royanne based Georges Pelpel), the space allotted for the radiator was simply too small…shades of the .505 with the Ergomatic cab…but wonderful under the Motor Panels Big J cab).
Michels picture of the W8 SAT may give you some idea of what a big girl these beauties where. That back bogie was their real strength, the amount of articulation was unbelievable, and the driveability of that straight 8 gave the driver all the time that he wanted to concentrate on just driving, and that Geneve designed and Cottard built Sahara cab actually gave the driver a great driving position, with a good view of the statuesque “prow” of the lorry, (and lets remember if the front went through the gap, well the rest would follow! …payloads were often in excess of 90 plus tonnes…Even the 14.778 litre Berliet GBO, and TBOs could not stand the pace…Just like the AEC Militant, those big Willemes defied their appearance, they were a real pleasant "pussey cat" to drive...........every drivers dream!!!!!!...........except in a Monday Morning Marseille traffic.........with only a 4in square drivers mirror...........oh well if I hit anything I wont feel it…may be I was a “cowboy”!!!..but I was in love with that big girl!!!
Fergie I have not forgotten those Suisse Steel Carriers…V8 270 hp for 19 tonnes…and a central driving position…whey hey!!!..perhaps another night…but Pete Smith has loaned me some truly exotic works on the Wolverhampton Bus system…and oddly that has the same attraction to me as anything in La Belle France…but Wolverhampton never experienced the throb of a straight eight Willeme Diesel…only Gardners…and Marseille heard many of those under the shapely curves of M Bernards bonnets
Im away to my Bollinger, (and recall the routes of the Wolverhampton Corporation handsome buses to Merry Hill, Fordhouses, and Whitmore Reans)… Thank you Pete!
Cheerio for now.
My Bollinger calls me…to be calm!
Hi Saviem,
An AJS and a couple of Stars for you, some good pictures in those books and it shows how much has changed, visually and socially 
Plenty of room for creativity, it seems, for the Berliet TR305 (especially the ones with a 9-speed Fuller in 
)! Herewith, a diagram for the roof-mounted air-con, and a rather stylish roof extension. Robert
Woke up this morning a little apprehensive, the car is due its ControlTechnic ( MOT test )…
I was put in a good mood though when reading the newspapers on line, to see Gerry Hall is engaged to Rupert Murdoch, well, it’s nice to see love still flourishes…and nothing to do with billions of dollars of course… 
So, arrived at the C.T. station for her 2 yearly test ( not every year, and they are not done by garages, they’re independent CT tests only)…the guy there speaks good English, his dad is a retired driver and owns an old Citroen fire engine…This is her 6th test, the last five had no advisories…I was expecting a fail this time, with 215,000 kms on the clock and 14 years old, but no, she sailed through AGAIN ( Peugeot 406 diesel ), not bad for a standard every day family 4 door, and she still does an average 48.7 mpg.
Next door is a yard that housed a lot of old tractors, the guy died, the place was sold to a car breaker, outside is a Saviem, ( think its a 200) this time I had the camera with me, so here are a few shots of it…it was pulling a demonstration trailer on the show circuit up until 2 years ago, so she was road legal, looks in pretty good shape, solid all around…the guy says its up for sale, he’s not sure of the price, but he thinks between 2000 / 3000 euro…I’m to old to be sorting lorries out now, 20 years ago I’d have bought it…It was always undercover, but is now in the open, hope someone rescues it soon…
Then the day got better…I walked 50 mts in the other direction where there is a cattle hauliers yard. they have a modern fleet of wagon and drags, Scania, Volvo and Iveco, always nicely turned out wagons…
I knew the guy had an old Saviem JM200, (the same as the one for sale) and seeing as I had my camera thought Id see if it was parked in the garage and get a few pics…it wasn’t.
However, the boss was there, and after explaining my intentions, he said, follow me in your car to my other garage…so I did, We went to paradise…well, kind of if you’re into old French trucks…no less than five Saviems in various states of repair, and a load of spares including half a dozen various engines…He started the JL200 that is ready for showing, and also the 4 wheeler that has just the engine in the chassis, they both sounded as sweet as a nut…Had two hours there, so not a bad morning really,
Jerry Hall / Murdoch made me laugh…car passed its CT, a Saviem JM200 for sale, and a Garage full of Saviems… 
Back to reality when I eventually made it home, Mrs Fergie demanded to know where Id been for 3 hours, and handed me a hoover and dusters…ah well…
So here, in no particular order is a garage full of Saviems…JL25 @130hp / JL23.1@130hp and 3 X JM200@200hp
Hi Fergie,
Cracking photo’s mate, I feel like a holiday in France to visit a few rallies to see these motors but will have to talk the other half in to it, may have to finish the decorating after all
Now that’s just the sort of adventure I would like, to prepare me for a bit of domestic dusting; except in my case I might have been tempted to repair the local Café de la Post to enhance the last gleanings of my pleasure whilst reviewing the pictures in the pleasant haze of an afternoon’s pastis de Marseille… Sigh! Robert
pete smith:
Hi Fergie,
Cracking photo’s mate, I feel like a holiday in France to visit a few rallies to see these motors but will have to talk the other half in to it, may have to finish the decorating after all
Pete Smith…you two faced git !!! You were telling me to stand up to Mrs Fergie the other day, and now you’re saying you will. “have to talk Mrs Smith about coming to France”… Just TELL her, like what you told me to…see, when it comes down to it, you’re just as scared as the rest of us… 
robert1952:
Now that’s just the sort of adventure I would like, to prepare me for a bit of domestic dusting; except in my case I might have been tempted to repair the local Café de la Post to enhance the last gleanings of my pleasure whilst reviewing the pictures in the pleasant haze of an afternoon’s pastis de Marseille… Sigh! Robert
Keep taking the pills Robert, they say they help to bring you back to reality…
Fergie47:
pete smith:
Hi Fergie,
Cracking photo’s mate, I feel like a holiday in France to visit a few rallies to see these motors but will have to talk the other half in to it, may have to finish the decorating after allPete Smith…you two faced git !!! You were telling me to stand up to Mrs Fergie the other day, and now you’re saying you will. “have to talk Mrs Smith about coming to France”… Just TELL her, like what you told me to…see, when it comes down to it, you’re just as scared as the rest of us…
I will have to be nice Fergie as the Mrs has got a new company car and I have a knackered company Combo van with 160k on the clock, if it made it to France they would do me for fly tipping if it was seen parked up! And yes i’m scared incase she puts her foot down and stops me going down pub on way home from work!