Fergie47:
They still make these to-day, there was one parked up in out local supermarket delivering steel bars for an extension they are doing…probably rarer than they use to be for sure , saw them all over the place in the '70’s / '80’s
I’m not so sure these “porte-fers” are still made nowadays. !
Froggy55…think they are, the one I saw certainly wasn’t very old by the condition, and based on a modern-ish Renault like this one…(picture off the internet)…certainly don’t see many though…
Indeed! The bumper looks like a Kerax’s, which would make it post-2000. Registered in the “Alpes de Haute Provence”, where the dry climate is kind to bodywork…
My first trips across the channel were in Pete Robbins’s N reg 141, I did several trips to France in 1975 - mainly whisky down, Champagne back. No problem with driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road. You’re used to positioning the vehicle, what side you’re driving on doesn’t matter.
Then on overland, after the 141 gearbox packed up I was pickybacked home by a Manchester lad from Whitefield. I can’t remember his name. He was a superb driver. His DAF was the 2800? The bigger engine and the Fuller gearbox. We did Istanbul to Manchester in less than 4 days and he drove almost every mile. This was Eastern Bloc permits to Hamburg or Bremerhaven.
He let me drive in Hungary, but because the DAF had the steering wheel further to the right than the Scania, so I wasn’t positioning the vehicle to his satisfaction, and also because it took me a while to get used to the Fuller, he took it back off me.
At the east west border we didn’t know which port we were heading for, but either way, the time was tight. The east side was very strict but straightforward. On the western side the customs officer was sarcastic and unhelpful, refusing to speak English and incredibly slow. Eventually, with the help of a German speaking Hungarocamion driver, we cleared. At that point the German customs officer said in perfect English ’ you really should learn to speak German, you know, you would find it very helpful!’
I had to drag the Manchester lad back, he was practically foaming at the mouth!
Much later in Saudi, when I started to drive the left hand drive Saviem, I realised that I needed to stop driving in the gutter all the time! You do adjust of course and it becomes natural.
The only other embarrassing moment was returning home after over a year away - stopping at the Little Chef near Grange on the A 590. Coming out, getting in the hire car and suddenly realising after 3 blind bends that I was on the wrong side of the road! Lucky me!
John.
I discovered that the quickest way to become completely ‘ambidexterous’ in road transport, was to work for companies with both RHD & LHD lorries. I remember some days driving RHD in the morning and LHD in the afternoon! To add to the mix I sometimes ran LHD cars. Needless to say I became equally at home in either, and still am. I have a preference for LHD however, because inexplicably, it feels more natural - god knows why. Robert
I have now read all the “Fan Club” posts and I will forever be totally in awe of your encyclopedic knowledge of trucking industry both in France and the UK from a wide range of perspectives including driving, marketing, engineering design, fleet operations, commerce, personalities, politics- to mention just a few.
I have been completely enthralled by your recollections and made mention of them to my two sons (in their early 20’s) at a recent family get together.
Your enthusiasm, commitment and the ability to relate to others you have encountered along your career path, stands as an example to be followed by young men who may be starting out on their careers - just as they are doing now.
As an ex-Leyland man, I would just add that it is indeed a pity that you didn’t work for us!
One of your posts prompted me to do some research and in doing so I came across a paper written by a lecturer at University of Artois on the The French automobile industry but with the main focus on the truck side. It makes an interesting read.
Froggy55:
3
Talking about Pelpel cabs fitted on Bernard trucks, here’s a n°2.
2
The inside
1
The Pelpel n°3 was longer, allowing a wider sleeper.
0
It has a full-width side-window. A few Pelpel cabs were also fitted on other makes of trucks like Berliet and Saurer
Those recent pictures ? great collection who ever owns it…Every time I drive by a hanger, I often wonder what’s inside…bet there’s some gems tucked away in some of them
come on fergie , get the dusting and hoovering done while it’s wet and she’ll let you go out to play when it turns fine again . i must be in the good books , she’s bought me a new hoover today .
rigsby:
come on fergie , get the dusting and hoovering done while it’s wet and she’ll let you go out to play when it turns fine again . i must be in the good books , she’s bought me a new hoover today .
Riggers…she’s out with her friends shopping at the moment…
good news,…she likes that, keeps her happy…
bad news… she spends money,
good news…she forgot to take the bank card with her…
I like bikes, also, Fergie. I suspect that our glorious leader would have been delighted to use such a weapon in his pursuit of the fairer ■■■ in a previous life!
Retired Old ■■■■:
I like bikes, also, Fergie. I suspect that our glorious leader would have been delighted to use such a weapon in his pursuit of the fairer ■■■ in a previous life!
He had a 500 Gold Star way back when…as did I… sigh, sigh, sigh…and like me, I bet he wished he’d kept it…
rigsby:
come on fergie , get the dusting and hoovering done while it’s wet and she’ll let you go out to play when it turns fine again . i must be in the good books , she’s bought me a new hoover today .
Riggers…she’s out with her friends shopping at the moment…
good news,…she likes that, keeps her happy…
bad news… she spends money,
good news…she forgot to take the bank card with her…
bad news… it’ll be my fault…
I’ve got a t shirt with the legend " if a man is alone in the forest with no woman to hear him , is he still wrong " . says it all really . dave
Retired Old ■■■■:
I like bikes, also, Fergie. I suspect that our glorious leader would have been delighted to use such a weapon in his pursuit of the fairer ■■■ in a previous life!
He had a 500 Gold Star way back when…as did I… sigh, sigh, sigh…and like me, I bet he wished he’d kept it…
And many of the others that were considered “knackered” when we were after something bigger, faster, etc!
rigsby:
come on fergie , get the dusting and hoovering done while it’s wet and she’ll let you go out to play when it turns fine again . i must be in the good books , she’s bought me a new hoover today .
Riggers…she’s out with her friends shopping at the moment…
good news,…she likes that, keeps her happy…
bad news… she spends money,
good news…she forgot to take the bank card with her…
bad news… it’ll be my fault…
I’ve got a t shirt with the legend " if a man is alone in the forest with no woman to hear him , is he still wrong " . says it all really . dave
Hi Fergie,
Cracking set of pictures again mate, put me down for that Danzas rigid it looks the part! Cheer’s Pete ps. Those TV cabbed Bernards are growing on me, keep wacking them on!!
Unfortunate choice of words, Buzzer- “Blow up”? I had the mental image of all those chunks of beef being thrown over the French countryside.
But it’s probably just me.
