I found one site saying the Canadair that the Securite Civil use takes on 6 tons of water in about ten seconds!
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It’s been 35 years ago since the Renault AE was introduced, winning the “Truck of the year” title in ‘91.
It still looks odd to me after all those years, but it must have been a popular truck at the time, as a lot of hauliers throughout Europe had several ones in their fleet. Even Trucknet’s own Bewick operated a few.
Funny thing is that I’ve never bumped into anyone who actually drove one, apart from @spardo that is.
So, what were they like to drive and live in? As interior space was second to none.
And from a operators point of view, were they easy to operate and maintain?
Some pic’s to jog our memories…
Best cab ever had in my life, in fact the only thing I would fault mine for was that awful sling it across the box range change. Had it in primer from new after only one month in the job. That’s the way they do things here, give you a new motor and, like marriage, it’s with you for life. When he gave it me the Boss shook his head in wonder when I told him you got the worst of the fleet in Blighty and worked your way up.
Memorable moment, paying my toll at the Dartford Tunnel and simply walking across the cab to do so. 
Back of the passenger seat folded down to form a table, working in France of course I didn’t eat much in the cab, but if there were no showers handy, a bowl of water on that and I could stand up for a full strip wash. 
No messing with curtains, electric blind on the screen and pull down ones on the doors.
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Keep meaning to ask my old boss when I see him if I could have a look in these new fangled ones, of course his son is the patron now but I attended his wedding, so how could he refuse?
You never know, he might even take advantage and ask me to put a drag on the dock, they were always short on wag and drag operators, I was once asked to do it as a favour on a Saturday when off duty and just calling in for my running money. 
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I only sat in one as a passenger, when I was week ended in Donzere. Wasn’t a long run, as we just went to the supermarket and back, but I was quite surprised by the space in the cab. Climbing in- and out of the cab took a bit of getting used to, especially after a few Ricards I imagine!
Yes, and the mirror arms were attached to the doorposts, so the doors did not open wide, no need because you entered via a side step at the top of the ladder, a masterpiece in design in my opinion.
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Drove one on a double manned trip to Sicily.Think it was a 420 and pulled well but the build quality was iffy to say the least. Self leveling cab suspension had a mind of its own and rattles from the cab trim . The top bunk was a kind of pull out hammock affair
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Aah yes, the cab suspension, if they had done a few miles, it seemed that the suspension was always worn out on one side, resulting in the cab hanging either to the left or right. Always looked dodgy to me.
I took to them immediately. Great cab. You only fell out of one once . The first one I drove was a trip to Morocco in a Mk1. Like Spardo, I wasn’t impressed with Renault’s slap across range-change but it was a lovely drive, with fantastic forward vision.
The second one I drove, some years later was a much later model with the Mack 440 engine. It was brand new rental unit and it really was a nice drive. Loads of cab room, much improved since the Mk1. And the transmission was four-over-four, which I preferred to the slap-across B18 box. I would have enjoyed more trips in these lorries.
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Just think they have today almost disappeared from French roads! Most of them are enduring a hard second life in Africa.
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I drove one during a training course in 2002. The only objection I could find was the climbing in the cab. Certainly not for short-distance transport.
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Loads of them ended up in Eastern Europe as well, it seemed that the Polish really favoured them.
Magnum on the move and apt music.
They wear the Mack badge here, in fact I know of two still running in the town I live and work in. If I get the opportunity I’ll ask what they’re running (SDU @star_down_under might know more about the Oz versions).
Back around 2015/16 I had a long chat* with a polish chap at Tebay Services, “I want to keep this until I finish” was his words couldn’t tell me enough about how good his Magnum was.
*his broken English not my Polish.
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Never particularly popular here, due to the unreliability of the Renault bits. The engine was Mack 454, a big engine at the turn of the century. Gearbox was RoadRanger 18 as Mack didn’t have an 18 at the time. Not sure what the diffs and suspension were, probably Mack on their own airbags.
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Was the 454 a 12 or 14L engine? Probably a strong competitor for the Cummins and Detroit engines at the time I assume?
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Interesting that he rather had a Renault, instead of the more usual suspects Oily.
12 litres. Before fitting them on their trucks, Renault changed the American-treaded bolts and nuts for European ones.
And 16 litres for the V8 fitted on the 500 and 560 bhp Magnums.
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The low range Magnums (385 bhp) had a Renault engine.
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