I reckon if I were asked to choose a wagon, a trailer, a load, a destination, a route and an era to do a nostalgic not-too-demanding trip, I’d choose the following.
Unit: A left-hand-drive ERF C-series with Cummins NTE 320 / 350 and Fuller RTX 11609 ‘box.
Trailer: Tri-axle tilt with side boxes and back doors.
Load: a full load of something fairly substantial on pallets, like sugar.
Destination: Gibraltar
Route: Calais, Rouen, Tours, Angouleme, Irun, San Sabastian, Alsasua, Burgos, Madrid, Santa Lucia, Granada, Antequera, Malaga, Gibraltar: a gruelling but great and direct route, taking in dozens of really good stopping places for the period chosen.
Era: Very early ‘90s. The lorry would still only be 3 or 4 years old; the old ‘national’ roads were still open and full of routier stops; plastic money was now in, especially DKV cards etc. I think mobile / cab phones were just in; the internal Euro borders had just gone; the job was still an adventure.
