cav551:
I think he just did not like the Motor Panels cab since his road test of the Foden S40 29/10/71 is almost equally scathing:“Fodens have now standardised on the Coventry Motor Panels steel cab and it is to my mind a distinct improvement over the glass fibre one that we all got to know so well. But it looks better from the outside than the inside. The driver sits high by current British standards, and has an excellent view of the road. However, driver and mate are separated by the very deep engine cover, which comes up almost to screen height. This arrangement is very restricting and creates problems which Fodens do not seem to be able to solve. The exhaust manifold is on the driver’s side of centre, making him very hot and, because the cover is removeable for engine servicing, the cab is very noisy.”
He then mentions the startling effect of the Kysor radiator shutter operating at 60 mph: It was comparable to opening and closing your front door on a windy day."
There is more cab related criticism concerning the angle, position and operating load of the pedals and not surprisingly also the steering " bordering on the dangerous".
However Trvor Longcroft’s test of the Seddon 34.4 hardly mentions the cab.
Gibb Grace also tested a John Raymond borrowed Atki 8lxb Borderer 23/6/72. He did not particularly like the cab of that either:
" The MkII cab of the Atkinson is dated in appearance and still very stark by current European standards" He then complements the vision and the seat adjustment. but goes on to say:
“With so much room available it is a pity the wheel and pedals are not better placed in relation to each other… the clutch pedal is displaced much too far to the left and so is awkward to operate… the accelerator is a throwback to yesteryear being a high-set treadle needing much too high an effort to operate it…proper control of the throttle was even more difficult, making driving at anything other than full throttle very wearing indeed.”
The steering again comes in for criticism being:" too heavy in the twisty hill sections and in tighter traffic conditions."
However he concludes: The Borderer, though now dated in appearance and in spite of not having ideally laid out controls, is still somehow very much a driver’s vehicle."
There were two road tests of ■■■■■■■ 220 powered A series ERFs around the time, one in drawbar form and the other an artic. My copies of these now 40+ year old magazines are in very poor condition and not all complete. They will however be on the CM archive if someone can work out how to copy the article onto this forum. Trevor Longcroft tested the Artic on 24/3/72 and was quite complementary of the LV cab. This vehicle had ZF steering which cam in for particular praise:
“…does not have any of that vagueness - evident in some systems- that requires constant wheel correction to maintai a straight course…”
Personally I would love to see a compilation of Road Tests from Truck and Commercial Motor from this period published.
How’s about this idea for next Christmas Rikki?
LDD and the Test Matches in Truck were the first two things I read and re-read in every issue.