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A lot has been said about the 88 being one of the best trucks ever, but what about the Scania? Those of you that drove both which did you think was the better motor out of the two & why?
tonyhogi:
A lot has been said about the 88 being one of the best trucks ever, but what about the Scania? Those of you that drove both which did you think was the better motor out of the two & why?
Scania was best it had a bigger bed 
I agree,the Scania seemed a lot more spacious with the flat dash top,the F88 had that console in the middle of the dash.
And,as I only ever had one F88,with the 8-speed box,and probably eight or nine 110-111’s I’m probably biased.
Mind you,nowadays I’d have a Volvo over a Skoda.
Sorry,Scania.
I never had the priveledge of driving an 88 (legally), but I’ve had a couple of 111s & my Dad had Volvos so I grew up in 88s, from a practical point of view I would take the Scania, but there’s something about an 88, either the 1st one’s with the chrome grille or the 290s, toss a coin, I would’ve been happy with either in their day 
141 or 89, now that’s different, it’d be the 141 every time 
Had 2 110s and 3 111s 2 88 240 and 1 f89 and if you could have a mix of the 2 you would have a good vehicle the 88/89 had the better gearbox and ride the f88 and 89 seemed a lot better solo because they had longer rear springs but the scania had the edge on cab room nice flat dash for telly semi easy bed access and electric wipers and a engine which you didnt keep putting liner seals in every 10 mins but suffered from a weak gear box and a propshaft and halfshaft made of putty the f88
hasd weaker stopping power and the 290 was a failure reliablity wise with its weak crankshaft but all in all they were both great in there own right and still have that propa lorry look
dont know which one was best, loved the old F88, but also did a lot of miles in the 111, the cab fell off the F88 in the end, and I put the 111 on local work before I sold it to Glyn Swain, who promptly sent it on "local " runs to Milan !!!
Only wished I had been blessed with foresight,I would love to have either one now.
In my opinion the 111 was head and shoulders above the F88 but both the Swedes were in a class of their own in any case.Bewick.
I have been lucky enough to drive all the Scania’s from 111’s 141’s and the modern ones as well, I have worked them all very hard and most on continental trips, I was broke in on F88’s and then F10’s F12 globetrotters and now have just bought an F16 globetrotter that I am looking forward to enjoying, I have been lucky to play with the FH16 700 and wow where do they go next, the 141 is a very special truck and so is the F88 its personal preference i think at the end of the day. I would go back to driving a F88 tomorrow and be happy to go back continental with it, your either a Volvo fan or a Scania fan very few are both but which ever it is you have to respect the other.
andrew brick:
dont know which one was best, loved the old F88, but also did a lot of miles in the 111, the cab fell off the F88 in the end, and I put the 111 on local work before I sold it to Glyn Swain, who promptly sent it on "local " runs to Milan !!!
Only wished I had been blessed with foresight,I would love to have either one now.
Hi Andrew ,
I see your 88 was a 240 , were they still available at ‘N’ reg? 
I just wondered as my dad’s 290 was also on a ‘N’ plate . Tony
Sorry but has to be the Scania 111 by along way
Regards Pat
it has to be the 111 for me better brake for a start nicer cab what more can i say !!!
They both had there good and bad points
If the heads were regrooved & done properly they were no problem.
The Scania gearbox was very bad & the lever was somewhere behind the bunk & made your arm ache.
The F88 was always avaliable in 240 version in LHD form as the 290 was only made for the UK market.
Im biased as our 88 did well over a million MILES not Ks & 18 years not out but the cab fell so we called it a day,we now have another cab just need more space ~& time.
All the Scanias weve had have been fitted with fuller gearboxes which I belive was standard for many years in Australia.
But Scanias have always been over priced compared with Volvo & in our area they dont want to sell them the salesmans words were we dont want to sell to fleets your size (3)
Volvo is best Daf is right behind.
F88 best truck going,sorry i work for volvo
I had many new F88’s when I started TIR but the Scania washead & shoulders above 'em as regards to power & cab space . But I remain a Volvo man thru & thru . Last one was FH Globe XL LHD.Later Scanias were crap.
both machines for me had their plus’ and minus’.my childhood was spent in the 70’s travelling in f88’s, so for that reason i bought,restored and ran this motor for 5 years.i would have a 111 tomorrow though
just a few more photos of the old motors, God I look young in the one, where have all the years gone ?
They were both top notch trucks but I honestly thought the Volvo had the edge with a nicer driving position and more character ,and where I’m from at least,Volvo had a superior backup…and the 290 was a flying machine when on song…for me though,the F89 was the one to have as the 12 litre engine going right had no problem giving the mighty 141 a fright once you could play a good tune on the 16 speed 'box
Seeing the interior shots reminded me of the longwinded cold starting procedure of the early 290s ,which took ages 
can’t remember exactly ( i’m sure someone will ) but i’m sure there was 2/3 switches on the right of the centre console . There was a rocker switch & another button/control & green light- that were all to do with starting them & anyone that didn’t follow the correct ‘start up’ procedure would be engulfed in clouds of thick smoke 
.I think the later ones ( with black dash/brown trim ) worked from the key 
Anyone remember?
more interior pics please boys