Does anyone remember the smart red F88 6 x 2 unit that owner driver Paul Perris ran in the late 90’s? He bought it from Davies Transport in around 97/98 and ran it for a few years then it appeared in the classified section of Classics and Vintage Commercials magazine in Jan 2001 for an asking price of £15,500. Does anyone know what became of this truck?
Hi woodcutter i was the one responsible for buying VTA 872 S in the first place, it came from a young chap in Cornwall who was a scrap dealer. It was a bit of a impulse buy built on nostalgia as the fella wanted £5k for it, at the time i was too busy to go and look at it but told him if it was as good as he said it was if he brought it up to us to look at and i liked it i would buy it ,if i did’nt i would fill it with fuel for his homeward journey,anyway it was in good nick but had no fifth wheel as he had no HGV licence so had taken it off, it also had an F10 fuel tank which just did not look right.After taking him to the bank, as he wanted cash and dropping him at the rail station we dicussed what to do with it,We bought an old donor F88 and the guys at Princes Commercials did a lot to it, we had decided it had to work for its keep as doing up and running an old motor like that is not cheap to do.We got it up and running and before we got round to painting it we had to press it into service and it was shipped out to Bosnia with a frigo as one of our modern volvos had let us down at the last minute. We later converted it to a six wheel rear lift and painted it in our colours,Paul Ferris was already running an F88 on C&B haulage from Newbury and every time he came to Lorraines cafe which was opposite our yard he used to come in and say im’e gonna buy that truck of you one day, and lo and behold he did, although it was good he had it painted again by BP Rolls and i think he only sold it on cos he lost his licence through medical reasons but i dont know where it went to.Here are a couple of pics of VTA in the colours she was bought in and after we painted her,regards John Davies aka Buzzer.
Hi again Woodcutter i just remembered VTA started life on a lowloader in Devon, some thing tells my grey cells a pic was posted on here in a previouse discussion about this motor who knows maybe the person who posted before may do so again, regards Buzzer.
Hi Woodcutter I remember someone else on one of the threads looking for a truck and some one put a link or a Webb site of DVLA that you can put in the reg and see if it’s taxed and still on the road won’t give you the keeper but it’s a start !
Regards Jimski
paul sold it to a man in irleland who repainted the cab blue it was petrol bombed one night during a night of rioting during the height of the troubles,luckily the fire brigade were all ready there and the damage was only done to the interior and windows,not sure what happened to it after that.i have loadsa photos of it as i was a subbie for c&b haulage but unfortunatley have no way of posting them on here sorry.
no one more expert than buzzer ! , plenty of pics on the davies thread , i think i preferred the f88 in its first guise .
ray avery owned this at some point in the last 15 years , dont think he still has it , no pics of the f88 but some interesting pics from their website
rdavery.com/recovery/heavy-r … e-studies/
Would its first owner have been Coles Plant Hire of Langtree, Torrington, Devon, VTA is a Devon reg. Remember them getting a new “S reg” F88 just before the F10/F12 came out.
Their trucks are yellow. They have stuck with Volvo and currently have a couple of FH16 on heavy haulage and various FM 6 and 8 wheelers.
Yes thats them - Coles. Seen an old pic on here a long while back when it was pretty new, behind a low loader.
I can remember picking up the Split-Seam fuel tank for it as Buzzer said, it was purchased with the round F10 tank on it. That was probably one of the most difficult original parts to obtain in keeping with it’s age. It came from a company called Webb Bros or Web Recovery, just on the A10 round Hoddesden way / area. They still had a quite a few F88 / 89 wrecker-recovery vehicles.
i have a copy of truck magazine from 1999 which features a article about cb haulage from thatcham and this motor is in the photo’s.
Here are some pictures of that first trip, a three legger to Croatia, load Bolzano for Mercadona Valencia & Murcia then reload from Hortanes (S Hart) back to UK.
A great experience driving the old girl through europe, she ate up the miles even at 40+ tonnes heading to Spain. Think an air suspension Grey & Adams fridge helped with the ride though.
Regards,
Jed.
Thanks very much for the information buzzer 
.
I might be wrong but I am pretty sure this truck turned up at this years Ayrshire Road Run. It was a white and red 6x2 F88 with twin stacks, now owned by a guy up here in sunny Scotland.
Rich
Big Rich:
I might be wrong but I am pretty sure this truck turned up at this years Ayrshire Road Run. It was a white and red 6x2 F88 with twin stacks, now owned by a guy up here in sunny Scotland.Rich
VTA872S Volvo F88. Seen on the 2013 Ayrshire Road run en route to the ■■■■■■■ lunch stop on 13th July 2013. (NOT MY PIC)
VTA872S Volvo F88 by jimbav, on Flickr
great pic mate glad to see the old girl still going
Hi all now that’s odd to see VTA again because I understood it went to Ireland and ended in a fireball so where did that rumour come from regards John Davies aka Buzzer
A great picture by Gyles Carpenter here
Volvo F88 VTA 872S by gylesnikki, on Flickr
fryske:
A great picture by Gyles Carpenter here
Volvo F88 VTA 872S by gylesnikki, on Flickr
Fab pictures guys,very evocative of a past era!
David 
Truly one of the best looking vehicles ever produced. What a stunner, a really good restoration.
Twoninety88:
Truly one of the best looking vehicles ever produced. What a stunner, a really good restoration.
But is it still working because when we owned it we sent it out on trips to Europe so is she was still earning her corn, cheers Buzzer