In September issue of T & D,in the section Truckstuff,there is a photo under the heading,“Oswestry’s finest”,of what is said to be a Volvo F89 in “Caddies” colours,the registration number is RWD 239R.
Now when I worked for Chapman and Ball between1977 and '79,we had a new pair of left hand drive Volvo F88’s,registration numbers RWD 239R and the one I drove RWD 240R.
I have a photo,care of Truckerash,of this truck,RWD 239R, that is now supposed to be an F89,when it was almost new,with F88 badges on the doors and the narrow front grille.Perhaps it grew up to be an F89,who knows?
Has anyone on here the knowhow on checking a vehicles origin and present status,it would be interesting to find out!
Hi Ian,
This is all i can find on the dvla web site about RWD239R, but there is nothing on RWD240R.Paul
VEHICLE ENQUIRY Services Provided By DVLA: DVLA
The enquiry is complete
The vehicle details for RWD 239R are:
Date of Liability 01 07 2010
Date of First Registration 01 02 1977
Year of Manufacture 1977
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 0CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Heavy Oil
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Licence Not Due
Vehicle Colour BLUE
Vehicle Type Approval null
The information contained on this page is correct at the time of enquiry.
Vehicle Excise Duty Rate for vehicle
6 Months Rate £90.75
12 Months Rate £165.00
hi paul
I,ve been in that 89 a was talking to with a friend who has a 88 from Leek it was at llandudno transport festival (may 1st) the chap drove caddys 1st 88 its grey and red now. Volvo had it back off caddys restored it for promotion then sold it .Back to story RWD239R seems to be a 89. Left ■■■■■■ curved gearstick
stack on right side turbo ontop of engine bulge on top of bonnet. Go to llandudno tsp festival site click on the vidio and you can see the truck driving round the Gt horme. This weekend is the mid wales road run it starts from the rear of Sentinal works (now Catapillar)saturday morning i think. And ends in Oswestry
Sunday lunch i would think he will be there 150 entrants i belive. come down and say hello
Now i think on he said rwd never belonged to caddy,s it was just painted for the memories he has a few motors he shows Fodens come to mind
Hi Paul
Just put brain in gear posted message to you not to Bestboots you would have to travel bit to far from Cyprus but still very welcome its only small hop from
Newcastle to Oswestry
see you later John
This is all very strange, first it’s an 88, then it’s an 89, all the bits that Daf3300 says are there are indicators that it is in fact an 89, yet when new it was a humble 88, I’m confused 
Ian, get your pic on here sharpish & stop this nonsense, oh BTW did Caddies ever have an 89, I know they had some left ■■■■■■ 111s & plenty of 88s, don’t remember seeing an 89 though?
I am not convinced about all this F88/F89 nonsense, apart from the FACT the F88 was right hand drive, most of the other tell tales used by people were not necessarily correct.
It must be an 89 because it has spotlights, or, it must be an 88 because it has a wide, / narrow, black, / chrome grille. Even the round, or oblong air stacks and step positions did not distinguish the marque, there was a G series in both designations.
The only difference for certain was the F89 had a 330 horsepower engine to satisfy the German 8hp per tonne rules. The F88 was only 240hp in its natural state, until Ailsa Trucks fitted a 290hp engine into the later UK spec vehicle.
Most people, myself included would not notice the difference without a door badge or the cab thrown over. In the same way that we distinguish from the F10/F12 with the 10 litre or the 12 litre engine, from a kerbside glance, it was almost impossible.
wheelnut
Your knowledge on the Volvo is superperb I have signed you up for Uni-chal on TV is that OK
Roger Haywood
Hi me again
llandudno 09 transport festival one chrome grille looking volvo ■■■■■■■ engine fuller box.
H Tideswell Kingsley SOT ran a 290 looking 88 fitted with a 8lxb gardner don,t know wich box but no photoes for proof unless someone is not shareing them with us. I remeber years ago 1977 ish a truck operator from south wales ran a atki dark blue red chassis 250 ■■■■■■■ fuller box f88 cab they ran tin plate into crown cork Southall from south wales. Seems anything is possible.i have driven a over dozen 88s 3 89s from new to loads of rubbish all good fun
see you later john.
So many 88 / 89s were played with its hard to tell today but in their original state only 290 88 had the round air cleaner & all 89 s wsere lhd.
i restored that truck for him think firm called mandeys run it before
tribsa:
So many 88 / 89s were played with its hard to tell today but in their original state only 290 88 had the round air cleaner & all 89 s wsere lhd.
Except the Australian G89s 
Wheelnut, it’s a lot easier to tell the difference between an 88 & an 89 than an F10 & F12, there are certain specifics to each model, yes you can make a 240 look like a 290 as late 240s & early 290s shared the same interior (save for the exhaust brake & white smoke reducing thingy switches) you can put on the more pronounced full width grille, cant the panel between the lights out at the top, switch the flat stack for a round one & change the hubs, bit extreme but it can be done, same for an 88 to an 89, it must be LHD, you can swap the stack from side to side & also change the hubs, oh & the badge of course & voila an F89, until Bestbooties & Truckerash come up with photographic evidence that proves otherwise 
Whatever that Caddies motor is, it’s a beauty, it may not be strictly accurate, but I’d love it as a weekend toy 
The best way to tell an 88 from a 89 is to tip the cab, if the engine is tilted to the right as viewed from the back then it is an 89, all 88’s were upright and it was not possible to make a right hand version 89 because of this.
Chazzer
newmercman:
This is all very strange, first it’s an 88, then it’s an 89, all the bits that Daf3300 says are there are indicators that it is in fact an 89, yet when new it was a humble 88, I’m confusedIan, get your pic on here sharpish & stop this nonsense, oh BTW did Caddies ever have an 89, I know they had some left ■■■■■■ 111s & plenty of 88s, don’t remember seeing an 89 though?
I have a picture here of the vehicle in question but it’s not my pic.I got it from truckerash and I’m waiting for his permission to post it.
Wait out!
Hi all
Go to page 7 or 8 (Things move from time to time) Look for the Llandudno thread and go to page 4 of Ants pictures and there,s your motor infact 2 photoes
and below the chrome grill 88 was Caddy,s first 88 and restored by Volvo then sold on .
john
Hello all, I know the owner of this volvo and he tells me it is a 89, but it never belonged to caddy, He refurbed in Caddy,s colours because he worked for cads for years. However caddy had one f89 for several years and was driven by Maurice Kite from Shrewsbury
Maurice was very well known so could fetch back memories.
oxo3:
Hello all, I know the owner of this volvo and he tells me it is a 89, but it never belonged to caddy, He refurbed in Caddy,s colours because he worked for cads for years. However caddy had one f89 for several years and was driven by Maurice Kite from Shrewsbury
Maurice was very well known so could fetch back memories.
Unless my brain is in a worse state than I thought it was, I don’t remember Cadwalladers ever having an F89. I drove for Caddy between 1981-1985. Whilst I was there they had a french branch with half a dozen french registered motors. I’m sure Maurice Kite had one of the left ■■■■■■ Scanias working on the french side. He loved the thing and when they closed the french side he was able to keep it although it was re-registered with UK plates. He had to give it up eventually which really upset him.
Anybody remember the french female driver they had?
rondavies:
oxo3:
Hello all, I know the owner of this volvo and he tells me it is a 89, but it never belonged to caddy, He refurbed in Caddy,s colours because he worked for cads for years. However caddy had one f89 for several years and was driven by Maurice Kite from Shrewsbury
Maurice was very well known so could fetch back memories.Unless my brain is in a worse state than I thought it was, I don’t remember Cadwalladers ever having an F89. I drove for Caddy between 1981-1985. Whilst I was there they had a french branch with half a dozen french registered motors. I’m sure Maurice Kite had one of the left ■■■■■■ Scanias working on the french side. He loved the thing and when they closed the french side he was able to keep it although it was re-registered with UK plates. He had to give it up eventually which really upset him.
Anybody remember the french female driver they had?
OOPS!! Not Maurice Kite…it was Micky Chin that I was thinking of with the Scania.
hi Ron,
I used to work with mick chinn and last saw him in sep of last year on my way to gaydon.
he is doing well apart from the loss of his wife, he is back living in coventry and working for what used to be derek cooper (or still is dc i dont know!)
planning to meet up again next year
cheers
Bill
Seems Caddies had a thing about F89’s,check out this link that I used to pose the question.
LB76:
hi Ron,
I used to work with mick chinn and last saw him in sep of last year on my way to gaydon.
he is doing well apart from the loss of his wife, he is back living in coventry and working for what used to be derek cooper (or still is dc i dont know!)
planning to meet up again next year
cheers
Bill
Hi Bill,
thanks for that info on Mick Chinn. I liked the guy and it’s good to learn that he’s still doing OK. Please pass on my best wishes to him next time you see him. Mind you, he might not remember me…afterall, there must have been over 100 drivers on Caddies! I was on Swallows when we got taken over by Cadwalladers so I continued to be based out of Penn Street. I packed in trucking when I reached the ripe old age of 48 when I moved to Thailand and apart from having a bar for the first 18 months have been retired ever since. 