Heritage Commercials Magazine - capturing the spirit of vintage days

Classic Truck - June 2011

This is the feature ‘Ashes to ashes’ by Pete Norton on Colin Dancer’s ERF ECT 26.480, because as it was only built in 2008 it’s just too new.

However, when you realise that this vehicle was the last ever one to carry the ERF name we had to make an exception to our age limit. This lorry will eventually become an iconic classic, and to some it already will be as it marks the passing of this once great British maker.

I suppose the owner of ERF, the German MAN concern, could one day resurrect the name, but I doubt it. Don’t forget there are other iconic British makes whose rights are now owned by foreign companies and they just seem to sink without trace. Take for example Scammell, which ended up under DAF ownership. Except for a few refuelling tankers for the RAF made in the early 1990s no vehicle has been produced bearing that name since 1988.
 
Anyway, this particular lorry’s future looks secure – look for its starring role at a show near you in about 10 years’ time!

Of the other features this month I was really pleased to see the one on the Taylor Brothers’ Volvo and Bedford TL. The reason for this is that although I love to see restored classics being preserved, what’s better to me is when they’re still being used.

In this throw-away world it’s good to see a business doing well and operating classics on a daily basis. After all that’s what they were designed to do.

I also enjoyed putting the Terberg feature together because, as you may have guessed by now, I have a real interest in ‘specials’ – vehicles made or specifically modified to perform unusual jobs. And Terberg does just that.

However, it is just one of many different, relatively small firms situated all round the world, using ingenuity to find niche markets and stay profitable, when the trend is for everything to be made by multinationals. Long may Terberg continue to prosper.

Stephen Pullen

Contents

Long distance runner
Neil Arnold made such a good job of the restoration of the Chas Long 1982 Leyland Reiver that it brought a tear to Barry Long’s eye. Bob Tuck searches out this tipper story while armed with a box of tissues.

Classic collection
Alan Barnes braves the weather to have a look at the fantastic collection of emerging classics owned by Allan Carruthers.

Centrespread
This month we feature a superb 1973 AEC Mammoth Major tanker in the colours of Longley Farm of Holmfirth, courtesy of Gyles Carpenter.

Don’t shiver, we deliver!
Alan Barnes travels to Norfolk to meet coal merchants Roly and Ricky Taylor and view their fantastic working classic trucks.

Ashes to ashes
Technically this lorry is too new for Classic Truck. However, it has to be included as it is the last ever produced by a great British maker – ERF. Pete Norton tells the story.

Maximum traction
Ed Burrows surveys the multi-wheel drive products of Dutch specialist truck builder Terberg. With a history dating back 140 years and still steered by members of the Terberg dynasty, its success is built on innovation and a predilection for custom-engineered specials.