Ashley (The Malteaser) Lovering has been attacked by gremlins... Oohh nasty. He tells Biglorryblog; "Hi Brian. Hope you are well. I am still about but a computer fault stopped me in my tracks. I have a new system now so have to work it all out. Regards, Ash." Well good luck to you Ash, I'd tell you what I really think of my computer... But shhh... It's listening.
Anyroadup he's sent me this photo of a classic eight-legger. So, name rank and serial number please anroak army (for a pie of course--or as I told Robbo, an 'e-pie'...)
Of course, I'm not going to answer such an easy question but a snippet your blog readers might like to know is that Raymond Hare of Morpeth was the previous owner of this Mark V and he made a great job of its restoration.
It's an AEC Mark V Mammoth Major and what a magnificent machine it is! Although it is difficult to compare vehicles of different eras I think this is possibly one of the best looking British lorries ever, along with the Scammell Mountaineer maybe. That should cause a few arguments, I hope! I certainly think it was the best looking AEC ever made.
It was a great truck to drive too; I used to drive a Mammoth Major 6x4 tractor unit and a Mandator 4x2 tractor unit when I drove Mobil tankers and loved them both. They didn't sound as good as the Foden or have as much power as the Atkinsons, but at the time everything else about them seemed right. I probably wouldn't think so now if I had to drive one again, but you never know - they certainly used to ride a lot better than the International I drive now.
I know that some of you will be saying "whatever old trucks appear on BLB, old Vic will say he used to drive them". Well I only say it if it's true, remember I've been driving for a VERY long time!
Cheers, Vic
I haven't driven as many motors as you Vic but I must confess the first time I drove a Mark V I reckoned they were the bees knees. It was an ex London Brick eight wheeler about 15 years ago but the memories have always been very strong. In fact of all the old motors I've driven, the AEC marque has generally been the best - so far as the driver is concerned.
If you are talking about the 4x4 Scammell Mountaineer, then I reckon that's a right dog. A loveable one, but a dog all the same.
Hi Bob
Yes, that's the Scammell I was talking about, but I only said I liked the look of it, not that it was good to drive! I like the proportions of it, to me it just looks right.
Talking about the Mark V AEC makes me all misty-eyed; I drove all the post-war models including the Ergomatic ones, and in my opinion the Mark V was by far the best of the AECs and also the best of any of the "Pommie Lorries".
Sorry Vic I was thinking you liked the Mountaineer to drive. I love virtually every Scammell ever made - including the little Scarab three wheeler which is a fun motor to drive - but they never won anything when it came to comfort. Another great motor to drive was the KV ERF. Did you ever drive any of them? They had a great feel about them and the David Brown gearbox was sweet, if the Gardner engine died down quick enough. Although anything with an Eaton two speed axle was great. And I loved the Marathon with the 9 speed Fuller gearbox - what a cracker.
No, I never drove a KV model ERF; they weren't imported into NZ. The earliest ERFs I drove were MW models, fitted with Cummins 250/Fuller 13-speed running gear. I also drove A, B, C, and E-series ERFs, but particularly the C-series.
When the C-series were imported the standard equipment was Cummins 380 and Fuller 9-speed as ERF reckoned that the torque of the Cummins engine made any more gears superfluous. Yeah, right! Maybe in the UK but not out here. Almost all the operators here very quickly converted the 9-speed boxes to 13-speed ones which was a pretty easy conversion as they are virtually the same box; the 13-speed was just a 9-speed with a splitter on the back; it was locked out to work on the top 4 gears only.
I have driven lots of medium weight vehicles with ENV and Eaton 2-speeds; they were good to use and I liked them but they were a bit fragile once higher torque engines came along and could be severely damaged by inexperienced drivers. Once the fabulous 13, 15 and 18-speed Fuller Roadranger boxes came along, then 2-speed axles virtually disappeared overnight, in NZ anyway.
Yes I did drive a Scarab when I was driving in the UK in the 60s, but it was only playing around in it, a British Railways one. Like almost all Scammells, a perfect solution to a particular problem!