Recently in Emergency vehicles Category

I have Gary 'Hop-along Two Hats' to thank for thisfriday morning frivolity...and should you see it in your rearview mirror I'd advise you to pull over. Heaven knows what 'The Sweeney' would have doen with this. Anyroadup what you see here is the 'Ultimate Police Patrol Car' capable of a top speed of 250km/h, which makes it pretty suitable as highway chase cars....and if you want to see more then you'd better click through here lively like..? Snout Guvnor?

Thanks to my old mate Henk Kruit now I know what goes on the front of an orange KAMAZ six-wheeler... And here's a couple of pictures from Henk to prove it! So now you know too.

'Hello, hello, hello... What's going on here then?' says Inspector Biglorryblog? I have it on good authority that the boys in blue in Lancashire www.lancashire.police.uk/ have drafted in some tough new recruits to help them deal with outbreaks of public disorder and other incidents - 14 Mercedes-Benz vans. All 5.0-tonne Sprinter 518CDI Long models have auto boxes and various other bits of ironmongery plus special lockers for pork pies and kebabs (OK I made that last bit up - so arrest me) and replace nine-year-old units from the previous Sprinter model generation, which clocked up an average of 100,000 trouble-free miles apiece. Nowe click through here for more...

He's back! Yes Biglorryblog's very own 'Dr Livingstone' or was it 'Stanley' (Unwin?) 'Good Man in Africa' Jerry Burley has returned to the fold with this weird wonder... From the land of the Gnomes of Zurich... And he says: "Sent to me a couple of days back by Sherwen who is currently lighting up cycling-nerds-only TV sets around the world, from Switzerland this particular time. That looks like partner-in-dime Liggett with the shades over his cap too, though I can't be totally sure. Maybe someone out there has the official Wiki-philia definition for this thing "cos I sure don't. Single-diff Volvo FL10 by the looks, so this unit has probably been around for a few years. Very low trailer too, which I find slightly odd as there must be the odd tall quack out there! There must be a half-sensible reason as it's even lower than the tractor cab line. Only in the land of the numbered bank account and dubious-origin gold I guess. Comments from the Biglorryblog blognoscenti as to its origin much welcome. Regards, JB." Well search me... An emergency vehicle for helping bankers extract their wallets that have become jammed inside their jacket pockets perhaps? That's the best you'll get from BLB. Meanwhile, watch out for more of JB's news from 'the Dark Continent over the coming days!

Biglorryblog has received a threatening e-mail from that young whipper snapper Simon Wood, senior press & public relations wallah at Mercedes Commercial Vehicles and all because I took a pop at the Axor crew cab. Well duh! Anyway he's obviously taken his brave pills as he says: "Ere! Any more comments about Axor Crew Cabs and you'll be needing one of these... If you get my drift!" And he's sent me this link to the website featuring what's claimed to be the world's largest ambulance (which naturally is a Mercedes Citaro) only I'm not so sure about this...http://www.autoevolution.com/news/worlds-largest-ambulance-citaro-based-6632.html I recall seeing a much-bigger bendy 'Jumbulance' based on a UK-operated Van Hool bendy coach that took sick people down to Lourdes in the 1980s and 90s... So is this really the World's Biggest Ambulance? Let me know what you think! And click through here for the full story on the Citaro!

Peter Murray in Oz has sent in this curious selection..."Hello Brian, some more Aussie pics to share. The 8 x 8 Man and float (low loader) are the new heavy lift vehicles for the Australian Army. The order was for 14 units (I believe) - and supply commenced in 2006. This was one of two being readied for delivery by the Townsville MAN Dealer in June 2007."

"And they replaced a fleet of Scammells. The Scammells pulled standard bogie (2 rows of 4) floats that carried the Centurion Tanks. The S Lines came with new quad axle floats (4 rows of 4) and bogie dolly's (2 rows of 4) - which was OK for the Leopard Tanks.  Now we have the heavier Abrams Tank - more wheels are required. So the new floats are quad axle (4 rows of 8) and bogie dolly's (2 rows of 8) with the 8 leggered prime movers. The photo of the S Lines was taken back in 1998 when the Army were moving gear from Townsville to Darwin for the East Timor Unrest. Townsville is home to the largest Army Base in Australia." Now click through here for some ancient Aussie fire engines...!.

Bimbling through the excellent Scania image gallery I found this rather fine firey red-hot trio which I thought you might like...starting with this P270 (it says 4x2 but I think it's a 4x4) short crew cab putting out a flaming plane...(or a plane 'facsimile!) 

Followed by this (definitely) 4x2 P340 crew cab oputting hout last night's barbeque at Biglorryblog towers...hmmm maybe that petrol 'starter' was a mistake?

And to finish off a nice 6x2/4 P380 hook loader (it was used to carry away the burnt sausages and burgers...) Now click through here for a very strange truck from the 'other' Swedish truck maker... 

In preparation for the arrival of the RNLI's new FCB2 (Fast Carriage Boat Mk2) all-weather lifeboat, currently under development, Supacat has been awarded the pre-production contract for its launch and recovery system (L&RS). When the FCB2 enters service, it will require 20 L&RS units which will be required to launch from the boathouse within 10 minutes.

Supacat's solution is powered by a 422hp Mercedes-Benz 12-litre V6, which can propel the 47-tonne GVW outfit across sand at up to 10.5mph. With computer controlled hydrostatic four-track drive system, it is designed to routinely operated in up to 3m of water depth, and to withstand total submersion up to 9m when things go wrong. Uniquely, the L&RS can recover the lifeboat bow-first, using a 360 degree turntable to rotate ready for the next deployment in 2 minutes.

Martin 'Keeper of the Flame' Phippard as returned from frozen Finland and has come back with this pictue and message:" OK, so it's not much. But at least it's a Sisu! This is one of a pair parked up at Rovaniemi airport. I believe all the gear on the trailer was used by the airport authorities and by Wabco to completely clear certain sections of deep-frozen tarmac surfaces when all the usual solutions such as ploughs failed. It would certainly appear that they haven't been used for some time (Wabco now employs and under-floor heating system for their test track) and one can but recoil in horror at the thought of all that expensive, sophisticated, not to mention highly specialised gear just deteriorating throughout an Arctic winter! And the Sisu units appear to be similarly defunct. I wonder if I could get my hands on one? Martin"

Well I don't know about you Martin but I'd much prefer this one---the mighty C600 Cat-powered Sisu which is available at 520,550 and 630hp. But what's got me interested is that this appears to be a new front grille and styling. I've taken if from the brochure pages of Sisu's website. Now click through here for another look at the magnificent C600 Sisu logger.

Thanks to Lev P, who posted a very helpful comment I can reveal what the above strange VOLAT/MZKT truck is meant for...(and it had Biglorryblog guess I can tell you).
lev says: "That would be a chassis for an airfield runway sweeper/blower. The brush is attached in the middle of that frame and turns lengthwise when the truck is travelling or for parking. A large de-icer is also attached just in front of the rear axle."

And he's been extra helpful by supplying me with a terrific link to Overaasen, the Norwegian snow removal systems experts. And here are a couple of pictures from their site--click through here for a snowplough with a monster blade!.

While on the Continental Tyres winter driving jaunt earlier this week (I blog on it soon I promise) Biglorryblog was delighted to bump into my old German mate and freelance writer and snapper Gerlach Fronemann---who as surprising as it seems had not heard of BLB! Anyway as we shuffled across the tarmac at Arvidsjaur airport located above the Arctic circle I noticed Gerlach snapping away on front of this rather strange-looking Scania "pushme-pullyou" snowplough. Quick as a flash I told him; "Send me a couple and you can make your first appearance in Biglorryblog! And who could resist such an offer? So naturally he's sent me these pictures and the following message: "Hello Brian, there are really very interesting lorries/trucks on Biglorryblog. Here are two more pictures of the snowplough at Arvidsjaur. I haven't yet found out what kind of a Sania it is or when it was built. But certainly one of your readers will know that." Well there's a challenge. So BLB anorak army front and centre...what is it?

Now click through here to see the 'other' end of the Scania...weird or what?

The best things always turn up by accident don’t you think? Witness these pictures of super airport crash tenders sent to me by Gerald at tnn.co.uk who says: “Brian, I was browsing through MAN's site today looking for a picture of a TGX to use for a TNN article and found these which I thought you might like” For airport crash tenders work the Munich truck maker offers the new 8x8 SX chassis with a stonking 1000hp rear-mounted engine. The one pictured above is bodied by fire specialists Rosenbauer.

Here’s another 8x8 chassis this time bodied by Ziegler which is a company I’ve not encountered before--though that's hardly their fault!

Now click through here for a really nice ‘heavy hitter’ MAN TGX.

Now here's a good idea reckons Biglorryblog. It's the nightmare scenario, you pull into a filling station with your brain in neutral, "Hello clouds...hello sky"--- and promptly pump £50 quid's worth of unleaded into your diesel car. DOH!!! What do you do now? Well, you can hardly suck it out with a bit of hosepipe...and even if you could, where would you put it all? Questions, questions, always questions with you lot.

Well BLB is pleased to report that those clever chaps at Whale Tankers have teamed up with the AA to help tackle the growing problem of dimwits (sorry motorists) who inadvertently fill their vehicles with the wrong fuel. It's just provided 'the clever bit that goes in the back' for a fleet of 20 vehicles that will allow AA Fuel Assist service to meet the challenge of '....ooops silly me, can a petrol car run on diesel...?"

And to find out all about it click through here...

Word reaches Biglorryblog that Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service has kept up its all-Iveco policy with the purchase of the above smart new Eurocargo 100E22D. The two-axle 10-tonner comes complete with a factory-built crew cab, (naturally styled to blend in with the familiar lines of the Eurocargo) capable of accommodating the driver and up to six fire-fighters. It's the eighth Iveco to join the Guernsey fleet, making the Service the only predominately Iveco fire-fighting fleet in the UK.

And for more fire-engine pictures click through now!

You know the hardest thing about taking pictures of snowploughs and gritters, reckons Biglorryblog, is actually finding a suitable environment....i.e. SNOW. Still I suspect that most of you aren't complaining so I'll simply say this magnficent yellow machine one of the UK‘s first four, new generation Volvo FE Euro-5 6x4 gritters to enter service with Lincolnshire County Council's winter maintenance service. And what a proud beauty she is with that far-away, yet somehow beguiling and approachable look of the Swedish marque...(that's enough literary waffle BLB...just get on with it!)

LCC's fleet engineer Richard Burton tells me:"...the Volvo reliability is extremely good. We don’t experience any problems due to salt corrosion, including those usually associated with wiring.” And he adds; "We’re also looking to switch to an entirely Euro-5 fleet, in line with the County’s stated desire to reduce our overall vehicle carbon emissions.” So there you have it, lean, 'green' (OK actually yellow) and streets that are clean...well you come up with something better.