Recently in Truck cabs Category

Don';t worry, you haven';t accidentally clicked on the website for DFS or The Sofa Workshop. KIt's still Biglorryblog and here's an advert from the pages of TRUCK from June 1999 when more than one truck maker thought it was a good idea to build a fleet tractor without twin bunks....something BLB is forever banging on about , expecially in the UK. Now click through here to see what itn was all about....

My 'favourite cloggie' Iep van der Meer http://iepvandermeer.nl/ has come back to Biglorryblog to tell me a bit more about the new Volvo FH 'EXL' Globetrotter cab conversion from Estepe which I blogged on yesterday. Iep says: "Hello Brian, yes it is a different cab from the 'extra-long XXL cab built by the factory. This one is rebuilt in Holland. Volvo doesn't want their own long (XXL) cab to be sold on the European market. I think that has something to do with the famous Swedish crash test cycles - and for this reason I think the EXL [shown above in Iep's photo] is not for sale in Sweden. Now click through here for more...

Behold... The Volvo Globetrotter 'EXL' ! "What's an EXL?" I hear you ask. Well you know all about the normal FH Globetrotter 'XL' cab, and the 'XXL' FH cab that's built for the Australian market (not least as I've blogged about XXL ad nauseum!). Well now here's the 'EXL' a s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d FH Globetrotter XL cab from those clever chaps at Estepe, the cab conversion and truck and trailer engineering specialists in Holland. And once again I am grateful to my various 'cloggie chums' including Iep van der Meer http://iepvandermeer.nl/ (who tipped me off on the story) and especially Pieter Wieman who provided all the details on his TTM website in Holland at http://www.ttm.nl/nieuws/id26250-estepe-bouwt-mooie-verlengde-volvo-cabine-.html Now click through here for more...

Now it has to be said that yours truly has had the odd grumble of three about the old DIY bottom bunk on the Scania R cab which had to be built up using extra bits of foam and slide out trays. Well with the arrival of new R-Series the good folk at Sodertalje have finally done something about it - and not before time!

Their solution? Well having rejected any thoughts of extending the back of the cab they've come up with a slide-out bunk with a mattress that extends from around 780mm wide in the closed position to 900mm by the pull of a handle. And here's the clever part. It has a pocket spring matress too!

So how do you extend one of those? Easy by 'stretching' the webbing material between each spring pocket. The bed has been developed jointly with a Swedish bed manufacturer Stjarnfjadrar although I understand in English it's called 'Starfeather'. Anyroadup armed with my video camera and aided by Phil Rootham, technical sales engineer for Scania (Great Britain) Biglorryblog brings you the Scania extendible bed in action! Now click through here to the answer to the question you're probably got on your lips...

Biglorryblog never ceases to be amazed and impressed by the fantastic golden nuggests that 'The Brochure King' (aka Richard Stanier) has stashed away in his archives - including all kinds of stuff I've never even heard of... Like the truck above! "Hi Brian", he says. "I enjoyed the interesting recent piece on the rise and rise of the Globetrotter cab, and I have found a few photos of my own to send in. The F16 Globetrotter designated the 'Imperial' was an impressive machine. This truck had a particularly high specification of extras in the cab, and the photo is taken from a Swedish brochure. Does anyone know if similar vehicles were ever available in the UK?" Well The imperial is definitely a new one on me... Has any else heard of it? I seem to recall a special edition called 'The Viking' but not this one. And click through here for more 'I never knew that' cab moments!

Empty winding roads, spectacular scenery and a Volvo FH16.660 with a Globetrotter cab to carry me along. Well sometimes Biglorryblog gets the breaks and that's me on the go with the picture taken by my good mate Torstein Magelssen, PR and market communications supremo for Volvo trucks in Norway - who kindly set me up for an exclusive drive in the XXL a week ago. And who could complain about that? Now click through for a couple more... And remember, jealousy isn't an attractive feature in anyone!

Further to the latest Press Release on '30 years of the Globetrotter cab', the Towering Titan of Truck Tittle-tattle Nigel Hanwell has fired over these two video links to me and says: "

You may be interested to view the attached videos for your online magazines, blogs etc.

Volvo Globetrotter cab as of 1979

http://volvo.qbrick.com/index.aspx?cid=2&mode=3&mid=324

Volvo Globetrotter cab as of 2009

http://volvo.qbrick.com/index.aspx?cid=2&mode=3&mid=325

Hope they work..." Well they do so far Nigel and thanks!

Cheers

Remember when truck cabs (and truck drivers) looked this? It's obviously the season for BIG cab stories on Biglorryblog..as we haven't had so many for ages. Still why not when Volvo 's Globetrotter cab has just celebrated its 30th anniversary?

Ironically, for such an iconic truck, when the very first Globetrotter was launched, (and the one above is the original debut show truck from I think 1979) Volvo only expected to sell a few hundred or so a year. However, it quickly caught on and 30 years after it first appeared nine out of ten new FH trucks sport a Globetrotter cabin.

Of course what really gave the Globetrotter cab some reall oomph behind it was a 16-litre lump! Put one withthe other and you've got a legendary lorry... Now click through here for the full and unabridged Globetrotter story...!

Biglorryblog's Man 'North o' the Border' John Henderson e-mails me these pictures to show the best of British waggons! "Hello Brian, I stumbled across an old copy of the Foden News at the weekend (Special 1977 Scottish show issue no. 156) and what a cracking magazine it is too, with of course plenty of 'North o' the Border, content for the big Kelvin Hall bash. [And for those younger readers there used to be a regular Scottish Motor Show that, as far as I recall, used to alternate with the 'British' (i.e. Earls Court and NEC shows)] 
 
John continues: "I wonder what today's CV Journos, who are concerned about a couple of folding cushions on Scania's bottom bunk, would make of the Foden Fleetmaster double sleeper of 30 years ago pictured at the top.... After both occupants had opened the doors and balanced precariously on the outside steps to fold the top bunk down, it would be a 'cosy night in' to say the least! Did CM ever do the overnight cab test on this one?"

Well John, I reckon one good turn deserves another so how about this Foden S10 sleeper ad from Commercial Motor circa 1978 (ish). And to answer your question it's with great shame that I confess that CM's roadtesters didn't used to sleep in the trucks...it's only more recently that we've done it in our annual sleeper cab test. The exception has been the Truck & Driver cab kit tests where we regularly sleep over in our test trucks.  

Meanwhile, back to John again who says: "On a more comfortable subject, for Foden's sales staff anyway, big Scottish truck orders were the norm back then and William Griffith had just ordered half a dozen more eight wheelers to join the 20 or so he already ran." Now click through here for another big Foden order publicity shot (and another classic S10 ad)...

Word reaches Biglorryblog that the latest Isuzu N series has now been given the Hatcher ISM sleeper pod treatment... And very smart it looks too. The N Series 'Integrated Sleep Module' Pony Top Pod weighs just 75 Kgs, and is equipped with reading lights, generous bunk, fire extinguisher and window. A sunroof is also available if desired. What's more Hatcher says: "We can usually fit the unit in two days, supplied in Isuzu white, but it can be painted to suit specific requirements at a small extra cost."

BLB's old mate at Hatcher---MD Brian Getley--tells me that "...the launch of the N series shows the demand for both sleeper options on vehicles of 7 ½ tonnes and below, and the diversity of UK operator requirements. When we launched our ISM range we saw it as a niche product with production centred around just a few of the popular marques on our roads. However, in reality the opposite has occurred." Now click through here for more...

It's funny how the most nondescript press release yields the most interesting pictures...take this one for example which accompanied a recent Norfolk Line release sent to Biglorryblog. And what cauaght BLB's attention? Well the rigid up the front and in particular the Scania 3 Series 'Eurotrotter' style cab. Not something I can recall seeing before.

And here it is. So who can tell me anything about it? And click through here for a nice Norfolk Line trailer...

Can anyone tell me what this is all about....and not jokes about it being a 'bog on the blog' puhlease! Nor something you can read 'at your convenience'...or my being 'flushed with success'. It's actually a serious answer to a serious problem...and if you click through here you'll find out more...

Whilst pottering around the IAA Hannover Show for RTTV (the first webcast programme will be available shortly on www.roadtransport.com ) we stop off at the MOTIS stand. MOTIS is short for Modular Truck Interior System and is the product of a German consortia which is offering an 'altetrnative' long-haul cab;layout to truck makers. Originally unveiled in 2006 it's been trialled in Germany with operators and has generated very positive feedback---not least from drivers. Now I understand from chatting with the MOTIS people on their IAA stand that both MAN and Mercedes will offer it as an off-line option in 2009. Sounds interesting....

Now click through here for more....

Word reaches me (via one of my many Biglorryblog spies) that Volvo is going to start selling the Globetrotter XXL cab in Norway in 2009. The Globetrotter XXL you ask? What's that? Well as BLB devotees will attest to, the XXL is the 's-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d' version of the normal high-roof XL Globetrotter FH cab developed for the Australian market. And it's been looked at with some interest by the Europeans although up until now it's stayed firmly down-under.

I understand it's the same height as a 'regular' XL but it's deeper (i.e. longer) by a further 300mm or so, thereby providing even more sleeping room in the back as these pictures from Iep van der Meer and others clearly show.

.

Interestingly enough my 'spy' is quite precise in his intelligence saying: "To start with there will be 30, all FH16's, the cabs are being built week 11 2009 at Umea." And for the uninitiated, Umea is the Swedish truck maker's cab plant where all XXL cabs are built (before being shipped to Oz to be trimmed locally). He also goes on to say: "I have also been told on a couple of occasions that the Euro 5 FH16's will make the 700bhp barrier...." Hmmm interesting....

Anyroadup I stopped by the Volvo stand at the IAA this week and put the question to one of my insiders at Volvo and he expressed surprise---not at the interest in XXL over here or rumours of it being offered outside Oz---but that the Norwegians would be the first. As he put it: "They, more than most people in Europe are very conscious of vehicle lengths..." Still it will be interesting to see if the Swedes DO offer XXL over here. Because I reckon that with the new FH interior, it would blow a Scania Topline out of the water. And as for 700hp....it's not a matter of if...but when it happens. So what do you reckon? Would there be a market for the XXL over here--with or without 700hp?

Meanwhile, click through here for some more nice XXL photos and my thanks to Iep, Mitchell, and Two-Stroke for their pictures...

Biglorryblog is indebted to regular contributor Russell B. Hurley who sent me this fascination story while I was away on my hols. But I'll let him tell it: "Hello BLB, I just found an interesting site on the web. Cabmasters (www.cabmasters.com) are selling what looks like to be fully furnished, NEW foden Alpha cabs! So now is the chance to 'roll your own' Alpha!"

Russell continues: "I'm curious to ask you and other readers what would be needed to add to this in order to make a 'genuine' alpha tractor. This would surely beat any previous claims of owning the 'last foden ever made'. Now theres a thought. If I'm not mistaken, I reckon it would be a grand idea to offer one of those mouldy old pies of yours [what flippin' cheek--BLB. My pies are the very best 'virtual pies] to any of the anorak army who can provide a full and precise list of what would be needed to turn this inanimate cab into a road going British stormer. Note the '380' badges on the side panels...The way these parts are coloured would indicate a sell-off of no-longer needed MOD parts. What do ya' reckon there BLB?"

Thanks Russelll---what a cracking story! These are cleary 'Mark 1' Foden Alpha cabs which begs the question could they replace a 'Mk 2' cab as well. If you DO have an Alpha an it's taken a whack but you want to keep the chassis and Cummins or Cat engine (and why wouldn't you?) this seems a great way to do it. Meanwhile, if you want to be reminded as to what a 'complete' Foden looks like click through here for a rather nice picture. You'll like it....

Now here's a neat little lorry and make no mistake. Hot on the heels of Hatcher's new twin or triple sleeper for the Volvo FL sleeper cab word reaches Biglorryblog that the Framlingham-based the company has been at it again and has now produced yet another sleeper variant for Volvo's middleweight rigid .

Only this time the new conversion is based on the day cab and creates two separate (count 'em) sleeping areas. The cab is extended by 700mm to accommodate one bunk behind the seats, while the second bunk is located in the cab roof, which has been increased by 900 mm. Inside there are ample storage facilities for two sets of personal kit. The conversion also comes with reading lights and space for a night heater, which Hatcher can fit. Optional extras include sunroof, air kit and microwave oven. You know it's sounds better than my house! Now click through here for more...