THE VIEW FROM BOTH CABS
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David Jamieson was lucky enough to drive both marques to European destinations and began hauling trailers to the Middle East in 1977.
He says: “I drove my first F89 on a weekly groupage service to Austria for a few months before I started on the overland run to the Middle East. The truck had previously been engaged on trips to Iran so it was quite well worn even before I got it. It was fitted with parabolic springs front and back that gave it a nice ride, and it also had a Telma retarder, which a lot of people said could not be done to a tractor unit with a short-wheelbase, but my boss proved them wrong.
“It was a fantastic asset to have, especially in the mountains, and many other drivers thought I was mad when I overtook them going down some of the long hills. Nevertheless, I still had to be careful as the heat generated by the retarder magnets could melt the grease in the propshaft centre bearing, culminating with clouds of smoke and a possible fire. However, it saved a lot of brake linings and, best of all, I had nice cool brakes when I needed them.
“The cab was not as big as the 141s, so I took the seat out of the passenger side, which left a long flat floor enabling me to sit on the bottom bunk with lots of room to do my cooking and washing. Even after a long, hard day’s driving, I still felt fresh in the Volvo compared with driving the Scania, which was somewhat noisier. Given the choice, I did prefer the Scania cab, although the Volvo was more comfortable.
“I first drove a 141 on UK work, which was mainly refrigerated produce, and it was not unusual to have 30 tons [sic] in the back and still overtake most trucks on the hills. I remember letting a friend drive it once and he reckoned the first thing to wear out would be the right-hand indicator as you could overtake most things on the road.”