NEXT WEEK
Page 4
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
OUR Christmas issue, being the last one of this year, has a retrospective theme. We've a roadtest of a vehicle which has not seen regular service for a good many years, and we pull out the highlights of our vehicle tests over the past 12 momnths. We also cast a backward glance at the road transport stories which hit the headlines during 1985.
• Anyone blast cleaning the outside of stone buildings would probably find a retired fire engine with extending ladders ideal for the job. But seeing one used in such a way, especially a 1942 Leyland-mounted Merryweather, would be enough to make firemen weep, especially the men of Renfrew where the subject of our Christmas road test, GLW425, served its last years.
Bryan Jarvis went down to Eastbourne to see how this Second World War fire fighter is surviving, after being rescued from grit blasting duties.
• CM's technical desk reviews the 28 vehicles above 7.5 tonnes which it has tested during the year and focuses on the good and bad points in the different weight categories. The numbers may seem depleted but they are only half of the story; light vans take the grand total up to 45 vehicles (more than those tested by any other magazine) and they will be reviewed early in the New Year.
• We also take a look at stories ranging from the miners' strike to drivers' hours, from the new Volvos to the Channel tunnel, which have dominated our news pages this year. There has been much to interest and concern the industry.