ERF E Series
Page 37
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Forget about your flash Europeans and the marginal products that seem to have taken on some sort of mythical status by people who never had to drive them for a living. The true unsung heroes of British trucking have to have either a Foden, Atki or ERF badge on the front grille. Of those three, my vote has to go to the ERF E Series, a proper gaffer’s motor, low on thrills but a truck that rarely let you down and was the bread and butter of many a British fleet. I spent my formative years behind the wheel of an ERF E Series for Onward Baylis in Wolverhampton and, while it had faults, it was a truck you could always rely on, was superbly manoeuvrable and bomb-proof for a rookie driver. The fibreglass cab was a sod to keep warm when night-outing in winter, but, hey, that’s what blankets were for, and the clutch could be a bit fierce on some of the ones we had, but once you’d mastered a constant mesh transmission you never needed the left pedal anyway. Stuff your Transconti and unreliable (at the time) Europeans, give me an ERF any day. Andy Salter (MD, Road Transport Media)