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T he first of our 1960s pair is very much a

21st December 2000
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Page 70, 21st December 2000 — T he first of our 1960s pair is very much a
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personal favourite for your tester, who has fond memories of tending just such a machine as a young apprentice. AF 105 is fairly unusual in having been owned from new by the same company, Alan Firm in (Linton). With its headquarters in the pretty, if soggy, Kent countryside south of Maidstone, the firm is a family-run operation with activities in agriculture, warehousing and property, as well as in general haulage. It also provides half of the separately run joint venture of Firmin-Coates. For many years the haulage fleet has been almost totally ERF-based, the sole exception at present being a Daf 45 7.5tonner for relatively local specialist work.

But back to the AFC. First operated in 1961, this Mammoth Major Mk 5 was used on longdistance work for its first decade, averaging 70,000 miles a year and operating at maximum weight, including pulling a Dyson two

axle drawbar trailer identical to its present partner. Apples and hops from the Firrnin estate figured largely on the manifests, with operations including a regular delivery to a Glasgow toffee-apple manufacturer. Then, in 1971, AF ro5 was converted into a 6x4 recovery vehicle by the removal of the second steer axle and shortening of the chassis. It continued in this role for another 15 years until the firm outsourced its recovery operations.

After that it lay neglected until the then workshop foreman, Dave Hayward, embarked on a 14-month restoration project in 1989/90. His primary task was to return the chassis to its previous state, but rather than reclaim the original he used a scrapped fuel tanker as an original frame, together with the now abandoned second axle. The steel parts of the cab, the sub-frame and the front panel needed extensive surgery, and the wooden framework for the fibreglasspanelled doors was rebuilt with best ash. Once the seats had been re-covered—of which more later—and an impressive amount of paint had been applied, the Mammoth Major was largely as it is now, a decade later. Apart from some slight crazing of the flex-prone door panels, its condition today remains a testimony to the quality of the restoration. Over the years the original driveline of 9.6-litre AV590 engine and direct-drive five-speed

gearbox has been uprated to today's spec, with an 11.3-litre AV690 and overdrive six-speeder. Driver Trevor Hewett spends virtually all his spare time travelling to shows, and covered no fewer than 3,362 miles in 2000. He has even taken a job driving Firmin's Daf 45 so as to be able to spend more time with the AEC.

Climbing aboard via the single step means either using the grab handle at the front edge of the door, which could put unnecessary stress on its frame and hinges, or breaking the rules and using the steering wheel. The driving seat is adjustable fore and aft and for height, but a minor miscalculation during its overhaul means it must be slid well forward if top gear is to be engaged. For drivers of a more rotund physique, this results in permanent and intimate contact with the steering wheel.

The dash is fashionably coloured in black with a silver-effect instrument panel—in this case provided by Hammerite—and mostly black-on-white dials, a 6omph speedo, ammeter, oil and air pressure gauges and a non-standard temperature gauge. The fuel gauge is mounted directly on the 45-gallon tank. Switches are for ignition, with a separate big red starter button, and for lights and the luxuries of wipers, screen washers and heater blower. Indicators and horn controls are mounted on a pedestal to the right of the steering wheel.

The remainder of the cab can fairly be described as sparse. Most of the interior is bare fibreglass, while the massive engine hump has a single layer of insulation. Stowage space is limited to a moulded box on the rear wall, about the right size for an old AA Handbook—remember those?—while the opening door windows are of the gravity type, but with a closing lock. The multi-stroke ratchet handbrake is mounted on the floor to the right of the seat, and you need to take it by surprise with the releasing blow if you are to escape it biting back. Suitably man-sized pedals include an organ-type accelerator, which must be pulled back to stop the engine.

Once seated comfortably, it's time to press that big red button and fire up the big six, which soon settles into its 400rpm tickover. The first five gears are arranged in a fairly conventional way, with a dogleg first opposite reverse. The bolt-on overdrive sixth, though, is to the right of fifth, so the final change is forward-right-back, just missing the seat. The crawler first is rarely needed, so second is found by the simple means of keeping your hand to the left of the lever—if your fingers are trapped against the engine cover, you're in reverse.

With its trailer attached, AF 105 runs at about 13 tonnes all up. The immaculately roped and sheeted load space actually contains the driver's showtime living quarters. At this weight the power-to-weight ratio given by the 192hp is not too far from a modem middleweight distribution truck. Performance was remarkably brisk, with progress in tighter situations limited only by the speed at which the steering wheel could be turned.

We expected the AEC to be less than quiet, and we were not disappointed, but we were surprised by how much quieter it became under load. The thoroughly conventional engine is impressively flexible, with the overdrive top gear quite happy to operate from 20

55mph. The non-synchrorn gearbox obviously present challenge to a journalist often doesn't have any gear change on modern top-we trucks, but with practice probably managed to rr seven out of no up-shifts acc ably well. Changing down ur load was . managed ft well, but rr practice woulc needed for pen trailing dr changes.

The steerin surprisingly cise, although effort involved low speed wa surprise. Its seven turns from lock to lock make it remarkably slow and lacking in centring effect, and the slippery wheel di help. Once under way, though. the handlir remarkably reassuring. Brakes on the dr bar rig are full air dual-line acting on all axles; AF 105 gained brakes on the sec, steer axle at its rebuild. Their only deficie was because of a slightly oval drum, wt caused a slight pull to the right and a bi steering shimmy.

Apart from the engine's willing nature, other big surprise was the ride. Given its of any cab or seat suspension, its under!) ride quality is not far off today's 8x4 offerii Cab comforts are pretty well non-existent, the passenger gets the best of any heat having not only the sole air vent but also b( closest to the exhaust manifold.

The AEC might be 40 years old, bu many ways it shows how well developed basic eight-legger concept was then—or I little it has advanced since! Only in the adi tedly important areas affecting driver corn and exhaust emissions have there been t significant advances.

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