RETARDERS REMEMBERED
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• As one of the most grizzled ex-CM testers extant, I couldn't help rising to the bait set in your excellent roadtest of the Daf FT95-350, (CM 1218 October).
No, I never actually drove an artic equipped with a retarder (many rigids and PSVs, of course), but some 30 years ago retarder-fitted artics were much in evidence at some Continental Motor Shows, especially the Paris Salon.
The difference here was that the retarder used was the Telma electric type, and it was fitted to the semi-trailer! A truck-type driven axle was used to convey the retardation effect to the wheels, and the Telma was slung below deck level, amidships, with a propshaft connection to the 'drive' axle.
A cumbersome arrangement that probably added about 600kg to the outfit's unladen weight, with a proportional first-cost increase, but as 1 remember it was a legal requirement in certain
mountainous areas of southern France, and it did earn an insurance discount. Germany tried to introduce similar legislation, but its operators weren't so gullible.
John Moon (CM roadtester, 1954-64),
Hunmanby, North Yorkshire.