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ERF KV 44G Truck |
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ERF has its roots in Foden who were based in Sandbach, Cheshire, they were builders of steam powered vehicles. In the recession hit early 1930s insurers were becoming increasingly reluctant to underwrite steam boilers and as a result Edwin Foden believed the future of the lorry building industry lay in diesel power. Unfortunately for him though, the Foden boardroom didn't agree and he resigned along with his son Dennis, together they formed ERF (Edwin's initials) to build diesel trucks. By the mid 1950s Edwin had passed on and his son Dennis was running ERF. At that time Sandbach coachbuilder J H Jennings employed a young designer by the name of Gerald Broadbent and between Gerald and the ERF Chief Engineer Ernest Sherratt the striking new Kleer Vue cab was born. The KV cab quickly became the epitome of 1950's style, said to be futuristic and imaginative with its use of curved glass, one of the very first applications in a commercial vehicle and one which caused manufacturer Triplex many production difficulties. Operators fell in love with its distinct rounded shape and the truck with its Gardner engine became a legend. In 1958 Corgi Toys modelled the KV cab and began to add ERF trucks to their range. In more recent times Corgi Classics also made the KV, you can see the many versions of that truck elsewhere in the Little Wheels Museum by following this link: ERF KV 457 Flatbed More recycling; we have seen this platform back body before with a Commer cab released in April 1957 and in January of 1958 as a four-wheel trailer. Here it is again with the new ERF 44G unit. The ERF Platform Lorry was made from 1958 when it was released in March of that year together with the ERF Moorhouses Jam Van with which it shared some components. It remained in production until 1965 and there are no listed variations, it is always two-tone blue, although you will see it with both turned and spun hubs. 459 Moorhouses Van Yet another bit of recycling here; the previous year this van body had been seen on a Walls Ice Cream refrigerated van with a Commer cab. Here it is on the new ERF 44G unit with a load of jam - or lemon cheese depending upon which side you look at. The ERF Moorhouses van was made from 1958 when it was released in March of that year together with the ERF platform lorry with which it shared some components. It was deleted in 1960 and there are no listed variations. It's worth clicking on these pictures to view them at full size just to see the level of detail. Detail you often miss looking at the actual toy with the naked eye. 458 Earth Dumper After the ERF cab was first used in March 1958 in the long wheelbase chassis here it is in June of the same year in the short wheelbase version. It has a nice tipper body with a double hydraulic ram arrangement using plastic sleeves (hydrasleeves) to give the stickability that allows the body to remain in the tipped position. The truck was deleted from the range in 1966 but the rear dump casting carried on with the Bedford TK cab and with newer more detailed wheels through to 1972. There are no colour variations, it is always red & yellow. I like this model, it has a compact solidity and works well on all levels. 460 Neville Cement Tipper Yet another trip out for the good old ERF chassis this time the 64G short wheelbase model exchanging its earth dumper tipper back for a cement tipper. Nice features on this one were the swing out tailboard that opens when you tip the rear body and the opening filler caps. There are two versions of the model, on early ones the filler caps were 'cup oilers' from a bicycle wheel hub. These were found to be expensive and were eventually replaced with the red plastic items shown on the left below. My 'cup-oiler' version was missing the lids. I found a vintage car component website which can supply these but as it would cost me £10 I decided against it. I eventually found a very scruffy model on eBay at a very low price that still had its lids intact. After buying it I had an anxious few minutes getting them out - they are just a push fit, but I succeeded and put them in to the model below. Its probably better using contemporary ones as they are obviously old like the model, new ones would have looked too shiny and wrong. The later model with plastic caps tends to get a small premium. GS11 Dropside Truck and Trailer GS11 was timed to launch with the first load accessories and the accessory packs. First released in March 1960 it stayed in the range until 1964. In addition to the two cargoes there was an Accessory Pack C included. These Accessory Packs contained peel-off stickers, number plates, tax discs, GB plates etc. Interesting how the cement bags sit on the top of the lorry sides, but the planks drop inside. I've seen this set referred to as having a silver trailer with blue mudguards, I've had two of these sets over the years both in this colourway. 456 Dropside The old ERF was getting a bit long in the tooth by now but comes out for its final trip round the block with the dropside back body off the even older Commer 5 tonner - the Commer soldiered on until 1963. Here we can see two different colourways . Both of them appear in Gift Sets. The Blue and Yellow one is in the Truck & Trailer Set (GS11 from March 1960); the blue and white one is from the milk promotional series released in May 1962 (GS21Lorry & Trailer with churns). However the blue and yellow version was also sold as a single item. It was released in November 1961 and remained in the range until 1965, other than the gift set versions there are no listed variations. |
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Last Edit: 12/06/2024 | Page Added 20/05/2022 |