Random Monday : In Search of Old Mercedes-Benz Trucks
After encountering a classic Bedford truck at BigLorryBlog quite a while back, I went in search of another truck common on our roads a decade (or two) back – a Mercedes truck with a locally-improvised wooden cab.
It’s an extinct species in Singapore nowadays although I still see a Malaysian registered truck of this type once in a (very long) while. Over at the Flickr group Trucks and Buses Malaysia, there’re loads of photos of these antiquated trucks still plying the roads. I’m not exactly sure if these trucks are Mercedes-Benz LA911s since there’s appallingly little information in English on old Mercedes trucks. I do know that these trucks came out in the 1970s and it says a lot about the excellent quality of German engineering when seeing these trucks still soldiering on 20, 30 years later.
The only unanswered question I have is the apparent proliferation of German Mercedes-Benz trucks in ex-British colonies like Singapore and Malaysia – I would have thought that British trucks by Bedford or Leyland were more common back in those days.
Other classic trucks from the Trucks and Buses Malaysia gallery. All photos are the copyright of their respective photographers.
UPDATE (17 FEB 2009) : Above is an Indian Tata 1210 SE identified by Malay Tripathi. Thanks!
Some weird looking trucks from the the same gallery, no idea about the manufacturer or model of these vehicles.
UPDATE (17 FEB 2009) : The first two are WWII-era CMP (Canadian Military Pattern) trucks (Ford and Chevrolet being the major manufacturers) identified by Malay Tripathi. Some excellent profile pics at the fantastic Engines of the Red Army in WW2. Couldn’t find any WWII truck that resembles the last one though.
More photos at Trucks and Buses Malaysia.
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Dear Roys, I dont know about the first of the unknown trucks (Cab over tractor trailer), but the second one is an Indian tata 1210E model and the subsequent trucks are WWII Ford or GM built CMP trucks modified for heavy cargo operations.
Hope you find this useful.
Those trucks are really old-school man.
Yeah, reminds me of how old I am. Damn!
Hi Malay Tripathi, thanks! I’ll go update the post now
Hi Roys, sorry the truck is Tata 1210 SE (Semiforward) a derivative of mercedes. The first one looks more like a renault. The last three pics are also of CMP’s only..these hardy little boys served in all the theatres of the WWII and with the Red Army too. Later they were harnessed for all kinds of civilian applications (including heavy tipping!) with modified drivetrains and chassis. please let me know if you have more pics and info.
The first one might be a Volvo F6/F7 introduced in the 70s. See here and here.
Also check out the Trucks and Buses Malaysia Flickr group as well as BigLorryBlog
Quite right! The link actually helped me identify one of my own F10 models..
Eh don’t say until like that leh…. makes me old too man. Hehe.
If you say so
Yeeees, Oldschool. Very nice trucks. When I’m watching them I remeber for the time, when cars were big, engines were big and diesel was cheap