Scania at Work: LB 110, 111, 140 & 141 by Patrick Dyer, Hardback book 234 x 176 mm (landscape), 144 pages including 198 photographs. ISBN: 978-1-905523-99-3 IN STOCK at Old Pond Publishing, £19.95.
In the 1970s nearly every driver acknowledged the Scania 141 as the King of the Road. It was the most powerful truck of its day, the favourite for long-haul work throughout Europe. It set a standard for other manufacturers to match and it created a premium image for Scania that still persists.
In this highly illustrated book Patrick Dyer shows how the model developed from the L75. It’s a story of careful attention to trends in the transport market and equally thorough commitment to engineering detail and driver comfort. Scania’s enterprise, together with Volvo, led to their supremacy in European truck driving.
Patrick Dyer works in motor sport and also holds a Class One HGV, driving whenever possible. His previous book covered the story of the Volvo F88 and F89.
The appropriately registered FWW 110J was Arthur Green’s first new Scania. An LB110 Super fitted with the turbocharged DS11, the unit is pictured fulfilling its intended role coupled to one of the company’s log carriers in the days before Arthur’s son, Richard, started running the units on continental work as well. Note the small mirrors and the fuel tank which has been repositioned behind the cab in an attempt to limit damage when off-road, although the exhaust was to remain vulnerable in its original position. (Photo: Richard Green)
Another of Sweden’s impressive 52-tonne capable combinations (the limit was 51.4 tonnes), this example is an LBS140 rigid with trailer designed for the transportation of cement. These enormous 24-metre combinations made up much of Sweden’s heavy domestic traffic in preference over Europe’s tractor and trailer system. Drawbar combinations running on six axles had access to around ninety per cent of Sweden’s roads. (Photo: Scania AB)
This well-worked LB111 of Hudsons started life in 1979 as a 4 x 2 unit but was given this tag axle conversion in later life (unofficially making it an LBS) to take advantage of the 38 tonne limit. Although running nowhere near that sort of weight, this low loader combination with hopper load makes an impressive sight as it heads down the M4. However, the TIR plate suggests this was outside the truck’s usual line of work. (Photo: Marcus Lester)
When Michael L Faiers set himself up as an owner-driver back in 1978 he fancied a Scania LB141 but, with demand for the model so high, he found a six-month waiting list. A DAF 2800 nobly filled the gap, proving a good truck, and even afforded Michael priority unloading on his frequent loads to the manufacturer’s Eindhoven factory. However, it wasn’t too long before the first LB141, YGV 80S, was bought and not long after that NRT 890W doubled the size of Michael’s fleet. With a driver employed for the older unit, Michael took the wheel of his new charge, piloting it on two continental trips a week to Belgium and Holland, mainly for Nipress. The truck was loaded with extras such as two sets of spotlights, quadruple fog lamps, double 88-gallon tanks, a continental style headboard, sun visor, wheel trims and roof spoiler, all of which pushed the price up to an eye-watering £27,782. However, the unit made a stunning sight, was a great advertisement for Michael and realised a strong residual when sold two years later. Michael stuck mainly with V8 Scanias until he retired in 2006 at which point he had owned and operated up to forty examples. NRT 890W is pictured waiting to unload at a cash and carry in Wales when just six months old. Note the electrical cable running down the trailer side which powered a removable lightboard hung on the rear as the Nipress tri-axle tilt had no rear lights of its own. (Photo: Marcus Lester)