Classic trucks are also pure nostalgia. But they have their limitations. Things are difficult to store and not very deployable. And there are not many left. Like the Greek donkeys, they had to work too long and too hard for too little food.
Classic trucks
The market for it is quite small. There are quite a few transport companies whose owner has such a relic from his company past as an ornament. Cars like that only hit the road for events or advertising purposes. Usually the former workers are from European - with the exception of - English soil. In England they had all kinds of different rules and brands that focused on that.
Then there are some restored Kenworths and Macks. They have been brought here by fans of appearance. The people who are not impressed by that think the Americans are rude and basic.
It's a small market
According to our information, the restoration of trucks is only done by a few companies. Most owners are extremely self-reliant and often take their time for rebirth. In that process it is often the construction that takes the most of the time. We often hear that many technical components are just so good that they only need cosmetic attention.
A brand that we mainly knew from fire trucks here is Magirus
And they were wanted because their air cooling allowed them to run at 'high' revs for a long time, while the engine powered the extinguishing water pump. The Magirus Deutz trucks were equipped with different variants of air-cooled diesel engines, from 4R to V12. And you heard that!
During my service, when I had to participate in some very big exercise, including a factory set on fire, there were a bunch of Magiruses standing in 'booster' to provide the extinguishing water. The roar of the engines and the howl of the pumps still gives me goosebumps. The targeted actions of the ME present against unclear annoying people also ensured this. Sometimes it looked like ballet. All respect to the ME!
The German army was also a major buyer of the brand
The car in the photos must be an ex-soldier. At one point, many of those very low mileage copies came from mobilization complexes. They were eagerly bought by adventurers who turned them into very sturdy campers. It has been proven that you can at least get to Nepal with such a thing. In addition, it helped that there was over 1100 liters of diesel on board. Refueling always attracted a lot of attention. Some gas station attendants thought something was wrong or that they were being fooled.
A retired soldier
And so we come to the Magirus Deutz of Sander Buitink. Sander usually sells more common cars. But has a soft spot for strange ducks… The Magirus Mercur is a German 5 ton truck built between 1951 and 1972 by Magirus Deutz in Germany. A Mercur 125 A. That 'A' will have stood for 'Armee'. The neat four-wheeler has a roof hatch on which the buyer could optionally mount a .50 machine gun. The Magirus is an 'Eck hauber'. This in contrast to its predecessors. The 'Rundhaubers' with their grandiose fifties lines. And the kilo price is not too bad.
Also read:
- Magirus Deutz expedition vehicle (1984). Private bungalow
- Beautiful HOGRA
- Scania 80 truck (1970). Priority to nostalgia.
- Campers can also be classics
- Mack JR. From project to perfect for Jan Land
A clean sleeper
The 'Rundhauber'. Not from Magirus. From Tamiya
had an uncle who worked at the montan in the hague, I thought it was beautiful if I could drive along. thanks again uncle chris
In 1952, Magirusses were donated to the Netherlands by Germany as recompense and they were used by the then Civil Defense as fire brigade or troops.
As a little boy in the 3s, I can still very well remember the city buses of Eindhoven. The “Rundhaubers” in the beautiful colors white / light blue and black. They were a kind of 4/XNUMX buses with azure blue vinyl upholstery and a chrome interior to hold on to. In the edges of the roof quarter-circular plexiglass windows, where you could look up wonderfully, as with the VW Samba. Never seen a copy again, despite my quests. Would there still be a copy?
DAF!
Find another one!
A Dafodil with 3 cylinder (modern) diesel in it;)), will not last long ?!
I have a very nice 1960 Opel Blitz 'Ball Head' for sale!
https://www.classiclegends.be/listings/opel-blitz-1960-ball-head/
Magirus is a real fire brigade brand, it started in 1866 with the fire ladder invented by Conrad Dietrich Magirus. Later they started to make fire pumps and fire fighting vehicles with Deutz engines, hence the brand name Magirus-Deutz. The sharp spire in the logo represents the tower of Ulm, the tallest church tower in the world.
The Magiruses were also interesting for stationary fire pumps for sprinklers, for example. They were also proverbially reliable, which is nice when the factory, storage tanks, department store or hospital set on fire. Then those things have to start.
Iveco took over Magirus, used the air-cooled diesels itself until well into the 90s and you can still buy a fire-fighting vehicle on Iveco chassis like Magirus.
Thank you for this addition
"And there aren't many left ..." There may be another reason for that. We have been living in Lagos, Nigeria for almost two years now. It's like walking across the commercial vehicle RAI from the 70s-80s here. Lots of Mercedes from the 60s and 70s, IVECOs and Scania's from the later 80s, old Macks and even the occasional heavy FIAT from the 60s.
Many of those trucks still have telephone numbers and addresses on the cabs or boxes of Western European companies, but drive around here with a license plate from Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, etc. Here they are already ready for a third life: written off in the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany, sold to the Baltic states and if they don't like their vehicle there anymore, sold to Nigeria.
See, that's interesting. And durable. Thanks for sharing