Fire Engines Photos

Interesting thanks. The CF was a dog, only three forward ratios on some and rust to die for :)

Added by John Stott on 14 November 2014.

To be fair though almost all CFs had 4 speed boxes by the mid 70s and with a 2.3 litre petrol engine would rival most of their rivals. The Perkins diesels were pretty slow though. Most '80s CFs had 5 sp. boxes and these sold well as Ambulances with pretty adequate performance.

Added by Peter Goodall on 30 November 2014.

i take it john is a transit fan , as for rust the transit was no better and if you take the door step issue sometimes worse , I had both and cant recall a three speed cf but take your word for it as the ca had three, mine were 4/5 speed and the transits the same apart from an auto I got for town work which was two speed , it was the rustiest van I ever had , I have no preference both having virtues and vices , I cant however understand fordies who think every other van isnt worth considering , the ford diesel was the worst starting vehicle in winter I ever had and yes the perkins was slow but so was the ford at that time , the fords were cheaper to run but but the cf had comfier seats and I liked the pod style dash and the rear of the engine was easier to service , overall the transit /cf were evenly matched apart from the driving where the ford despite not having independant front suspension was better , it was the heavier front suspension that caused the cf not to be as competative yet it made it a better ambulance due to its comfort , as I say it wasnt a bad van , I ran a fleet of over forty in the seventies and if the cf-2 had been available in the late sixties it would have been a different story , it was a very different vehicle

Added by Donny Maclean on 09 December 2014.

I don't know how many three ratio were produced to be honest. We had a fair few in the RAF though, maybe civilian numbers were limited to the first run. Fordie me? No, all vehicles produced in the UK in those days were rust buckets. Apart from icons that is, Dennis and Landrover. The only Bedford I ever loved, still do, were the "B Types' based on the TK. I think its sobering to remember just how bad the UK vehicle industry was in those days. Strikes, government interference, shoddy build. Heck it gives me the shivers to remember! Funnily I have run Fords as my main transport now for thirty years and love them, never a let down.

Added by John Stott on 11 December 2014.

for MGY see picture 41207

Added by Petros on 30 June 2019.

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