Before the Second World War the Floor brothers from Hilversum, the Netherlands, were forage dealers and ran a haulage company. After the war they immediately restarted their business and in the late fourties they expanded their company by building trailers. Their next step was the production of semi trailers in the early fifties.
The brothers’ business was doing well, since there was a strong and steady demand for all kinds of road haulage vehicles. Moreover, the Floor trailers and semi trailers had gained a very good reputation because they were able to take some abuse (read: overloading).
As an aside, the national legal weight limit has been 50,000 kg (circa 110,000 lbs) as long as I can remember. For that segment of trucks a combination (either a straight truck towing a trailer or a tractor towing a semi trailer) had to have at least six axles. But for hauling clay, sand, building materials etc. that weight limit was not enough. Somewhere around 130,000 lbs was a more realistic number and starting point. And so it went….These days a straight truck with five axles will do for the 50,000 kg legal weight limit.
Back to the Floor family. In 1955 Floor became the country’s official Mack importer. An excellent match, Big Mack Diesel Trucks, another name with a very good reputation. A Mack towing a Floor (semi) trailer, in those days there was nothing like it when it came to carrying heavy loads all day long without the rig falling apart.
1956 Mack B42S truck with a Hulo crane for loading and unloading bricks. (Photo courtesy oudedaf.nl)
Later on Floor started to assemble Mack trucks in their new plant in Wijchen, in the southeast of the country. Sadly the Floor-Mack marriage ended in the mid sixties, Mack bought the Bernard truck factory in France and wanted to build their trucks for the European market over there. However, by then Floor was already thinking about building their own trucks, so those plans suddenly gained momentum.
Floor wanted to build a truck that was in the same league as Mack: heavy-duty, reliable, durable and with powerful diesel engines. What they basically did was developing and building a truck in true American style, by buying the truck’s hardware from independent manufacturers.
One of the first FTF trucks (with Floor’s own cab)
That truck was completed in 1966; the very first FTF truck was introduced at the big and important biyearly truck show in Amsterdam, the letters FTF standing for Floor Truck Fabriek (fabriek means factory).
The giant had a Detroit Diesel two-stroke V8 engine (the 8V-71N), an Allison automatic transmission, Mack axles (Floor still had some Mack hardware in stock) and Spycer frame rails. Is that a truck in true American style or what ? Initially Floor built their own cabs, yet only a few FTF trucks were made with the square in-house cab.
FTF tractor with the Motor Panels cab, a Detroit Diesel V8 and an Allison automatic transmission. Front and rear axles from Kirkstall
Buying a complete cab structure from Motor Panels (England) turned out to be a much better solution. The Motor Panels cab was basically a complete tilt-cab without a front, so every truck maker that used that cab could design its own front. Or face, if you wish. The front panels, designed by Floor, and the fenders were made of polyester.
Motor Panels, Detroit Diesel and Allison (both automatics and semi-automatics) have been inextricably linked with FTF trucks since the beginning. Other components, like axles, came from a whole range of suppliers. To name them all: Mack, Timken, Kirkstall, Hendrickson, Steyr, Faun and Kessler. The transmissions, along with Allison, also came from Fuller, Mack, ZF and Eaton.
Meanwhile, in 1967, someone knocked on the door of the Floor’s residence. Well how about that, parblue, the Mack brothers ! Back in town, after a complete (financial) disaster in France. They asked if Floor wanted to represent the Mack brand on the European market again. So now Mack and FTF trucks were assembled by the same company, and a series of FTF trucks has been built with Mack engines and transmissions. But not for long, the second Floor-Mack marriage ended in 1973. From that year onwards an other Dutch company was the official Mack importer.
Heavy haulage tractor with a Detroit Diesel Dirty Dozen, the 12V-71N engine. A former Dutch Army tractor. (Baldwins from the UK, steering wheel on the left)
FTF trucks were popular among heavy haulage specialists, for them FTF started to offer Detroit Diesel’s V12, the 12V-71N engine. Its brute power, close to 500 hp, was unheard of at that time, we’re talking 1970. Other Detroit Diesel engine options were a V6 (6V-71N) and the V8 (8V-71N) I already mentioned above.
In 1972 FTF got a unique order from the Dutch Army. It was about time for a successor of the Thornycroft Mighty Antar (what a fantastic name) tractor for the transportation of battle tanks. FTF developed and built the heavy MS-4050 tractor (MS=Military Special), it had a 475 hp V12 Detroit Diesel and an Allison semi-automatic transmission. These huge tractors, 39 of them in total, served in the Dutch Army until 1994.
Typical old-school Dutch brick hauler. An FTF 8×4 truck with a V8, towing a Floor trailer. Fully loaded circa 60,000 kg GVW (132,000 lbs).
The cabs remained pretty much unchanged for a long time; due to new legislation the head lights next to the grille had to move to a lower position, so they ended up in the truck’s steel bumper.
FTF 10×4 dump truck with a liftable tag axle.
Double steering front axles may not be common in the US, but they were here.
Another brick hauler. The tractor has the 1979 Motor Panels cab, the last axle of the semi trailer is steerable.
A brand new Motor Panels cab arrived in 1979, offered as a day cab and a sleeper cab. Bigger, taller and with a more up-to-date look. And again, Floor designed and built its own front. From that moment on the V12 was no longer available, since the Detroit Diesels 8V-92T and 8V-92TA were more than powerful enough for any job. V6 power came from the 6V-92T or the 6V-92TA engine.
FTF could basically build any truck you wanted. From a relatively simple 4×2 tractor to a 10×4 straight truck. Of course they also still built special tractors for heavy haulage, mining trucks, oil field trucks, and other specials. Any combination of axles, transmissions and suspensions was possible. One thing was for sure: they always had a Screaming Jimmy under the Motor Panels cab.
Heavy haulage tractor with a lowered cab. You can see why.
But around 1990 times were getting hard for FTF. By then every mainstream truck maker could offer special heavy duty models with powerful diesel engines. Realistically, the good times for small independent truck makers were past and gone. The costs and financial risks to develop a whole new line of heavy truck models would be unacceptable for such a small company (Note that FTF built less than 700 trucks in total). And so the very last FTF truck left the factory in 1995. No more Screaming Jimmies, roaming the roads of the Low Countries. Floor continued building their trailers and semi trailers, as heavy duty as ever.
FTF trucks now have a cult-status among truck enthusiasts here. Luckily a decent number of them is still around, mostly in a beautiful restored condition. Saved from a Junk Yard Find.
Most pictures courtesy oudedaf.nl. More of their FTF pictures here.
Thanks for mentioning the regulation regarding headlamp height. Until I read it I was wondering if the lamp repositioning on the B-Model Mack was simply a matter of taste.
I’ve always been curious about some of the smaller truck manufacturers in Europe, and now I know more about FTF than I ever expected. Thanks!
FTF’s path is not unlike a number of smaller specialized truck builders in the US that also eventually had to find niche they could defend, as competing in the primary market that came to be dominated by the well-capitalized giants was unsustainable.
I’ve got a nice collection of books about North American trucks. I especially remember the huge Hayes and Pacific logging trucks and the Oshkosh battle tank haulers. The latter must be some sort of equivalent of the FTF MS 4050 as pictured and described in the article. And of course the smaller trucks from Autocar, Brockway and Marmon.
JPC did a nice feature on Brockway a while back: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/car-show-classic-1957-brockway-260-the-big-noreaster/
I’m hoping to eventually find others too. I actually started on a post on a FWD posted at the Cohort, but that company has such a rich history, it’s going to take more time. Stay tuned.
nice article Johannes.
If you are a fan of obscure Euro truck Marques.
Than I shall post a link ( hope it works) to the Dennison Truck.
These were an Irish Built truck..With a Rolls Royce engine and a SisU cab 9 bonus points for another small Euro Truck maker 🙂 ) These are similar story to FTF as they made trailers ( and still make trailers today AFAIK)
So, anyway here’s the link. I am hoping you have never heard of them before.
http://www.commercialmotor.com/big-lorry-blog/dennison-trucks-on-test-with-c
Thanks ! I’ve heard of the Dennis buses and fire trucks, but never of Dennison (The son of Dennis ?). The link works perfectly, btw.
There you are, what’s “obscure” in one country can be common in another country, or even in a small region. The FTF factory was based about 8 miles from where I live. And several haulage companies nearby drove FTFs, like the red and white Croonen brick hauler in the article.
So I was very familiar with the sound of the Detroit Bandits. When you heard it you just knew, 100% sure, that’s an FTF. And an FTF never looked nor sounded wimpy !
Yeah I hear that (about not been Wimpy).
No Dennis the bus and truck maker was a much bigger concern than Dennison. I remember Dennis trucks from the Fire Engines and they made refuse trucks.And the two are unrelated.
I shall post a link about Dennison, it says they only made 250 trucks!!!
So, no surprise they are not well known.
http://www.dennisontrailers.com/history.html
Very interesting, I never knew there was an Irish truck maker.
The list of post-war European truck makers is almost endless. I know of 8 brands in my own tiny country: DAF, FTF, Ginaf, Terberg, Hogra, Kromhout, Verheul and RAM (yes, RAM).
Only DAF, Ginaf and Terberg are still “on air”.
Look, a classic RAM 6×6 pickup truck. It even has a crane to pick things up. This off-roader is clearly based on DAF components. (Photo: Gert Poelman)
Cool, a brand I’m not accustomed to though the components are familiar. We also require 6 axles to move 50 tonnes on the highway and thats the max allowed though locally there a two 7 axle Btrains carting pulp wood to the wharf payload of some 65 tonnes, the have a specific route to follow so the poor roads wont disintegrate, American tractors are used on them KWs, The massive wall of torque from a Jimmy is cool as is the sound unless you are driving it in a poorly insulated cab for long periods the noise is very tiring, I assume FTF did their cabs properly? two stroke knockers and the like saw me retire from truck driving for 20 years fortunately truck manufacturers have built trucks for more operator comfort now so Ive gone back to it.
These days a straight truck with 5 axles is enough for 50,000 kg (legal) GVW. Domestic 10×4, 10×6 and 10×8 trucks (built by Ginaf and Terberg) can easily handle 75,000 to 80,000 lbs payload.
Like this Ginaf 10×8, as you can see it has 4 steerable axles. These are allowed to drive on pretty much all public roads. (Photo courtesy of Ginaf trucks)
As someone trying to get class “A” CDL qualified, the history but even more importantly the “specs” on some of the more obscure (to me, anyway) brands is appreciated. I would really like to “test drive” a truck with multiple steer axles.
Neat video featuring a Ginaf with 3 steering axles. (Triple steering ?)
That first FTF with the squared cab is so… square. Never heard of this brand; soon I’ll be able to walk into any roadside diner and strike up a conversation with truck drivers.
Upon further consideration, maybe not.
Neat history of something I had never heard of. I love finding out about the small regional truck manufacturers from all over the world.
Anyone interested in killing time looking at old Hayes trucks should check out the forestry equipment forums at heavyequipment.com. Pretty cool that the 40 year old HDXs and Pacifics are out there still doing what few modern trucks can do.
that ftf dumper looks like a matchbox truck i have tucked away in a drawer.
Good article Johannes. 2 stroke jimmies were also popular in the Navy during the same time frame. I never fail to find something interesting in your stories.
The 6th photo, is that a Flakpanzer Gepard being hauled?
As of 2011, I understand the Dutch Army has no more tanks to transport.
Never heard of a Flakpanzer Gepard (sounds like a French woman, married to a German guy), so I had to look it up. The Dutch variant was called the PRTL, it had a different radar installation. Mercedes G-class in the background. (Photo Wikipedia/Cheetah PRTL)
Tanks were Centurions, later on Leopards.
Thanks. The US never could get its act together developing a modern SP AA gun like this or the ZSU-23; the Sgt. York (aka DIVAD) was a fiasco, a classic Pentagon fail.
I also read that the Dutch soldiers gave it the nickname “Pruttel” (PRTL pronounced as a Dutch word). In this context it means something that sputters, grouses, grumbles. Not good, not good….That’s why it was officially renamed as “Cheetah” after a technical update.
According to Wikipedia, the name Cheetah came out of a ludicrous misunderstanding, which Dutch authorities finally accepted out of desperation.
BTW, one of the best authors I’ve found on tank technology is Rolf Hilmes. His book “Modern Armor,” which is out of print, was very detailed about engineering trade-offs in tank design such as in powertrains, layout, autoloaders, suspensions, & armament. Hard to find this stuff in any other source.
A very interesting treatment of a topic completely new to me. As some others have said, you do an excellent job on these obscure (at least to me) truck topics. It is interesting that FTF could build trucks for so long at such low volumes.
Great stuff.
I’ve some FTF vehicles, like the Baldwins transporter you show, but either the FTF logos were missing or I didn’t catch them, and assumed they were special from Foden, Seddon Atkinson or ERF, as they all used Motor Panels cabs
Best Monday lunchtime for a while! – bring on Terberg and Ginaf!
Roger, that Baldwins ex-Dutch Army V12 tractor is still in the UK. It has been completely restored and now it wears the Magnaload heavy-haulage colours.
More info: http://www.heritagecommercials.com/news/going-dutch
And some action, at the 2010 Great Dorset Steam Fair:
The Detroit diesel..is such a cool engine.
I love the sound it makes.
It just sounds like power.That’s it.
One of my favourite Engine Sounds.
Some of those Soviet/ Ukranian engines sound cool also.
I think they are the YaMZ Diesels used in Kraz trucks of Ukraine.
This is what I am talking about.
These buses in Ireland built by Bombardier had the screaming Jimmy.
Built in the 1980’s.
6V-71 Detroit Diesel
Very informative article on a manufacturer I’ve never heard of. Always good to add another to the knowledge store.
Also brings up a point I’ve wondered–it seems like the multiple-steer straight trucks are common in the UK and also are seen around Europe. However we don’t have them in the USA. I wonder if there is a regulation prohibiting this, or if we simply don’t need the complexity as there aren’t so many tight city centers with narrow lanes to navigate?
In the Netherlands it’s a combination of good maneuverability (lots of narrow roads with tight corners) and as much weight as legally possible. Look at the green Ginaf dump truck in one of my comments above: 22,000 lbs per axle. 22,000 x 5 = 110,000 lbs max. GVW. (The manufacturer guarantees 132,000 lbs without a problem)
Tractors and semi-trailers often have multiple steering axles too.
Here’s a perfect example. The rig has 6 axles, the tractor has 2 steerable axles (the second axle is also liftable) and the last 2 axles of the semi-trailer are also steerable.
When you turn to the right, like in the picture, the rear end of the semi trailer swings to the left.
Source: http://www.trailertotaal.nl/category/stenentrailers/