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Out with the dash-cam again, I seemed to have found yet another classic from the Eighties.
The reason for this weird shot angle is because I was testing the new Opel Astra K as a potential replacement for the current Astra J. I dash-camed the drive so that I could show my wife later- she couldn’t come with me and I wanted her to be part of the process. After all, she’ll be the one driving the car mostly.
Going over the footage I found this Ford which I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s even painted in the original Blue that adorned many Ford Cargo trucks back in their day:
As for the Astra; I might do a post about it. Suffice to say that cars have come a long way- REALLY long way from what I remember as a child, and much further if you consider earlier times.
Great shot – you’ve obviously got sharp eyes. I’ve always admired the Cargo, and keep an eye out for one for a CC Outtake. Any left in the UK are almost certainly now on light duties, such as weekend horseboxes.
I’ll be interested to read your take on the Astra as well – it’s on e my long list for the next daily driver too. Certainly, it looks sharp inside and out.
Thanks, Roger. Since traveling with a Dash-Cam, I started watching out for any classics that I might encounter, and mostly, when I notice them while driving, there’s a button on the camera I can press and it’ll save the current clip. So it’s easier than expected.
As for the Astra- we’ve actually put a down-payment to reserve a car, so I might be posting a COAL on that… In a nutshell, it’s miles ahead of the previous Astra J and I think in general, an improvement on GM current products.
Nice catch there, Yohai. The Ford Cargo replaced the legendary Ford D-series in 1981 and to my eyes the Cargo still looks up-to-date. In 1986 Iveco took over Ford’s European truck division, the only truck model that Ford offered then was the Cargo – besides the much smaller Transit that has always stayed a true Ford since its introduction.
Ford’s Brazil and Turkey divisions still offer big COE diesel trucks wearing the Cargo name though.
In the early eighties Ford Europe still covered all truck segments with the Transit, Cargo and the heavy-duty long distance Transcontinental. Below a Cargo (already with the Iveco name on the grille) and the king-size Transcontinental.
Source picture: http://www.truck-photos.net/picture/number3690.asp?c=ok
An example of the current top model Ford Cargo.
Assembled in Israel by AIL of Nazareth of all places. AIL started as an assembly plant for Power Wagons and D-Series Dodges and then Ford products (Escort, Transit, D-Series (early and late) and 9000 trucks) and ended assembling an Israel Jeep Wrangler version. Here’s a pic by the Israel Sun (Harvard uni archives).
Here’s another pic showing the transition from Dodge to Ford
In the early 90s I drove one of these from Bristol UK to Bosnia. I have many memories of that trip, particularly the terrifying risks that other drivers were happy to take.
It was a good truck and I enjoyed driving it. In terms of the driving experience probably the most telling experience was when I stopped driving it and got back in my Vauxhall Nova at the end. I actually laughed out loud as it felt like I was sitting on the floor of a little race car, with ridiculously short-throw pedals and gears.
Found my old photos of the trip. This is John who owned the lorry, along with a couple of refugees. Photo taken in or near Konjic iirc.
Ford rebadged a UD/Nissan diesel here for a while in the medium truck segment, Japanese manufacturers own that market now that once belonged to D model Fords and TK Bedfords.
Can’t beat an Isuzu.
My phone tells me I’ll be pedaling a 460 Giga Isuzu later this week, I dont mind they ok to drive.
Ford attempted to replace the C series medium trucks with larger versions of the Cargo in the mid 80’s in the U.S., but they didn’t go over too well. Initially sourced from Brazil, they were only offered with the New Holland based Ford diesels. Quality was iffy and the ‘FNH’ diesels were inefficient and had a reputation for not being all too reliable (though I ran a couple and didn’t had much trouble with them). Ford eventually moved production to Louisville and replaced the FNH diesels with Cummins B and C series engines, but these trucks never sold too well. They did stay in production up to he time Freightliner bought Ford’s U.S. heavy truck operations, and shortly thereafter Freightliner introduced their own version of the Cargo, using the Ford cab on a modified FL60 medium duty chassis. It didn’t sell too well either, and was eventually dropped.
I remember that the UK built Cargo was available with a whole range of diesel engines. Ford diesels from the UK, Perkins, Cummins and even an air cooled Deutz engine.
When the big Transcontinental (with a 14 liter Cummins) was discontinued, the Cargo was upscaled.
(38 metric ton GVM for the top-model Cargo)
Below a Ford Cargo 3828 tractor.
Source picture: http://miliblog.co.uk/?cat=85
Ford sold these in Australia but I gather they had problems here too, and I’m not sure they made it into the 1990s. I did think they were a good-looking truck though. They sold the Trader truck along side them, which was a re-badged Mazda T4500.
As usual, thanks for your comments.
(thumbs-up icon)
I remember seeing these from time to time in the USA as a child in the 80’s. The windowlet cut low into the leading edge of the door always struck me, as I didn’t recall other COEs having such an arrangement. Can’t recall the last time I saw one here though.
This Cargo seemed absolutely futuristic when launched into the US; even the few medium-duty COE Euro trucks sold here (Mercedes, Iveco etc) seemed dated by comparison. I was a design engineer for a truck manufacturer and I hoped this would influence American design trends, but it never caught on. I see them occasionally on the West Coast … usually in some kind of small town propane tanker or road maintenance application.