Unsung heroes: Volvo F86

So far this series has mainly profiled cars, plus a couple of buses and a taxi, but I have never yet looked at the unsung heroes of the trucking world. Today that changes as I pay tribute to a pioneer that made a huge impact on the British haulage industry but lives in the shadow of its more glamorous sister model. Spend just a few minutes watching the traffic on any trunk road and chances are the majority of the many trucks that pass by will be Volvos, such is the marque's dominance nowadays. It all started from humble beginnings half a century ago when a small Scottish dealership called Ailsa Trucks imported their first Volvo F86.

Where it all began - the very first F86 in the UK

UK-based heavy commercial manufacturers are now practically non-existent - all those famous names such as Atkinson, Scammell, Leyland, AEC, Foden, ERF and so on that once had the market to themselves are gone and it is dominated by European marques. It was the F86 that started this foreign invasion as the very first overseas-built lorry to be sold in this country, and others including DAF, Scania and Mercedes soon followed where it led with high-quality products and service that would ultimately put many of the native marques out of business. Spurred on by its success, Ailsa began importing B58 coach chassis in 1972 and the ubiquitous B10M and its successors went on to dominate this market as well, so PSV operators also have a lot to thank the F86 for.

F86s didn't only come as tractor units. This stunning outfit is preserved in Ireland.

The pioneering customer was a Northumbrian haulier called Thomas Hutchinson, and initial sales were concentrated in Scotland and the north of England but it soon established itself nationwide and this foreign interloper became the most popular truck in the UK, no doubt to the annoyance of the indigenous manufacturers. Having imported the early examples from Sweden, Ailsa Trucks then began assembling the F86 in Scotland, and the arrival of the bigger F88 alongside it further strengthened Volvo's position. It was a long-lived design as production lasted until 1979, when it was replaced by the all-new F6 and F7 with the 'Club of Four' cab, and was available in a variety of configurations. Most were 4x2 artics, but four, six and eight-wheel rigids were also available, the latter being particularly popular wirh tipper operators.

The F86 enjoyed a 12-year life in Britain - this is one of the last

Leyland's Ergomatic cab had set new standards in 1965, but the F86 moved the game on again just two years later when most other manufacturers were still playing catch-up. While it wasn't a proper sleeper cab (you needed an F88 for that), the F86 had what Volvo termed a 'rest cab' with a small shelf behind the seats that could be slept on when necessary, and it provided more space and comfort than the cramped and noisy day cabs of most British lorries. More significantly the cab could be tilted to give easy access to the engine - at that time tilt cabs were still a novelty and the majority of British marques used fixed cabs that in some cases dated back to the 1950s, but the F86's ease of maintenance soon persuaded them to develop their own tilt cabs.

This was way ahead of what the British firms offered in 1967 (pun sadly intended!)

The F88 is the iconic classic Volvo truck that has the wow factor, helped by its use on the famous overland runs to the Middle East, and preserved examples are numerous and held in high regard. It was always more of an owner-driver's truck used on prestigious long-distance work though, while the F86 was the bread-and-butter fleet operators' vehicle that quietly got on with the more mundane but equally important duties without such a high profile. One notable early customer was London Brick, who built up a sizeable fleet of F86s that replaced many of the AECs previously favoured, and such a large operator standardising on foreign-built lorries must have been quite controversial at a time when industries were encouraged to buy British. Many of the firms that initially tried an F86 or two were impressed enough to stick with Volvo for all their truck needs from then on, and Volvo UK owe several of their current long-established customers to the F86.

Half a century of progress - the first F86, an F88 and the commemorative Ailsa Edition FH

The number of F86s in preservation is relatively small compared with the F88, but there are some beautifully-restored examples on the show scene. Happily they include that very first one imported by Ailsa Trucks (LNL 465E), which was bought back by Volvo UK some years ago and sent to Sweden for a full restoration to original condition, and has been very active celebrating its manufacturer's fifty years in this country. Another very early example (LHS 582E) went to Alex Anderson of Bo'ness and has remained in that firm's ownership ever since, and there is a beautiful six-wheel cattle wagon and drag (1605 IP) preserved in Ireland. At the other end of the age range, the classic fleet of the oddly-named Britaniacrest Recycling includes one of the last F86s, an eight-wheeler registered WFL 175T.

Fifty years old and still with its original owner

While the F88 and its successors are more glamorous and have achieved iconic status, if it wasn't for Ailsa Trucks and the F86 they would probably never have come to the UK and Volvo wouldn't now dominate the truck and bus industry in the way they do. It seems a bit unfair that for all its historical importance the humble F86 is so overshadowed by its younger sister so I think it is a deserving candidate for unsung hero status. This was the truck that started the acceptance of foreign marques by UK hauliers - many of those who bought one never looked back and carried on buying many more Volvos, and the other European manufacturers soon followed it into this country so the rest is history. It is hard to believe that Volvo trucks have been available in the UK for half a century now so as a true unsung hero of the haulage industry I wish the pioneering F86 a very happy 50th birthday.