ERF was the last British truck manufacturer. Established in 1933 by Edwin Richard Foden, closed in 2002, and discontinued as a brand under the ownership of MAN in 2007.
JCB has been operating 17 of the very last ERF EC-11 models ever produced and together they have clocked up a combined 15 million miles.
For the past 15 years the W-reg (year 2000) JCB-liveried lorries have been transporting parts between JCB factories and taking JCB machines to UK events.
These modern classics were manufactured 35 miles away from JCB’s World HQ in Rocester at ERF’s plant in Sandbach, Cheshire. At one time one of the JCB ERF trucks was moving 1,200 tonnes of machines and parts per day between factories.
Now the fleet has taken its final bow and is being sold at the JCB Auction on Tuesday 28th September at Wardlow Quarry, Staffordshire.
JCB transport and global auctions manager Phil Pepper said: “The sale will bring the curtain down on a long association with British-built ERFs, an association with goes back to 1965 when we first used the manufacturer’s trucks. These particular 17 ERFs were bought second hand in 2006 because we wanted to stay loyal to a British manufactured truck renowned for its quality. The fleet has rewarded our faith in British engineering by the bucket load and it is amazing to think it has travelled a combined 15 million miles.
“When we bought them, they were between six- to eight-years-old and they have been maintained to the very highest standards, so while they may be retiring from JCB, there is plenty of life left in them and we expect brisk bidding for them at the JCB Auction, particularly as there is no buyer’s premium.”
The auction also includes vintage JCB diggers from the 1960s and 1970s as well as a number of modern day JCB machines including Loadall telescopic handlers, wheeled loading shovels and tracked and mini excavators.
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