Ford Cargo

Ford Cargo
Overview
Also called	Freightliner/Sterling Cargo Ashok Leyland Stallion
Production	1981-present
Assembly	Langley, Berkshire, UK[1]
Designer	Patrick Le Quément
Body and chassis
Body style	Cabover
Chronology
Predecessor	Ford Transcontinental Ford C-Series (USA) Ford D-series (UK)
Successor	Ford LCF (North America) Iveco Eurocargo (Great Britain)

The Ford Cargo is a forward control (cab-over-engine) truck model that is manufactured by Ford. Originally launched in 1981 by Ford UK, it is now built in Brazil and Turkey with the latest generation of the Cargo launched in 2012. With Ford's sale of its commercial vehicle division to Iveco in 1986, the Cargo was sold in Europe under the Iveco Ford name until 1993, when the Cargo was updated and became the Iveco Eurocargo.

History

Ford Cargo 1830 (Turkey)

Pre-facelift Ford Cargo in Germany. (North American version is similar)

2012 Ford Cargo 2628

The Cargo was styled by Patrick Le Quément who included windows which extended down to floor level in the doors to enable drivers to see pathways in urban locations more easily when parking. It was originally only built in Ford's Langley (Slough) plant, from which about a third of the production was exported to continental Europe. Cargos were also exported to Turkey and to Australia, while panels were supplied to Brazil for local assembly (these Brazilian trucks were also exported to the United States).^[1] Production has expanded since: the model is still made by Brazilian, Argentinian and Venezuelan (also known as the Ford Trader) Ford subsidiaries, Turkey's Ford Otosan, and India's Ashok Leyland (as the eComet and as the Stallion). It was also made by Freightliner Trucks and sold as the Sterling Cargo or the Freightliner Cargo in the United States before production ended and Sterling was shut down.

Ford then sold the Ford LCF as a smaller cab-over alternative in the US to be more competitive with similar trucks, such as the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter and Isuzu Elf (N Series), but with poor sales.

European Ford Cargo

With the demise of the Ford Transcontinental heavy truck range in 1983, British Ford introduced a range of heavyweight Cargo tractor units ranging from 28- to 38-tonnes gcw. The 38-tonners were powered by the Cummins L10 while those at 28- and 32-tonnes had Perkins, Cummins, or air-cooled Deutz diesels. The 7.49 tonne Cargos (which did not require an hgv license in the UK) had Dorset and Dover fours or sixes, starting with a 89 bhp (66 kW) unit in the 0809.^[2] The Dover six-cylinder engines were mounted at a slant in the Cargo.^[3]

In 1986, Ford sold its European truck operations to the Italian Iveco group and subsequent vehicles have been badged Iveco Ford. After the recession in the 1990s, Iveco rationalised its production operations, overlooked by Keith Stanley Jones (Production Engineering Manager). Its Langley plant closed in October 1997, bringing British Iveco/Ford truck production to an end.

The original lightweight Cargo was replaced in 1993 by the Iveco Eurocargo range, covering the 7.5-ton to 18-ton GVW range.

Motorsport

Rod Chapman won the FIA European Truck Racing Championship in 1985 and 1987 using a modified Cargo, with Gérard Cuynet doing the same in 1988.

External links

• Ford Cargo models
• Ford Cargo (Argentina)
• Ford Cargo (Brazil)

References

1. Kent, Gordon (June 1986). "Intertruck: Britain". TRUCK (London, UK: FF Publishing Ltd): 39.
2. Kennett, Pat, ed. (September 1983). "Win a Cargo fleet!". TRUCK (London, UK: FF Publishing Ltd): 5.
3. Kennett, Pat (September 1983). "Flat Coke floats!". TRUCK: 54.