Hi, I am Roland Sparling.
Having decided on a slightly early retirement , I have now returned to Abingdon, just South of Oxford .
I am now living less than a mile away from where I lived before my move to Southampton where I have lived and worked for over 30 years.
I have a great interest in Magirus Deutz trucks and have accumulated a fair collection of literature, and information over the years.
The idea behind this site is for me to share this information with any other Magirus fans.
Most of my collection relates to models destined for the UK.
Just a bit more about me.
I joined the motor trade in 1972, selling Ford Trucks, then moved to a Leyland Dealer.
In 1975 I had a short spell working for the Oxford Mail selling advertising. Whilst on a call to a potential advertiser, Midwest Commercial Sales, I talked myself back into the motor trade.
The make of truck I saw, Magirus Deutz, was new to the Oxford area, and after a few minutes I was impressed by this fine example of German engineering.
I started work with Midwest and sold the trucks in the Oxford area for a year.
The following year I received a call and was asked if I would consider a move to a New Dealer in Southampton starting trading 1st August 1977.
I was invited to visit their extensive premises, and fleet of trucks.
They were a well established family Road Transport, business, but had never sold trucks.
I had never been to Southampton. In spite of this things went quite well.
I joined the New Company, Pitter Commercials, and stayed with them for just over 4 years, and in that time became a bit obsessed with Magirus Deutz, and 27 years later, I am still slightly mad about them.
It is my personal opinion that the marque went downhill after 1980 when the Fiat influence became more prominent.
Fiat chose to take advantage of Magirus Deutz chassis engineering, to enable the familiar MD normal-control cabbed vehicles to be re-badged as Unic, and Fiat with their own power plant.
They gradually phased out the option of the Deutz engine on most models.
Removal of the Deutz option, can be likened to Mr Porsche, who owed his success to Air-Cooled engines and later on decided to incorporate the innovation of a Radiator and also several litres of Water in every model. At the same time it became necessary to fit a Water Pump, rubber Hoses, extra seals and gaskets, and extra service items like anti-freeze, and also, limit the trouble-free use of the vehicles to the more temperate areas of the world.
All of the above named items reduce the vehicle reliability, and increase service costs.
"Items that are not there, cannot fail !"
"If it ain't broke , don’t fix it !"
"There is no such thing as a water-cooled engine, just those that use water as a
heat-transfer medium, so if you can cut out the Middle-Man , why not ?"
"After making the move to Air-Cooled Power, why go backwards ?"
"A Porsche with a radiator is not a REAL Porsche."
"A Magirus with a radiator is not a REAL Magirus." ( There, I’ve said it ! )
The combination of the innovation and inherent quality of Magirus engineering combined with the untold advantages of the Deutz engine was so technically advanced, and so different to other manufacturers, that it demanded just a little bit more research and time to be devoted by potential purchasers, before making the purchase decision.
From a sales point of view this meant that you either had to have a free-thinking customer, or a completely Magirus Deutz trained Sales Person with an air-cooled brain (Me) to stand a chance, and if both requirements were present , a sale was more likely.
I apologise for talking cars for a moment. I have owned 4 VW Beetles, Aircooled 1965 and 1973 models, a 02 Water Cooled model, and now I drive a 54 model.
If only VW made the New Beetle with an Air-Cooled engine, I would be there !
How about a BF4L Deutz Diesel ?
Extremely Boring but Necessary stuff:-
This website was created and is fully maintained by myself and exists purely to inform the rest of the world of my mania. I feel I should make it clear that I believe in exercising my right to free speech, and I sincerely hope that nobody is upset by the personal beliefs and ideas expressed by myself, some of them quite powerfully. All of the text is written by myself.
Most of the pictures are taken from my property, from various places, manufacturers literature, personal photos, and online sources.
I have given due acknowledgement if this is not true, where possible.
I fully understand that there may be some copyright infringements and apologise if I have offended anybody. All logos, trademarks and Company Names are fully respected and acknowledged.
All I ask is that if anyone has a problem with anything on this site, that they contact me.
Lets talk about it and sort it out.
This website is not a money maker, and it does take a lot of upkeep so I hope you enjoy it.
Thank You
Roland |
