Secret Seven

Way down in the south east of Ireland, you’ll find a fleet with a whole lot of horsepower supplied by no less than seven Volvo FH16s!

- Paul O'Callaghan

When we think of Ireland and high powered trucks, the usual assumption is it’ll be a Scania V8. Ever since the days of the 140, the Irish have continued to buy the highest powered offerings from one Swedish manufacturer, while shying away from the other.

True, there were F89s and plenty of F12s sold, but we need only point to the fact that not one new F16 was ever sold in the Republic of Ireland. Let that sink in for a minute. There were a handful sold in the north and registered on the northern (UK) system, but the only ones ever registered on Republic plates were a few which came in second hand from the UK.

The original FH was a huge success offering a level of comfort that far exceeded anything that could be offered by Scania, but Irish buyers were reluctant to take the plunge on a 16-litre model. Perhaps tales of high fuel consumption from the original F16 were still making buyers wary. Besides, once the 460 engine was introduced back in 2000, they had a serious contender which was known to show a clean pair of wheels to many a 164 480 despite all the bluster about V8s. Continuing with the version two and three, not much had changed in Ireland, the vast majority of buyers sticking with the well proven 13-litre with 480, 500, 520, or even the 540 if you were really lucky as a driver.

Things seem to have changed a little with the fourth generation FH. That’s not to say the country is awash with FH16s, but there certainly are a few more than in the days of old.