In May 1962 A.E.C and Willème signed an agreement in which A.E.C (Associated Equipment Company) will provide engine and components to Willème for its special purpose and heavy-duty truck range the first order was started off with 500 units of A.E.C diesel engines. This agreement also authorized Willème to assemble and distribute A.E.C. medium duty trucks.[5] By the end of 1962 Willème was assembling B.M.C (British Motor Corporation) trucks ranging from 1.5 to 7 tons capacity and also assembling A.E.C cargo and passenger vehicles in France alongside their own heavy-duty trucks.[6]
In 1970 Willème started to have difficulties with A.E.C and stopped manufacturing their trucks and attempted a switch to Volvo for sourcing the engines and components. At the 1970 Paris commercial vehicle show Willème showcased their first 6×4tipper chassis, powered by Volvo's 270 hp (199 kW) engine supported by a Fuller 13-speed gearbox.[7] Willème went bankrupt in 1970 and PRP (Perez et Raimond Paris) took over the company.[8] PRP continued to manufacture heavy-duty trucks like the TG 100, 200, 250, and 300, offering them with Cummins, GM, Caterpillar and Mercedes-Benz engines capable of high payloads.[9]
TG300 was the most powerful truck offered by the company, a ballast tractor promoted as being capable of towing 1000 tonnes with a suitable hydraulic modular trailer. Trobosa, a Spain-based trailer manufacture also developed some TG300 models as it was a leading manufacturer of tank transporter and hydraulic modular trailers. In 1979, Belgium's MOL acquired the design rights of the TG range from PRP and continued to manufacture heavy-duty ballast tractors mostly in 8x8 configurations with Cummins engines, with towing capacity of 300 to 500 tons for oversize load transport applications.[10] In 1980 Creusot-Loire used the TG range of trucks as the basis in developing their T40A military tank transporter, an 8x6 configuration powered by a Detroit Diesel engine supported by a 13-speed Allison transmission.[11]
Products
Willème PRP T40 rigid tank transporter at Musée des Blindés, France.
In the post-war years, Willème specialized in large lorries and tractors, and special duty trucks such as heavy haulage ballast tractors.[12]
^Ward, Rod, ed. (7 August 2010). "Books". Model Auto Review News. No. 244. p. 24. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011.
^Lenoir, Pierre (October 1964). "Évolution et situation des véhicules industriels en France" [Development and conditions of industrial vehicles in France]. Le poids lourd: Spécial Salon (in French). 49 (592): 99.
