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More Engins Passion Highlights

Of course, the undisputed star of the show was the massive 185 tonne Poclain 1000, and I really like these photos where the machine is pictured with another classic French vehicle from that era, the Renault 4L, which really offers a great size comparison.

The shot reminded me of the old promotional photo featuring the original square looking EC 1000 model which if memory serves me right was pictured with a small Peugeot car.

Below is another cracking shot showing the car reversed into the machines massive bucket.

Unfortunately, due to technical issues the 1000 wasn’t able to be operated in a live demo scenario, but it was still an impressive sight for the visitors, and amazing that so much effort had been put in by the team behind Engins Passion, to actually get it there in the first place.

The second largest Poclain model at the event was the mighty 610CK which was being put through its paces, with selected visitors being able to sit in the passenger’s seat in the massive cab. The 610CK was an upgrade to the previous 600 model and had a production run from 1985 to 1989.

The machine weighed in at around 110-130-tonnes depending on specification and was powered by two engines producing a power output of 620hp in total.

Working in close proximity to the 610CK was another fine example from the Poclain range, in the form of a 400 model in face shovel configuration, which was digging and loading trucks on the lower bench.

Another star appearance was the BC21 a 1976 prototype model one of only two dozers ever made by Poclain in association with CMC. This machine had been fully restored by Eric Moutot and his team and repainted in preparation for this event.

This machine is the only surviving example with the other version which featured a rear mounted engine, having been cut up for scrap some years ago.

The French built Berliet T45 rigid dumptruck was being loaded by the Poclain 610CK and was a sight to see and most notably to hear, with its powerful 635hp diesel engine!

It was certainly a crowd pleaser as it discharged its load from the heated body at the dump area.

It wasn’t all red and grey though, checkout this marvellous example of a Richier H52 hydraulic excavator, which I believe was first launched in 1980, as a replacement for the earlier H50 model. We saw these machines marketed in the UK under the Ford banner back in the day.

In the real vintage area was this fine example of a truck mounted Poclain Hydropelle excavator, I’m going to show more of these veterans in another dedicated post here on the blog.

Checkout this video from Jimmy featuring the Poclain 400 and 610 in action!

The Digger Man Blog would like to thank Jimmy Pourcelot for sharing his material with us.