Built by Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) in 1984–85, they replaced the aging Class 7 trams used by Trondheim Trafikkselskap (TT).

Class 8 is built for the unique combination of meter gauge and 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) wagon width of the tramways in Trondheim.

By 1 December, eight bids had come in:[1] Only LHB and Valmet could deliver the special 260 cm (8 ft 6 in) wide trams used in Trondheim.

In 1985, the city council voted for a full economic analysis of the costs of trams versus diesel buses.

Trondheim had chosen an unusual combination of meter gauge and 260 cm (8 ft 6 in) wide wagons.

Oslo Sporveier was considered as a possible purchaser, but then the trams would have to be rebuilt, costing NOK 1.9 million per unit.

Also, Oslo Sporveier had slightly larger trams, and felt the Class 8 was too small for their needs.

Conservative chair of Oslo Sporveier, Haakon Magnus Preus said live at a public meeting for the labor union in January that they did not want the trams.

[5] After the decision to close the Trondheim Tramway in 1988, the last tram ran on 12 June, carrying about 20,000 passengers throughout the day.

An agreement had been made with the Copenhagen-based Unimex Engineering, who would sell the eleven trams to the Cairo Tramway.

On 2 January 1990, TT sent a letter to Gråkallbanen giving them the option to purchase the trams for the same price as the Egyptians, at an estimated NOK 17–20 million.

The company took the press with it to Stuttgart to negotiate the agreement, and the following Adresseavisen presented the cities new trams to the people.

When asked about the matter, representatives from the tramway company in Cairo said that the deal did not go through because the trams did not fit.