Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2022 i Classic & Vintage Commercials

If you have a News story, e-mail cvc.ed@kelsey.co.uk or write to The Editor, Classic and Vintage Commercials, PO Box 1243, Spalding PE11 9HE The Scammell Register are putting on a major event to mark the centenary of the founding of Scammell Lorries Ltd, and it’s happening 100 years on to the day AND on as close as is now possible to the original factory sites in Tolpits Lane, Watford. Scammell Lorries Ltd was founded on May 1 1922 – prior to this the trading name had been G Scammell & Nephew – and at the same time the business moved out from Spitalfields to Tolpits Lane, Watford, an address which was to become synonymous with the Scammell brandname. The centenary event will take place over the weekend of May 1…

■ Transport Museum Wythall has launched an appeal to raise the estimated £75,000 needed to fully restore Midland Red D7 double decker 4482 which is in the museum collection and, its claimed, the only existing D7 of the 350 made with a “viable restoration opportunity.” Though restored cosmetically for the Midland Red 100 event, the bus is said to be hiding significant “under the skin” structural issues, and to need a new body structure. Uniquely among British bus companies, Midland Red designed and made its own buses, including in most cases making bespoke power units. This enabled significant technical innovation to be used, and the D7 was an early example of lightweight construction which was later to be adopted widely.It was also an extremely successful bus, with most examples managing…

October 31 2021 Early rain fails to spoil the turnout of vehicles in Huddersfield. Despite the heavy rain that greeted the vehicles in Huddersfield for the annual Halloween Run on October 31, there was a good selection of vehicles that gathered on Great Northern Street, the event’s traditional starting point. Here there was again the chance to visit a nearby auto jumble sale, or have some refreshments in a nearby café to avoid the rain, before the vehicles left Huddersfield along the A642. Their destination was the National Coal Mining Museum for England at the site of Caphouse Colliery in Overton, near Wakefield, where the rain was replaced by bright sunshine. Here there’s a lot to do, with a trip underground available to those who want to experience life at…

This is one project which really was restored from a pile of bits, as Peter Simpson explains... Over the past few months, CVC has featured a few recent projects completed by Norfolk-based duo Neal and Nigel Davis. As we’ve seen, the Davis brothers have a definite tendency to take on stuff that’s a bit unusual or a bit ambitious. Or, as we saw back in December with Neal’s Allen-Grove H2564 self-propelled mobile crane, extremely unusual AND extremely ambitious! Anyway, to round up this short series – for now, anyway – we come to Nigel’s 1948 Fordson 7V. This was acquired as, quite literally, a pile of bits. It has, though, been finished to the standard seen here in not much more than a year, which is impressive, especially considering that…

Sandy Glenn, who has for many years run the Ford Thames 400 Club, along with its extremely efficient and useful spare parts service, has retired from both roles with effect from February 28 2022. He is therefore no longer taking orders for parts, though orders placed and paid for prior to February 28 are being fulfilled. Committee member Alan Forward is currently running the club, which has placed on record their thanks to Sandy “for his years of service operating the club, selling the spares, providing advice, and we wish him a happy retirement from this commitment.” To determine the best way forward for the club, Alan has written to everyone on the club’s membership database. He wants to determine whether sufficient support exists for the club to continue and…

JCB have placed two ERF E Series lorries on display in their reception area of their World Headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire, as a tribute to the role played by the fleet of refurbished ERFs in the business in recent years. The lorries in question are a 1996 EC11 6x2 tractor unit formerly owned by R &D Runciman of Aberfeldy, Scotland and which was put through the full JCB restoration/refurbishment process, and a 1998 EC10 eightwheeler fuel tanker, previously owned by Scottish Fuels, used on Highlands and Islands work. The tanker is largely original and has only needed a light touch restoration. As we reported last year, the majority of JCB’s famous EC11 fleet has now been sold. Three tractor units are still in service on low-loader/demonstrator work, but these are due…

Tower Bridge was once a busy Thames crossing for heavy lorries and its blackened gothic architecture provided a magnificent backdrop for photographers. Things were to change in 1979 when a weight limit was brought in as a measure to protect the iconic Victorian structure from damage. The famous London landmark, which defines the Capital, is one of the UK’s biggest tourist attractions, dating back to 1894. Sadly for lorry enthusiasts, scenes like this are a thing of the past. This 1968 Guy Big J8 of Spillers flour is seen crossing the bridge on August 25 1971. Peter J Davies…

A further insight into the product-range of a typical commercial vehicle bodybuilder in the in the late ‘50s/early ‘60s, courtesy of some of their finished-vehicles As we explained last month, Smithfield meat transport specialist H. J. C. Maile was introduced to Birmingham-based Silverdale Motor Bodies in the late 1950s when, following partial denationalisation of road transport, he re-acquired the business, and many of the vehicles, that had been taken over when the industry was taken into government control ten years earlier. Many of the vehicles he bought backwere, however, in need of replacement. Silverdale, owned by Frank Fitzpatrick (whose son John became a well-known racing driver with winning the 1966 British Saloon Car Championship and the 1972 and 1974 European GT Championship among his many achievements) provided HJC with the…

Mike Neale begins a two-part look at TK models with some that many of us will have played with as children in the 1960s… Bedford launched their new forwardcontrol TK range at the 1960Commercial Motor Show. Rather than the engine sitting alongside the driver, it was in its own compartment outside the cab, making the latter more spacious, comfortable and quieter. Initially, 12 different models were available. 16-inch wheels were used on 3-5-ton TKs, with 20-inch on heavier models up to 12-ton tractor units. There were four-and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, and four-or five-speed gearboxes. Production continued until 1986. There was plenty of choice of diecast Bedford TK models for the young collector of the 1960s and 70s. CORGI Corgi Toys were first out in 1962, beginning with Model…

SUPERPOISE Keith Laming’s newly-restored Commer Superpoise breakdown lorr y won Best in Show on this year’s Sprat & Winkle run, and looks set to be a show star this year. Peter Simpson tells the story "It’s a bit too new for me really.” That was Kent-based Keith Laming’s possiblysurprising initial reaction when a schoolfriend, whose daughter’s wedding Keith had just arranged transport for, told him about a 1954 Commer Superpoise recovery lorry, complete with hand-operated crane, that had recently been pushed out of a barn a few miles down the road. You see, 65 year old Keith’s real automotive interest is cars from the 1920s – Austin 16s in particular. He currently owns seven pre-war cars, plus three motorcycles, and when offered the Commer was part-way through another major project.…

Pt.2: Peter Davies looks the Toyota subsidiar y’s involvement in the UK from 1980 until Euro 5 emission rules ended imports in 2014. In August 1980 Harris announced that they were trying out a Cumminspowered Hino HE336 tractor unit with the E290 diesel and Fuller 9509 gearbox, plated for 38 tonnes. The UK gross weight limit was of course still 32 tons (32.52 tonnes). At that stage it was just a prototype but HCV Warrington’s boss Liam O’Neill explained that a fourmonth test programme was planned after which the model would go on sale in the UK. Externally the only difference would be the addition of a Cummins badge. ZM rigids and HE tractor units shared the same basic cab shell but on the HE it was raised up and…

We welcome photos of older lorries (15 years and older) that are still in ser vice for publication in this section. We can accept contributions by email – cvc.ed@kelsey.co.uk, or by post to The Editor, Classic & Vintage Commercials, PO Box 1243, SPALDING, PE11 9HE. Please provide as much (or as little) information about a vehicle as you are able and, before entering or taking photos on private property, please ensure that you have all the permissions that you need to be there, and to be taking photographs.…

October 18 2021 Although the weather was pretty damp, there was a good selection of vehicles taking part in the annual Lancashire Road Run which took place in the middle of October. Organised by The North-West Vintage Transport Club, the event started at the British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Leyland, from where participants headed east along the A59 before turning north at Gisburn. From there thevehicles joined the A65 at Long Preston, passing into North Yorkshire through Settle and on to Kirkby Lonsdale before heading for the finish at Carnforth Truckstop. And it wasn’t just lorries that were to be seen on the run, with cars, a light commercial or two and a bus all took to the roads around the ‘red rose’ county. Here are some of the larger…

Once, BMC J2s were to be seen on almost ever y urban street-corner. Nowadays, it’s possible UK sur vivors barely number into doublefigures. Mike Neale tells the stor y of a rare sur vivor. In June 1956, the British Motor Corporation introduced a new 15cwt forward control van range, initially sold as the Morris J2 or Austin 152Omnivan, with a different front panel fitted to each. The Morris versions had a taller, pear-shaped grille with vertical bars, while the Austins had a lower, wider grille with horizontal bars. From 1965, however, the latter style was standardised across both Austin and Morris versions. BMC were apparently inspired by the design of the German Ford FK1000 van that had been introduced in 1953, buying one for evaluation and testing during the development…

Nick Baldwin tells the stor y of an Italian tractor-makers attempt to break into the Fiat-dominated commercial vehicle market… The commercial vehicle pecking order was well established by the 1960s with diminishing numbers of independent manufacturers and the growing importance of a small number of international brands. A few niche players had arrived in the past 25 years but not many had achieved lasting success, and even the likes of Seddon turned out to be on borrowed time. Into this highly-competitive scene burst the Italian tractor firm SAME at the 1963 Turin Motor Show with an extensive range of two and three-axle lorries. What’s more, these were not assembled from proprietary parts but were SAME through and through, right down to their air-cooled diesels. The SAME company (the letters standing…