Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2022 i Classic & Vintage Commercials

The 13th annual HCVS Sprat & Winkle Run takes place on Sunday October 16. Organised by the London & South Eastern Branch of the Historic Commercial Vehicle Club, the run starts just outside Sevenoaks in Kent. From here, participants follow a varied route to the coast, taking in many of the quieter roads and byways of Kent and East Sussex before reaching the finish in the heart of Hastings Old Town. Entries -for HCVS members only - have now closed, but this is a super (and free) event for spectators, and with the Hastings end-point being right in the heart of the historic Old Town, there’s plenty of other stuff to do – including taking a ride on the steepest funicular railway in Britain from where a birds-eye view of…

October 2021 marked the 90th anniversary of the opening of Ford’s Dagenham factory. Construction had begun in May 1929, with Henry Ford’s son Edsel Ford cutting the first sod, although ignominiously he bent the spade when it hit a large stone. No matter, it was soon hammered flat on a nearby railway line to allow the ceremony to continue – but remember, don’t try this at home, kids. The build took two and a half years to complete, alongside a deep-water section of the River Thames on Essex marshland. A massive number of concrete piles therefore had to be sunk deep into the ground in to build the factory here. It wasn’t Ford’s first UK factory – that was opened at Trafford Park in Manchester in 1911 and closed a…

Lorries pop up in films when you least expect them. I was whiling away a nostalgic hour or two with the 1949 Ealing Comedy A Run for your Money when up cropped a crystal-clear dustcart, and not just any old dustcart either but a real rarity in the shape of a Pagefield. I’ve watched those wonderful BTC films of lorries hauling vital goods across Scotland ad nauseam (come to think of it, this Latin expression that has passed into English sums up adverts in TV films rather neatly!) I know Hell Drivers inside out so know exactly when to look out for a youthful pre-James Bond Sean Connery. Although it is as British as they come, it apparently was made by Hollywood director Cy Endfield who curiously changed his name…

Back in May 2014, Classic & Vintage Commercials was invited to pop over to Staffordshire, where the Herritts family had assembled an interesting collection of older commercial vehicles. At that time, the family’s active restored collection comprised three Bedfords, a Morris J-Type van and a couple of cars. Others, however, were on the way, and given the enthusiasm of this family, it was no great surprise to get a call earlier this year, inviting us back to see what has been going on in the intervening years… First, though, a little family background. Father of the family is Ray Herritts. Now aged 66, Ray’s love of lorries stems from time spent as a child around Jukes Transport, the haulage business run by his Uncle Basil along with his brother Jim.…

As reported previously in CVC, the Eastern Counties Vintage Show at Norwich now has a new date, and this year’s event is happening over the weekend of October 8-9 at the usual location of Norwich Showground, just off the A47 Norwich bypass. As such, we think this event will be a good season-closer for this part of the world. Gary and Julie Woodrow who organise the lorry side of things here tell us that the Military and Commercial sections “seem to be going great guns” with at the time of going to press 30 Military vehicles booked and over 90 Commercials. It’s also expected that these numbers will continue to rise; late entries may still be accepted but at this stage need to be made by phone – call 01379…

As we saw in our 2014 feature, and the one on pages 6-10 of this issue, the Herritts Collection of classic commercial vehicles has, to date, majored on vehicles from the 1950s and 1960s, though they do also have a 1983 Bedford TL. As you can see though, the most recent addition marks something of a departure. The Foden Alpha tractor unit seen here joined the ‘collection’ at the end of last year, and it would probably be fair to say that Mike is rather more into this particular vehicle than his Dad – though we should make clear that the latter fully approves! The Foden marks an age-extension of the collection, though as one of the last Alphas (production ended the following year), and an example of the final…

The “Bradford by Jowett” (as they were badged) was launched in early 1946, although it was effectively a restyled version of the pre-war Jowett 8hp commercial from 1938. Bodies were supplied by Briggs Motor Bodies, initially in Dagenham, but soon from their new Doncaster factory, some 30 miles from Jowett’s factory in Idle. Bradfords were simple and basic, but this actually increased their popularity with some small businesses and farmers as they were being cheap to buy and run and easy to work on. They were exported across the world to over 70 countries. Initially only a 10cwt van version was available with a load capacity of 93cu.ft., but pick-up (or 10cwt lorry), 6-light van, 6-light utility (a six-seater estate) and 4-light utility versions followed. Larger windows were usually fitted…

It’s not widely known outside the area, but North Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire around the Humber estuary is the pea-growing capital of Britain. For various reasons, the climate hereabouts is ideal for pea growing, and for farmers, peas are a highly profitable crop. However, they do need very special treatment when it comes to harvesting. For starters, the harvesting season is short – the whole lot has to be gathered in a window of 50 to 70 days during July and August. It also needs harvesting with extreme care, as peas are very easily damaged. These days the process is highly mechanised with massive modern machines that retrieve and then gently open the pods and collect the peas without damaging them. Only the actual peas are removed from the field;…

Sheffield-based Ernest Thorpe Transport ceased trading at the start of September 2022. Founded by Ernest Thorpe in 1921 with just one lorry, the business remained family-owned and family managed until the end, and besides being well-regarded by customers and considered a good firm to work for by drivers, Thorpes was also of great interest to lorry enthusiasts, as throughout its life the firm ran secondhand lorries. The operating method was refreshingly old-school; buy cheap, secondhand and fairly basic lorries, and maintain them to do a job in house. The business also stuck with traditional British brands for far longer than most – CVC contributor Pip Dunn recalls them running Atkinson Borderers and Seddon Atkinson 400/401s well into the 1990s. Also in traditional style, the yard was full of older lorries…

You only have to look at the cab of the Leyland Marathon, launched in August 1973, to see that it was designed on a tight budget – what you might call a `knife and fork’ job based on the ageing `Ergomatic’ which was originally launched in 1964. The upper front section was from the Mk III Buffalo, while the lower front panels had something of the Bathgate `G’ cab about them. Despite such first impressions, the vehicles embodied many up-to-the minute engineering features and most operators had good service from them. The Marathon was British Leyland’s response to growing European competition in the early 1970s. British operators were getting a taste for high-spec, heavy duty tractor units from the likes of Volvo and Scania. These were generally designed for gross…

The 2022 AEC Gathering attracted a wide selection of vehicles to its now traditional Newark site. The event brought together club stands from REVS and The Bedford Enthusiasts Club, with associated vehicles complementing the AEC vehicles that lined up at Newark. One of the highlights of the weekend was the annual Saturday Road Run which saw a selection of vehicles make their way through the Lincolnshire countryside to the aircraft viewing facility near RAF Waddington on the Bomber Command County Road Run. Back on the rally field itself there were some newcomers, and some old favourites on view. A selection of lorries had made the trip from Ireland for visitors to enjoy, while a few vehicles had been recently restored, making this event one of the highlights of the year.…

Last time I looked at Ford D-Series models made in Britain by Matchbox and Dinky Toys. They were not the only firms who made models of these when the real truck was in production, however. TEKNO Tekno was founded September 1928 in Denmark making toys, and then toy vehicles from 1935, which included commercial and public service vehicles as well as cars. Production ended when WW2 began and started up again in 1946. After the war 1/43 was adopted as their standard scale. Financial problems meant Danish production ended in 1972. That wasn’t quite the end of the story, however, as English businessman Leslie Hurle Bath, who lived in the Netherlands, bought some of the dies and continued Teknos diecast Ford D800 was released before the Dinky Toy, but both…