Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i Classic & Vintage Commercials

Developing the new Magirus 8x4 was a masterstroke on the part of Frank Tinsdale – eight-wheeler gross weights had just been raised to 30 tons in the UK, making the type more profitable. The legal minimum outer axle spread had also been reduced, which not only saved weight but also provided better manoeuvrability. A 20-ton payload was now a real possibility – roughly equal to an artic tipper. Artic tippers were of course less popular for site work on grounds of traction and stability. Very soon, orders for the new 8x4 began rolling in. At first the Germans had not been too sure about Frank’s rather cavalier move, but it soon dawned on them that the 8x4 offered real potential. So much so that Magirus agreed to produce a factory-built…

There was a good selection of commercials at the Driffield Steam Fair on August 14-15 2022. Though mainly a steam event, the full range of attractions are there including cars, motorbikes, tractors and, of course commercial vehicles, of which a good number usually attend including some that aren’t often seen elsewhere. Here are a selection.…

A fter a tasting trip of the UK, Northern France, Germany and Belgium with old lorry lover and Belgian brewer Charles Fontaine in 2000, we sat down with numerous pints/litres to compile a book called 100 Ans de Transports de Bière, which sadly never made it into English. It contained 275 pages with hundreds of photos, so how on earth does one boil that down into an article? The answer is, one cannot, and neither is it possible to look at hundreds of makes of lorry and pick out the ones bought by brewers. Instead, what I’ll attempt to do is look at some of the most interesting stories, beginning with the broad theme of how it started and developed. Until the railways age, each pub brewed its own beer -…

Back in 1982, Tim King, then a fresh-faced 16-year-old youth, joined local haulage firm A A Griggs of Soham as an engineering apprentice. Founded in the mid- 1930s by the late Alfred Griggs, the firm Tim joined had started out as a pretty typical fenland haulage business, with local produce as its main traffic. When Tim joined, the business was still family-owned but had passed to the second generation, in the shape of Alfred’s son Tony. The main customer-base had changed too; by 1982 the Griggs fleet spent most of their time working in the papermaking and packaging industry. Indeed, by the time that Tim left in 2001, to become Group Fleet Engineer at Turners (Soham) Ltd, the Griggs business had been acquired by David S Smith, a large papermaking…

The Johnson family, who are based near Keston in Kent, have ‘a bit of a thing’ about Scammells. They own three, and their trio, ranging in age from 1938 to 1965, show the evolution of the bonneted Scammell Motive Unit, or MU. As is often the case with these vehicles they are all named, and, starting with the oldest, they answer to Ermintrude, Cherry Blossom and Wilemina. The family are husband Adam, wife Camilla and their son Ethan. Scammell MU History Scammell was founded in Fashion Street in London’s Spitalfields by wheelwright George Scammell in the late 19th Century. His nephew Richard later joined the business, which became G. Scammell & Nephew, repairing and building carts, and by the 1900s they were servicing and selling Foden Steam wagons. George’s great…

The Ford Thames Trader range of forward control trucks was announced in March 1957. There were 30cwt, two-ton and three-ton versions on the SWB chassis of 138in with a four-cylinder petrol or diesel engine. Four and five-ton versions had the SWB or optional LWB chassis of 160in with six-cylinder petrol or diesel engines. There was also a 108in chassis used for the articulated tractor unit and 5cu yd tipper, both with six-cylinder engines. You might have expected the Thames Trader to have replaced the old Thames ET6/ ET7/500E/502E trucks, but in fact 30cwt to fourton versions of those continued in production alongside the new model until 1961. Later additions were a seven-tonner, a heavier duty tractor unit, 6cu.yd tipper and six-wheelers. Chassis cab and chassis cowl versions were available for…

August 2022 saw a welcome return of the HCVS Trans Pennine Run which started at Birch Services on the M62 near Manchester and wound its way on its more or less traditional route across ‘the backbone of England’ to Harrogate. As in recent years, the finishing point was at The Great Yorkshire Showground, where the vehicles all lined up for inspection. It was a more informal affair, with many vehicles joining in along the route, or just being displayed at Harrogate, but with around 120 vehicles taking part in one form or another, it was certainly an event not to miss. This event, the 52nd, was dedicated to the late Frank Petch, the run’s secretary and announcer for many years who sadly passed away in 2021. There was a wide…

Istumbled across these superb Bedford CA commercials less than 20 minutes from my front door! The custodian is Paul Parry he is based in Llantrisant near Cardiff, from where he runs his plant hire business. His love of the humble workhorse the CA comes, he told me, from distant childhood memories of travelling round the South Wales valleys in a relative’s Bedford CA Ice cream van. So he just had to have one. No, make that two. In total contrast to his CAs, Paul also has a fondness for fast Fords; I saw his Ford Escort XR3i and Ford Capri 3.0 when I called to snap the Bedfords. The Bedford CA was introduced during 1952 and remained in production till 1969. Initially it was sold as a 10-12cwt van as…