Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2024 i Classic & Vintage Commercials

Lorry preservation is one of those hobbies which means slightly different things to different people, and this month’s issue is proof positive of that, as the vehicles we’re featuring are owned in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons. First off, we have Mick Bainbridge’s stunning restoration of a 1958 ERF KV; a lorry with which he has a direct personal connection. When sold at auction for £900, it was a derelict chassis-cab unit and the only things it had going for it were a decent engine, gearbox and back axle. Most people, including yours truly, assumed that it had been bought to donate these to another project, and the rest would be scrapped. When I went to the auction preview, I didn’t even bother to photograph…

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Thirty four-year-old Jamie Atkins is a relatively new recruit to active lorry preservation, but has amassed a huge amount of experience within a relatively short time, and when one considers that his 1989 Scania 93M was basically rescued from scrap but returned to the road in less than two months, it’s clear that what he lacks in direct time-served experience, he more than makes up for in enthusiasm and a willingness/determination to get stick in. Born and raised in Buckinghamshire, Jamie initially tried office work, but it was soon obvious that he really wasn’t cut out for sitting behind a desk. His first job in transport was in Hull, driving buses for East Yorkshire Buses. From here, he moved to agency coach driving in Aberdeen (“I fancied a change and…

Last month I looked at models of the traditional aluminium panelled, hardwood framed Atkinson lorries of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. From 1958, the Mk1 fibreglass cab was introduced with a wrap-around split windscreen and an integrated roofboard, initially with single headlights, twin headlights being offered from 1963, and subsequently became standard. The Mk2 fibreglass cab of 1967 was 6ins wider than the Mk1. The traditional vertical grille with the big A was retained, as well as the split wraparound windscreen. There was no footstep, so you had to use the front wheel ring (or the tyre) to get into the cab. The View-line cab was launched in 1966, with a tall wrap around windscreen without the central division, which offered good visibility but was not what you’d call pretty.…

This evocative image taken in a BRS depot dates from June 24 1956, and is actually a publicity still from the British Transport Films production ‘BRS Trunk Services’. It’s taken at London’s BRS Kentish Town Depot in the South Eastern Division and we suspect strongly that his is a posed photograph intended to show best practice rather than a workaday scene, with drivers cleaning windscreens and checking levels prior to setting out. The lorry fleet on site has the then-modern Bristol HG6L and AEC Mammoth Major to the foreground. Bristol lorries were, of course, built exclusively for the state-owned BRS and the PXP and NLL registrations date from 1956 and 1953 respectively. However, partly hidden behind the second AEC is a Scammell Rigid Eight, possibly ex-General Roadways. Then, facing the…

Glen Mc Birnie spent most of his working life as a driver for Rugby Cement and has written two well-known books on his driving experiences and the history of that firm. His interest in working lorries extends far beyond his work however and, over the years, he has built up a large collection of pictures of working lorries and made many friends in the industry. I first met him at a CVRTC commercial vehicle show. He had previously helped me with details and pictures of various vehicles engaged in the cement industry for a model cement works diorama I was making. When I later exhibited it at Gaydon he was kind enough to praise me on the accuracy of my models which, coming from him, was a great compliment. We…

The Historic Commercial Vehicle Society has announced that the 2025 London to Brighton Run is to go ahead, and a date of Sunday May 11 has been set. After the 2024 event the organisers did put out a call for new and additional help with running the event, and indicated that without fresh blood, the 2024 run might be the last. The 2025 event will follow the same ‘new’ route as used for the first time in 2024, with a start at Brooklands Museum. Brooklands was, by all accounts, well-received by participants and spectators, and the new route from there to the A23 also seemed to work well. It also seems that work on restoring the iconic Maderia Terrace ironwork at Brighton will now finally be starting, and while this…

Classic & Vintage Commercials Editor Peter Simpson married his long-term partner Sarah on October 12 at the Talyllyn Railway in mid-Wales. The couple have been together for a little over 24 years and had, apparently, been meaning to make their union official for around 20 of those, but somehow it never quite seemed to happen until now. Peter met Sarah in 2000 at a floating Chinese restaurant in Peterborough – he was with a group of his friends, she with a party of hers. Since then, they have enjoyed many shared experiences including raising Katie and James who are now 17 and 16 respectively, and restoring a run-down Lincolnshire railway station. Many CVC readers will have seen Sarah alongside Peter, as she frequently attends shows and events with him, notepad…

Welcome to another helping of period working shots to bring back some memories from the past. As might be expected, many of the makes and operators depicted here will have faded into history as the years have rolled by. Some of the lorries shown belong in an era when Britain boasted a huge automotive industry which, alas, is no more. Famous makes like Albion, Seddon, Guy and ERF have long since vanished from the scene. Thankfully we still have pictures of such makes which, at one time, would have been known all over the world. Legislative changes and such things as emission controls and environmental issues have shaped development over the years, resulting in some manufacturers struggling to compete. Sadly, one by one, UK manufacturers became victims of the economic…

Almost exactly 55 years ago, in November 1969, this is what was the main route from Rochdale to Oldham in Lancashire which at the time passed through Royton. Snow and ice, along with traffic levels far higher than this road was built for, are causing huge delays – there’s traffic backed up as far as the eye can see! Commercial vehicles seem to be making up a significant percentage of the traffic, though not everything is recognisable. The long queue does, however, include a Ford D Series tipper with a “Wormalds Ltd Daily Express Service” Luton van behind. There isn’t much scope for express deliveries in this lot! Behind that we’ve a Ford Anglia van, while further down there’s what looks like a Morris, the driver of which looks to…

At the end of WW2 Britain found itself with, unsurprisingly, a huge stock of vehicles which, suddenly, there was little need for; as well as the armed forces, many civilian organisations such as the National Fire Service were massively overstocked for their peacetime requirements. A lot of kit was therefore sold off, and this photograph, taken on April 24 1946 at Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire, shows a huge number of lorries awaiting disposal at what was dubbed “the biggest car auction sale ever held in Britain”. There are vehicles stretching back as far as the eye can see, though interestingly, not quite everything appears to be ex-military; the white box-van in the third row with a spare wheel on the roof for example. But there are plenty of Austins such…

August 2023 • Commer Commando analysis • Bedford TJ Twins • BT Ford Escort Van • Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum September 2023 • Commer Commando • Bedford TK • Fairground Classics Special • Morris Minor on Bermuda October 2023 • Dodge 300 Restoration • Volvo F10/F12/F16 profile • Circus Classics • AEC Rally • Standard Vanguard Vans November 2023 • Austin K2 • Volvo F12 & F16 • Mercedes-Benz LF408G • Oil Exploration Giants • Black Country Museum December 2023 • Volvo F88 • Foden 6x4 • PO Telephones Bedford HA • Atkinsons at Sandtoft • Refuse Collection Lorries January 2024 • AEC Mammoth Major • Foden 6x4 • Atkinson Borderer • Fordson E83W • Refuse Collection February 2024 • ERF Eight Wheelers • Ford Transcontinental • London Pride…

NOW INCORPORATING MAGAZINE! VOLVOF88 Bob Carmichael’s 1972 Volvo F88 was without doubt the oldest working lorry in Britain. Now though, it’s passed into preservation in Yorkshire. TELEPHONES SAFARI Ex Post Office Land Rover restored to original spec after use on a South Downs sheep farm. THREEPENNY BIT TRANSPORTER 1968 Austin FG restored from scrap and now a very useful piece of kit! FODEN S18 Family owned for 40 years, and now with the second generation. GROCOTT HERITAGE CENTRE We drop in on a Shropshire operator’s fine collection that’s open to the public and free to look around. You wouldn’t want to miss out on the cafeteria either! PLUS: Guy Models, Pt2 of Peter Daviss Scania-Vabis profile, more images from the Alan Robinson/Papworth coachworks collection, all our usual features and… Well…