Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2026 i Classic & Vintage Commercials

Iconic Auctioneers held a classic car auction at the NEC Classic Motor Show on Sunday November 9. Admission to the saleroom and viewing area was by catalogue costing £20 on the Saturday, or £10 on Sunday, which admitted two people.…

Last month, we met Derbyshire-based Robert Wakefield, his family, and the 2003 MAN L2000 that he still uses commercially, and still goes out at least three days a week. It wasn’t, however, the MAN which first drew our attention to Robert. When we first met, at last spring’s Drive it Day “Down at Number 9” meet near Nottingham, he was driving the 1970 Commer CE8 13ton gvw SWB tipper. And from said tipper, the unmistakeable sound of a Commer/Rootes TS3 diesel could be heard. Time to find out more… TRD178H is a Commer VC8 13ton gvw tipper with the legendary Commer-Rootes two-stroke diesel engine, six-speed overdrive gearbox and singlespeed rear axle, first registered in April 1970. It has air-over hydraulic brakes, steel dropside tipper body and Carrimore underfloor two-stage tipping…

British Road Services was created in 1948 when road haulage, along with the railways and what was left of the canal network, was nationalised by the Atlee Labour government. After the subsequent de-nationalisation of road transport in 1953, BRS remained a state-owned company, within which BRS (Parcels) Ltd. became a separate division in 1955. Needing a large capacity van for delivering parcels, they developed a purpose designed vehicle in conjunction with BMC. The design was done by BRS Chief Engineer Louis Morgan, Rolling Stock Engineer Arthur Cardwell and Parcels Engineer John Greenhalgh, plus Robert Blackstone of Star Bodies (B.T.C.) Ltd. of Oldham, BRS’ in-house coachbuilders. The Transport Workers Union, which represented BRS drivers, also had significant input. It was based upon the Austin 303 forward control 3-ton chassis with an…

As its name implies, the Newark Vintage Tractor & Heritage Show, organised each year by the Newark & Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society, started out as tractor-only event, and remains predominantly rural and agricultural. However, in recent years the remit has expanded to include lorries, and this part of the show is now significant in numbers; this year around 90 lorries attended Newark Showground on one or both days. Talking to exhibitors, many regard it as a good season-closing show; the final gathering of the year before vehicles are put away for winter. This year a special show-theme was 60 years of the Ford D-Series with a special lineup representing four different versions of this adaptable design. Especially noteworthy was Brian Gardner’s 1980 D Series Chinese Six which is thought to be…

The annual Atkinson Gathering, was again held at The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft in North Lincolnshire, with around 40 vehicles on display, with the drivers taking the opportunity to have a look around this popular museum. Although some vehicles arrived on the Saturday, Sunday is the day when the event takes place, with some drivers taking their vehicles onto the trolleybus circuit. As the name of the event suggests, Atkinson vehicles are the main attraction although there were other manufacturers being represented, with many drivers taking the opportunity to look in the sheds at the museum, where around 50 trolley buses in various phases of restoration are stored. Some are brought out to take visitors on a trip around the museum’s running circuit, with trolleys from Huddersfield, Manchester and Maidstone…

Captions provided by the Post Office Vehicle Club - https://povehclub.org.uk/…

“Lorries are my passion.” Those were Russell Oliver’s first words to me when we met. “I couldn’t tell you anything about football or cricket because I’ve zero interest. But I absolutely love lorries, and when I’m not driving them, I’m working on them.” It is therefore no surprise at all that the 1984 Mercedes-Benz 1617 that he has recently completed the restoration of is a real stunner; a lovely lorry in every respect. It’s also rather special in other respects, but we’ll come back to that in a bit. First, a bit of personal background. Though now based in East Yorkshire, 51-year-old Russell was born and grew up in and around Greenwich in South-East London. His Dad was a driver, and as so often happens, son Russell followed in Dad’s…

Although it’s still 2025 as this is being written, some organisers have already announced dates for their 2026 events, and the Thornycroft Society has launched an initiative under which key event dates will be listed as soon as they are announced. The aim of this is twofold; one, obviously, is to let people know what is happening and when. The second is that by announcing these dates early, other organisers will know which dates are best avoided, as similar events happening close to each other is rarely in anyone’s interest. The following list, compiled by the society but with ‘added input’ from the CVC editorial team, is what we know about at the time of going to press. As usual, Classic & Vintage Commercials will run its monthly Events Diary…

VALE AND VAL In your comprehensive Ford D Series 60th anniversary review (CVC, December), you refer to the second phase D1000 chassis and the introduction of the Cummins V8 ‘Vale’ diesel which was intended to provide enough performance at gross weights up to 28tons. But UK operators soon found that it fell short of expectations. In particular, it lacked low-down torque, which meant drivers having to repeatedly downshift to maintain speed in traffic or on rising gradients. The V8 and its companion V6 ‘Val’ engine, though manufactured for world markets at Cummins’ brand new factory at Darlington, were developed in the US. The design engineers back in Columbus, Indiana thought their new small vees’ ultra short-stroke high-revving (up to 3300rpm) characteristics and relatively lightweight would enable them to muscle in…

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There was a varied line up of commercials at the Chester-le-Street Steam and Vintage Rally held over the weekend of June 28-29. Although, as the name of the event suggests, steam is the main attraction, the commercials certainly got a lot of attention. The main interest is the vehicles that were working in the haulage arena, pulling one of the trailers loaded with a heavy boiler around the field with the challenge of a hill to contend with. Here are just a few of the vehicles that were to be seen on display at the show.…

To replace horses and drays, both LMS and LNER experimented with the three-wheel Karrier Cob, launched in 1929 with a Jowett two-cylinder, two-stroke petrol engine, developing their own couplings. TheCobMajorof1931 had a four-cylinder Coventry Climax petrol engine (later a Karrier engine and then a Rootes motor) and a purpose built trailer with brakes. It was built until 1939. In the 1930s LNER commissioned D. Napier & Sons Company to build a new prototype three-wheel tractor unit with an automatic coupling. Although their design was approved, Napier pulled out and Scammell took over development, launching the Scammell MechanicalHorsein1933. Three-ton versions had an 1125cc sidevalve petrol engine, whilst the 6-tonner had a 2043cc petrol engine, larger rear wheels and a heavier duty coupling. The four-wheel Jen Tug was built by Jensen from…

The annual Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham, sponsored by Lancaster Insurance, was held over three days from Friday November 7 to Sunday November 9 2025 Ticket prices were £42.50 in advance on the Friday (£46 on the door), £37.50 in advance on the Saturday (£41 on the door) and £35.50 in advance on the Sunday (£39.50 on the door), with car club discounts available for advance tickets, plus two or three-day passes, family, child and group tickets. That may sound like a lot, and I did hear some complaints about the costs, especially as parking was extra. But on the other hand, this is a huge event, filling six of the NEC’s halls, and the costs of staging such an event must be enormous. There were 72,738…

In terms of performance the LB110 was similar to the LB76 but, from a driver’s viewpoint, it had the advantage of a range-change button on the gearstick as opposed to the LB76’s two-stick arrangement. The gearbox in each case was Scania’s own G672 synchromesh 10-speed range-change unit. The day-cabbed tractor was on a 10ft wheelbase while the sleeper wheelbase was 11ft 1.8in. As well as tractor units there were longer wheelbase models for drawbar use but they didn’t play a significant role in UK haulage. Powerful new LB140 V8 added Following hot on the heels of the LB110 came an even more prestigious machine, namely the LB140 with its legendary 14.2 litre DS14 turbocharged V8. Power-wise it seemed well ‘over the top’ for the UK market when it was introduced…

Exactly one year ago, our January 2025 issue included a piece entitled “Threepenny Bit Fridays.” This, if you remember, was about a small group of Surrey-based enthusiasts, friends, and former stock-car racers. The group came together initially to help Andy Harris complete the restoration of his 1968 Austin FG ‘Threepenny Bit’ recovery vehicle, a project which, in his own words, Andy had “got the hump with.” The group, all retired or semi-retired, and with a variety of skills, all pitched in, and as we saw last year, the FG was completed to an exceptionally high standard. However, during our trip to Wraysbury, we were introduced to many members of the Friday Club. One of these was Jeff Olding, who came along with his 1952 Austin A40 Devon pick-up which, like…

Now rebranded as the Somerset & Devon Coast to Coast run, the former Somerset & Devon Road Run took place over the weekend of October 11-12, with Junction 24 Truckstop on the M5 as the base for the two-day gathering. The first day saw the vehicles head to Minehead. Here the entrants were able to park up at the West Somerset Railway’s station, with later on the vehicles then making their way to Blue Anchor, where the opportunity to photograph the vehicles going over the level crossing could not be ignored. The second day saw the entrants head south to Seaton, where the famous tramway kept the vintage transport theme alive, with some participants taking a trip along the line before heading back to the Truckstop and home. Despite a…

As we received significant ‘positive feedback’ for the Dartford Tunnel opening day image printed in the November issue, we’ve found another, also taken on November 18 1963, but this time showing even more lorry-action. It’s clearly a cold, damp and generally miserable day, just look at the windswept observers and how filthy that Humber Super Snipe is. As you can see, the photographer is looking across at the toll-booths, which will be very familiar to anyone who has been caught in the queue to get through. The payment area is also a lot larger than one might expect given that at this point there was just one tunnel carrying one line of traffic in either direction. The second tunnel, to the east of the original, didn’t open for another 17…

LEYLAND OCTOPUS The story of Andrew Davies’ 1978 Leyland Octopus restoration which was fresh out in 2025. SEDDON ATKINSON STRATO Peter Davies begins another close-up analysis… MASON’S PETS Boston-based Mason Brothers operational fleet is bang up to date and a familiar sight on the roads of Lincolnshire and further afield. But like so many firms, they’ve also got a preserved pet or two kicking around… HYBRID MINOR This one is not partpowered by electricity, as Mike Neale explains. PLUS: Part Two of Mike Neale’s look at miniature Scammell three-wheelers, a final flick through the Papworth Coachworks archives, more stunning archive photography from Peter Davies, David Reed’s report on the Buxton Boys Run, all our usual features and a few surprises of course… These features are all planned at the time…