Classic Lorries
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Discussion

Gunk

Original Poster:

3,302 posts

182 months

Monday 6th June 2011
quotequote all
Following on from my Classic Vans topic, the natural sequel is classic lorries, here are a few from my youth, we used to love spotting them on the way to our holidays

My favorite has to be the Scammell Crusader, a real brute of a truck



The AEC Mantador, there used to be thousands of these on the roads, still popular with the fun fairs



Ford D series, these were used for everything from seven and half ton Luton box vans to 8 wheeled tippers



And finally the Leyland Marathon, a rare beast, in the flesh these were huge



daveenty

2,382 posts

233 months

Monday 6th June 2011
quotequote all
Gunk said:
Following on from my Classic Vans topic, the natural sequel is classic lorries, here are a few from my youth, we used to love spotting them on the way to our holidays
<snip>
And finally the Leyland Marathon, a rare beast, in the flesh these were huge

Used to drive one of these in a previous existence. Only a four wheeler though, and a non sleeper. frown

265 Rolls in it and a RTO9509 Fuller roadranger gearbox.

Always wanted to have one of the Scammel Crusaders.

Nearest I came was when my then boss bought one to replace the Foden S80 (goldfish bowl headlamps) I had at the time, but all they did was swapped the engine over and scrapped the cab. Gutted.

PeterMartin

18 posts

178 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
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Here is the one which I found some what different.

daveenty

2,382 posts

233 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
quotequote all
PeterMartin said:
Here is the one which I found some what different.
Well, the tractor pulling them is a B Series ERF. The tipper facing us is an AEC (mammoth major?) though not sure about the one on the front of the step frame trailer.

Interesting thread HERE

anonymous-user

77 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
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Jensen:-



Huntsman

9,107 posts

273 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
quotequote all
daveenty said:
Well, the tractor pulling them is a B Series ERF. The tipper facing us is an AEC (mammoth major?) though not sure about the one on the front of the step frame trailer.

Interesting thread HERE
Its a shame that some of the pics from that old thread have gone.

I've a cunning plan to own a Bedford TK sometime in the future.

Hugo a Gogo

23,427 posts

256 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
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the ubiquitous old TK




stewy68

1,826 posts

266 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
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Scammell Contractor


and...
Commander


Have wanted a Scammell since childhood. Had a brief drive in a Pioneer years ago and it only served to make me want one even more.

MarsellusWallace

1,180 posts

224 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
quotequote all
Some great pictures there and many fond memories for me.

Ford D Series was my first truck-a 7.5 tonne tipper.No power steering and brakes that were either fully applied or nothing-just touching the brakes or stamping on them made no difference.It was so noisy inside you had a headache after half an hour,and the low gearing made it rev its nuts off everywhere.As an 18 year old none of these things mattered to me-I just loved driving it day after day.

Leyland Marathon.I learnt to drive HGV's on an ex army one of these,Class 1.Unless your gearchange was spot on you'd miss the gear and there would be an awful crunch!Didnt like being in the wrong gear either,infact the whole gearbox was a pig to operate+heavy clutch,the whole cab would shake itself almost to bits.

Bedford TK.A bit before my time but my dad used to run these as tippers and skip loaders.One day when he got his first skip loader(circa 1975)he came out of the old lead works in Chester(near the train station)and straight under a low railway bridge that the tipper he used to drive would just make it under but because the skip loader arms were higher that the cab they caught on the bridge and sent the cab up in the air,squashing it and trapping him between the cab roof and the steering wheel.He had to be cut out and broke a few ribs and had a few other injuries-he was lucky to escape with his life.From that day he never drove a HGV again.

From the TK's we used to run Leyland Clydesdales,Terriers,Bisons etc and then they gave way to the Freighter series which was probably the most unreliable range of commercial vehicles ever.By that time Mercedes were becoming a player in the commercial vehicle market so we switched onto 1617's and 814's-they were light years ahead of the old Leylands and Bedfords.

Gunk

Original Poster:

3,302 posts

182 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
quotequote all
The reason the Leyland Marathon was not a sales success was that it was a compromised design based on out of date technology and had to complete with trucks such as the far superior Volvo G88



By the 1980's this had been developed into the F8/F10 range of trucks, Leyland had no chance of competing with these, even their new Ogle designed Roadtrain was a dated design when it was launched.






47p2

1,718 posts

184 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
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My daily hack for 7.5 years.
Top speed was more than a lot of cars could do laugh from the yard in Linwood to Liverpool Docks in 3:27 minutes and 42 tonnes

This picture was taken at Glencoe after delivering construction plant equipment to the Skye Bridge when it was being built



mikey77

707 posts

211 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
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http://www.trucknetuk.com/phpBB/

has an 'old time lorries' section that includes a long-running 'scrapbook' thread by bubbleman. You have to register and log in to see some of the pix but it's easy - and you can waste hours...

Gunk

Original Poster:

3,302 posts

182 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
quotequote all
47p2 said:
My daily hack for 7.5 years.
Top speed was more than a lot of cars could do laugh from the yard in Linwood to Liverpool Docks in 3:27 minutes and 42 tonnes

This picture was taken at Glencoe after delivering construction plant equipment to the Skye Bridge when it was being built


That tractor unit still looks modern nearly 20 years later

Blackwedge

293 posts

201 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
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Always liked seeing these, thought they were a bit different and more styled than most trucks;


chard

28,628 posts

206 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
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I'm supprised no one's mentioned Hell Drivers

Top film

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051713/

TVR Sagaris

1,284 posts

255 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
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Continuing the Scammell theme:


Used to have a model one and loved the idea of it; apparently they were horrible to drive, though.

anonymous-user

77 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
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If you want a trucky film (also existential angst), you need "Le Salaire de la Peur" (The Wages of Fear - original not remake):-


47p2

1,718 posts

184 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
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Gunk said:
That tractor unit still looks modern nearly 20 years later
I guess it's a case of "If it ain't broken, then don't fix it"


This is up for sale at the moment, I'm tempted but I can't afford the divorce








Gunk

Original Poster:

3,302 posts

182 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
quotequote all
Blackwedge said:
Always liked seeing these, thought they were a bit different and more styled than most trucks;

They had a fiberglass cab so the design was a bit more adventurous

47p2

1,718 posts

184 months

Tuesday 7th June 2011
quotequote all
chard said:
I'm supprised no one's mentioned Hell Drivers

Top film

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051713/
Awesome movie and so real to life. When I was driving trucks I often thought of this movie and felt I was in it. Hell Drivers movie link



What about the Commer 2 stroke (Knocker) Fantastic sounding engine


Firing up a Commer Knocker

Knocker, the sound of music


But it isn't finished there, there was another 2 stroke that sounded better than the Commer..........The Foden 2 stroke



Why be a petrolhead when you could be a dieselhead sounding like this

Foden 2 stroke