Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2026 i Classic Truck

Welcome to the January 2026 issue of Classic Truck, and are we all raring to go over the Christmas period or did the budget cut your spending? Kicking of this issue is Timothy Byrne who along with John Wilkinson, give us the final part of Jack Allen Motor Bodies Ltd. Alan Dale is next with his final part on the Commer two-stroke which is swiftly followed by two features from Joseph Lewis, one on Central Garage, Pershore and the other on a visit to the Turnpike Showground near Shaftesbury. Chris Newton then gives us a report from the Great Harwood Festival of Transport which Joseph Lewis follows with a visit to the Yesterdays Farming Rally at Haselbury Plucknett. A piece on craning is next courtesy of Tim Bolton who writes…

Southern Counties Auctioneers held their latest Wessex Machinery Sale at the Sale Ground, Shaftesbury, Dorset on Friday 24 October writes Joseph Lewis. Around 100 tractors and agricultural vehicles included two notable lorry entries. The first was a 2003 MAN 8.185 flatbed complete with removable livestock body, sheep decks and MoT to November 2026 at £2,400. The second was a 1998 Iveco Ford flatbed complete with a cherry picker, without MoT or plating certificates but V5 available knocked down for £650. Gratitude to Southern Counties Auctioneers.…

While on a short stay around Malvern for a Tractor World Show, I met up with Peter Martin to discover the story of his long association with recovery trucks. We had first communicated over his Bedford TK recovery truck, which was new to the Somerset Fire Brigade near Taunton, Somerset. We made a rendezvous at Vic Haines Transport Ltd and started with Peter's pioneering father, Harold. “My father, Harold Martin was an AVRO Founder Member and present at the inaugural meeting of AVRO,” began Peter. “Harold held one of the first membership numbers for the Central Garage, which he took over in 1968. Harold first went into business in London with his father, setting up a haulage business with post war lorries, then a coach company, being one of the…

After working for three years without a pay rise at a West Midlands timber company, John decided to look for another job, in the local job centre he spotted a vacancy for a street lighting attendant with HGV licence and applied. The company was MEB (Midlands Electricity Board) and John was taken on for the role, which involved driving a Bedford TK 4x4 flatbed lorry fitted with a Pesci crane, not only were lighting poles transported on the TK, they were also lifted on and off the lorry and into position using the mounted crane. John continued in this role for about two years, mainly dealing with motorway lighting poles, before going on to work with overhead power lines and electricity sub-stations, again driving lorries fitted with mounted cranes. Most…

After an excellent breakfast served by the very welcoming staff, my wife Anita and I had a look round the various lorries that had turned up. I took note of the registration numbers – to do a little research – while Anita took the photographs. The fog spoilt the gathering a little, but it did give some of Anita's images a bit of atmosphere. It was a good turnout considering the weather and quite a few vehicles turned up. Thanks again to Jim and Mark and to the staff at the café and we will no doubt see you all again next year.…

A Colectomatic body was ordered from the manufacturer, The Heil Co in Milwaukee, USA. Upon arrival it was mounted on a Dennis 15.5 Municipal chassis. The Colectomatic demonstrator was loaned to the City of Nottingham for evaluation in 1970. They were instructed to operate it on normal bin rounds and try to break it. The trial of this new concept refuse vehicle surpassed all expectations. In fact, six months later the City of Nottingham ordered six new Colectomatics. Meanwhile, a quantity of Colectomatic bodies were ordered from The Heil Co. The Demonstration vehicle started to carry out demonstrations to local authorities throughout the country. The response to the bodies’ performance resulted in multiple orders. The first Colectomatic order was for the City of Salford, body No C1 mounted on a…

I had passed the Turnpike Showground, just before the hill up to Shaftesbury many times, but usually on the way to the Southern Counties Auctioneers Wessex Machinery Sales. Upon the recommendation of a museum colleague I made my first foray to the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show. The local agricultural theme encompassed livestock judging classes, Wessex Heavy Horse display, vintage and classic tractors, steam traction engines and stationary engines. Commercial vehicle interest was associated with these show headlines, plus in the show set up and local companies. Star entries started upon arrival with GHB's impressive red quartet, which included an ERF EC11 Celect rigid and ERF EC11 Olympic tractor unit. The ERF theme continued with a 1948 rigid 100bhp 5-cylinder Gardner engine example owned by T.P. Niven Ltd. This ERF was…

The Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show organised by Clarion Events Ltd returned to the NEC over the Remembrance weekend, seeing over 72,000 enthusiasts attended over the three days. There were more than 330 clubs exhibiting including the new Military Vehicle Trust Commemorative Showcase. As always, the Minor LCV Register were out in force the theme was modified and original, this year seeing some excellent commercials on display owned by Adam Kent Smith, modified maroon van, Jonathan Evans the oldest van in the UK. Terry Reid had his excellent modified pick-up with custom rear bed with a bench seat, plus Nigel Eaton's superb, restored Austin van, carrying a lovely Antelope Beige livery, well done to all. The Morris Commercials stand had a rather splendid BMC JU 250 pick-up, a very rare…

Some models of truck were only sold for a short period in the UK, either the company pulled out of the UK market due to poor sales, they were taken over or the models were replaced. Some trucks were just plain unpopular and sold very few units. Here are ten of the lorry designs that were only sold for short periods… SAVIEM SM36.280 Saviem was created in 1955 – Societe Anonyme de Vehicules Industriels et Equipements Mecaniques following a merger of Somua and Latil with the Renault's commercial vehicle arm. In early 1974, it launched its SM 32.240 4x2 32-ton tractor unit in the UK at the Earls Court Motor Show. It used a MAN engine – Saviem supplied cabs to MAN in a reciprocal arrangement. The SM 32.240 had…

I instantly recognised the Seddon Atkinson refueller on page 65 of your October edition seen at Brands Hatch so have searched through my photo archives! Back in 1989, I worked for a company that specialised in aviation fuelling equipment. Much of the work involved refurbishing old refuelling vehicles. A new venture was to re-chassis the tank etc., from an old donor vehicle onto a much newer chassis. The Seddon Atkinson was the first of these, an ex-Esso unit WBM 254X fleet no 9235 was lengthened as seen in the N/S view taken in July 1989 (Pic 1). The donor vehicle would have been either an LAD cabbed Leyland Beaver or AEC Mandator with Park Royal cab, the tank capacity was 4000 gallons. The O/S view (Pic 2), was taken a…

SEND YOUR STORIES TO THE EDITOR ct.ed@kelsey.co.uk Classic Truck, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent.…

Power now went up to 135bhp gross, as a result of the engine's bore being increased by one eighth of an inch, which meant the engine size increased to 215cubic inches, from 199. There were other improvements undertaken to the engine around the same time, including increasing the size of the oil cooler, but the big difference was the move from timing chain, to timing gears. Dad always thought this a much better idea, after all gears don't break as chains can, I know this to my own cost, when the timing chain on my Land Rover 2.25 diesel broke, mangling the engine! By 1968, the air compressor was driven via a belt off the back of the engine, beneath a protective cover. These belts did have a habit of…

The showman market had always been an important one for the Watford company of Scammell during the thirties and forties, so much so that Scammell developed the Showtrac model, in 1945, specifically for that group of clients with a specialised run of 18 vehicles. Hundreds of other ‘ordinary’ Scammell Highwaymen tractors took on a second life working the showground fields. VXR 624, a Scammell Highwayman, was created to become part of the British Road Services fleet in November 1958. It was known to have worked around the West Country, although its service history from this period is patchy. It would appear to have started life as a fifth-wheel tractor unit, chassis number 10198, fitted up with a Crane Fruehauf coupling. John Faedelle, an ex- ‘Special Trucks Ltd’. engineer (the new…

Ok, having thought my last minute decision to visit to the Newark Showground for the Truckfest Original show in the first weekend of October would be my last show of 2025, just five weeks later I was back again. And this time, it was a first… because I actually pitched up in a truck. Not a truck to show, but a brand new Iveco S-Way 580 that I was road-testing for Trucking magazine! Luckily, there was more than enough room to park my artic, and it also meant I saw a lot of other trucks that I otherwise wouldn't have seen, outside of the show ground itself. Interestingly, I had taken the big S-Way out on the preceding Friday and it was when I saw a handful of Atkinsons (including…

Further to Michael Marshall's ‘Another dollop of Devon cream’ (October issue), regarding the Eggbeers transport article mentioning the AEC Mammoth Major and Guy Invincible. I enclose photographs of the AEC (Pics 1-3), registered WDV391 built 1957, 8x4. It started life as a 6 wheeler, and later converted to an 8 wheeler, to increase payload to 15 tons. It was fitted with an 11.3 litre 6-cylinder diesel. As there was no braking on the second axle, and to comply with the C&U regs of 1968, the second axle was removed. It gave good service for many years on contract to Hepworth Pipes. It had a rather undignified end to its career powering a crusher in a local scrapyard! Guy Invincible: 136TUO 1964 8x2 (Pic 4). This was fitted with a Gardner…