Sunday, July 1, 2012

UK Fairground Trucks

In my collection of purchased photos there is a large number of pix of fairground trucks. Some have the name Pat Crang on the back. If he is the snapper, I acknowledge that. I have very few details of these, so if anyone can shed any light please comment.
A 4x2 Scammell of the late 30s. I'm not sure if they were called Highwayman at this stage.

6x4 Scammell Crusader with sleeper.

Leyland Octopus with the LAD cab, so called because it was used by Leyland, Albion and Dodge.

AEC Mammoth Major Six.

This small D series Ford is similar to the one I drove in my first driving job.

A TK cab, but I think the 4x4 Bedfords were called R series.

Cottle's Circus had Ford Cargos, large.......

.....and small.
Cargos were not that common in NZ as by this time Ford NZ were marketing badge engineered Hinos.

The Thames Trader was a popular middle-weight here.

A later D series with rectangular headlamps and chrome bumper. I think the wheel trims may be from a Cargo.

Mk 1 Atkinson 8 wheeler with Gardner 150.

Atkinson Searcher with Gardner 180.

Atkinson Venturer with Gardner 240.

Another 240 Gardner powered Venturer, or is it a Searcher.

The S21 Foden has got to be one of the more original cab designs of its day. The small grille below the Foden kite makes me wonder if this was once a cement mixer with hydraulic drive off the front of the engine.

The S21 was nick-named "Sputnik" in some markets and "Mickey-Mouse" in others.

3 comments:

The Old Vic said...

Hi Trev

Scammells in the era of the one in the first photo generally didn't have model names, they were known as Artic 8, Rigid 8, 12 tonner, Drawbar Tractor etc. There was one calloed a Showtrac, made especially for travelling showmen but that isn't one of those in the photo.

The 4x4 version of the TK was known as the MK; "M" for Military, I think. The previous 4x4 which was based on the S-model Bedford was known as the RL, but don't ask me why; it was probably because the 4x4 model before that was called the QL, nicknamed the Queen Lizzie.

The Old Vic said...

P.S. Scammell "Impregnable" is chain drive, an option offered by Scammell into the late 1940s, and I believe was first registered in 1940.

Trev Jones said...

Quite right (again) Vic, I relied on memory without checking the facts. The TK derived 4x4 is indeed the "M".
I do have a pic of a Scammell Showtrac which I will publish in a future blog. Apparently there was a lot of "homemade" Showtracs converted from similar models and it is very difficult to know a genuine one from a photo.