We were lucky enough to get these two on our stand at the recent Truckfest the 141 is owned by Carl as a restoration project dedicated to Astrans the 143 still does runs to the Middle East and is owned by another Karl- both lads were cracking company for the weekend
Going off at a bit of a tangent, this left-â– â– â– â– â– â– was put together by Leyland in order to persuade Astrans that their product was equal to the lorries they were running.
It didn’t work but the tractor unit is still with us.
Yeah, but when Bob Paul started out, it was a middle east trip using a british truck, and a Leyland drawbar 8 legger.
Well here it is in it’s Astran guise. I seem to remember Ashley commenting that Astran never actually ever owned any Marathons, even though some went down to the Gulf, some in livery. This one was was unusual in that it had a ■■■■■■■NTC 335 (nice) with a 9-speed Fuller (v nice), though it now has a 13-speed Fuller, I understand. You could get a left-■■■■■■ERF with the same drive-train, fit for Middle-East work when that Leyland was built, but they weren’t available in Britain until two years later!
Is that 143 the one that Trevor Dodwell drove for Graham Ball? If it is I was parked up next to it at Haditha on the Saudi border, and fancied taking a picture but my camera was a bit of house-brick and not easy to conceal and I didn’t fancy having it confiscated! Never mind: nice to see it still going; and the Leyland. Robert
robert1952:
Well here it is in it’s Astran guise. I seem to remember Ashley commenting that Astran never actually ever owned any Marathons, even though some went down to the Gulf, some in livery. This one was was unusual in that it had a ■■■■■■■NTC 335 (nice) with a 9-speed Fuller (v nice), though it now has a 13-speed Fuller, I understand. You could get a left-■■■■■■ERF with the same drive-train, fit for Middle-East work when that Leyland was built, but they weren’t available in Britain until two years later!Is that 143 the one that Trevor Dodwell drove for Graham Ball? If it is I was parked up next to it at Haditha on the Saudi border, and fancied taking a picture but my camera was a bit of house-brick and not easy to conceal and I didn’t fancy having it confiscated! Never mind: nice to see it still going; and the Leyland. Robert
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Correct me if i am wrong but as far as i am aware,the only Marathon in [Astran guise] was driven by â– â– â– â– Rivers who was actually employed by Leyland .
The one in the pic has appeared in more than one Leyland promotional film driven by funnily enough . . . â– â– â– â– Rivers.
Hiya…was that photo taken this weekend ROF. i know the leyland was at Llandudno i was talking to the driver just
before the road run.
John
â– â– â– â– Rivers was a demostrator driver for Leyland and there are a few videos with him driving.
Astran didn’t run Marathons, the one ■■■■drove in Destination Doha was a 4x2 reg no. SLO 707R owned by Leyland in Astran colours and had a van load of spares following the convoy just in case.
Wibbelink ran a whole fleet of Marathons from Holland to and from Iran.
My Dad ran a Marathon, he took it as a trade in was the only way he could get a good price for his Buffalo. Between the two of them braking down all the time it almost sent him bust.
Jeff…
3300John:
Hiya…was that photo taken this weekend ROF. i know the leyland was at Llandudno i was talking to the driver just
before the road run.
John
Yes, John, photo taken on Sunday morning when you were still in your pit!
I’ve got a shot of it on the Sunday road run which I’ll post on the Llandudno site in the next few days.
