ramone:
ERF-NGC-European:
This Dutch company clearly liked their Leylands!0
I’m guessing that’s a Mandator on the right with Leyland putting their name across the bottom for export models
Yes, the model badge on the right of the grille looks long enough to contain the name Mandator; but too long to accommodate Beaver. It might even have been their yards shunter by the time that picture was taken!
AEC grille, so is probably Mandator. The firm’s allegiance may have been to AEC, rather than Leyland.
Whilst the Marathon was badged as Leyland, it was built in Southall at the AEC plant so surely the Marathon was really an AEC ■■
AECs were badged Leyland on the bottom grille for exports .Not sure why because AEC were exporting across the world well before Leyland got their sticky fingers on them
hi robert just seen me old favourites me uncles brs marathon what memories tks to all
Apologies to those who may already know this, but according to this 1977 Commercial Motor article 20 Marathons (with AEC badges) went to Ghana. The second picture shows a LHD vehicle.
Link:
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tks erf ngc for those couple of brs overland on previous havent seen that one b4 they look like they deserve a wash and brush cant quite see the reg so dont know if one of them was our kid tks again tho 
stevejones:
tks erf ngc for those couple of brs overland on previous havent seen that one b4 they look like they deserve a wash and brush cant quite see the reg so dont know if one of them was our kid tks again tho
Always a pleasure!
Photos of a marathon on fb, led to this shot being added,
Roy Drakeford said he enjoyed driving this, pulling a hospitality trailer on formula 3 racing events, their jumpers say marcmoor on them and it is the white truck in much better times.
Steve
vwvanman0:
One of the ex brs marathons ended up with Tom Varleys at Gisburn, hauling steam stuff about, bizarrely there is a fake steering wheel at the rhd side. Last saw it in the 1980sSteve
Another pic of it Steve,where you can make out the 2 steering wheels… 
ERF-NGC-European:
Suedehead:
How long did the BRS venture into M/E work last. Very short lived wasnt it ?Yes indeed. But that may well have said more about BRS than the Marathons
I worked for them when they were based in Northampton when I moved there in the 1974. I was an experience Middle East driver coming up from London and my name is John McCann one of the eight drivers.
The reasons why BRS Overland closed down are many. The idea of BRS Overland was to supply parts to the British Leyland factory in Iran who were building trucks, but when the Shah was deposed, Khomeini closed it down so infortunately that line of work was nipped in the bud. We found other Middle Eastern work of course and we had a lot of to Iraq, but had to blank out ‘Iran’ on the units for obvious reasons.
The Trucks were notoriously unreliable and I don’t think I did a trip without breaking down. Luckily I was pretty handy with a spanner and always managed to get myself home. Then the truck go into BRS’s workship and be there forever sent out delivering sugar with a four wheeler.
Another reason, which is pretty contentious, is us drivers were paid by the hour, so straight away there was no incentive to get out there, do the job and get as soon as possible to get on with the next one.
Some drivers used to take their family and treat it like a holiday. When I worked in London, I could do two Baghad’s to some Overland drivers one, but then I was trip money which most of the boys doing the Middle East in the mid to late 70’ s were. Badhdad was three weeks max.
So because of the pay structure I honestly think BRS Overland priced themselves out of the market.
I distinctly remember doing an odd job in 1977 picking up rolls of carpet in Leicester, taking them to Ghent in Belgium and bringing carpet tiles from the same factory, so yes,it was a quick turnaround.
But with no word of a lie, I didn’t stop for a minute, no breaks no nothing and yes, of course I broke the law. I was there and back in record time, illegally.
The transport manager said, ’ Well that didn’t pay’ Then I knew that the company was doomed after just a few years in operation.
Another important thing to remenber is that the units very heavy, nine tons, The weight then in the UK was thirtytwo tons, which comprised of seven tons for the unit, twelve tons for the trailer and twenty tons for the load, and it load was normally called a ’ twenty ton cap load ’ and that is how return loads were based on. So as soon as we arrived at Felixstowe, we were two tons overweight.
Many of you know that most of the drivers were taken by Carlsberg Northampton and I spent a happy thirty years with them before retiring to Spain in 2000.
By the way, my unit was LNU 133P and this it outside my house getting ready for another trip.
Have a nice day truckers.
Desert Rat:
ERF-NGC-European:
Suedehead:
How long did the BRS venture into M/E work last. Very short lived wasnt it ?Yes indeed. But that may well have said more about BRS than the Marathons
I worked for them when they were based in Northampton when I moved there in the 1974. I was an experience Middle East driver coming up from London and my name is John McCann one of the eight drivers.
The reasons why BRS Overland closed down are many. The idea of BRS Overland was to supply parts to the British Leyland factory in Iran who were building trucks, but when the Shah was deposed, Khomeini closed it down so infortunately that line of work was nipped in the bud. We found other Middle Eastern work of course and we had a lot of to Iraq, but had to blank out ‘Iran’ on the units for obvious reasons.
The Trucks were notoriously unreliable and I don’t think I did a trip without breaking down. Luckily I was pretty handy with a spanner and always managed to get myself home. Then the truck go into BRS’s workship and be there forever sent out delivering sugar with a four wheeler.
Another reason, which is pretty contentious, is us drivers were paid by the hour, so straight away there was no incentive to get out there, do the job and get as soon as possible to get on with the next one.
Some drivers used to take their family and treat it like a holiday. When I worked in London, I could do two Baghad’s to some Overland drivers one, but then I was trip money which most of the boys doing the Middle East in the mid to late 70’ s were. Badhdad was three weeks max.
So because of the pay structure I honestly think BRS Overland priced themselves out of the market.
I distinctly remember doing an odd job in 1977 picking up rolls of carpet in Leicester, taking them to Ghent in Belgium and bringing carpet tiles from the same factory, so yes,it was a quick turnaround.
But with no word of a lie, I didn’t stop for a minute, no breaks no nothing and yes, of course I broke the law. I was there and back in record time, illegally.
The transport manager said, ’ Well that didn’t pay’ Then I knew that the company was doomed after just a few years in operation.
Many of you know that most of the drivers were taken by Carslberg Northampton and I spent a happy thirty years with them before retiring to Spain in 2000.
By the way, my unit was LNU 133P and this it outside my house getting ready for another trip.
Have a nice day truckers.
Thank you for that! It sheds a bit more light on the subject. 
ERF-NGC-European:
Desert Rat:
ERF-NGC-European:
Suedehead:
How long did the BRS venture into M/E work last. Very short lived wasnt it ?Yes indeed. But that may well have said more about BRS than the Marathons
I worked for them when they were based in Northampton when I moved there in the 1974. I was an experience Middle East driver coming up from London and my name is John McCann one of the eight drivers.
The reasons why BRS Overland closed down are many. The idea of BRS Overland was to supply parts to the British Leyland factory in Iran who were building trucks, but when the Shah was deposed, Khomeini closed it down so infortunately that line of work was nipped in the bud. We found other Middle Eastern work of course and we had a lot of to Iraq, but had to blank out ‘Iran’ on the units for obvious reasons.
The Trucks were notoriously unreliable and I don’t think I did a trip without breaking down. Luckily I was pretty handy with a spanner and always managed to get myself home. Then the truck go into BRS’s workship and be there forever sent out delivering sugar with a four wheeler.
Another reason, which is pretty contentious, is us drivers were paid by the hour, so straight away there was no incentive to get out there, do the job and get as soon as possible to get on with the next one.
Some drivers used to take their family and treat it like a holiday. When I worked in London, I could do two Baghad’s to some Overland drivers one, but then I was trip money which most of the boys doing the Middle East in the mid to late 70’ s were. Badhdad was three weeks max.
So because of the pay structure I honestly think BRS Overland priced themselves out of the market.
I distinctly remember doing an odd job in 1977 picking up rolls of carpet in Leicester, taking them to Ghent in Belgium and bringing carpet tiles from the same factory, so yes,it was a quick turnaround.
But with no word of a lie, I didn’t stop for a minute, no breaks no nothing and yes, of course I broke the law. I was there and back in record time, illegally.
The transport manager said, ’ Well that didn’t pay’ Then I knew that the company was doomed after just a few years in operation.
Many of you know that most of the drivers were taken by Carslberg Northampton and I spent a happy thirty years with them before retiring to Spain in 2000.
By the way, my unit was LNU 133P and this it outside my house getting ready for another trip.
Have a nice day truckers.Thank you for that! It sheds a bit more light on the subject.
You’re welcome mate, and it’s so good to talk about it after all these years and I’m 76 now and have had four wives since then.
When I said eight drivers,there was probably less, the drivers who were there when I was on Overland was Norman Ingram, who I know is on here but we lost contact a long time ago and Iand when I find his username I’ll post it . There was Bill Thomas, Keith Shirley, Terry Taylor ( deceased) the great John Bland but my memory fails me on the others.
Desert Rat:
You’re welcome mate, and it’s so good to talk about it after all these years and I’m 76 now and have had four wives since then.
When I said eight drivers,there was probably less, the drivers who were there when I was on Overland was Norman Ingram, who I know is on here but we lost contact a long time ago and Iand when I find his username I’ll post it . There was Bill Thomas, Keith Shirley, Terry Taylor ( deceased) the great John Bland but my memory fails me on the others.
Great read John ! Was there any one thing that made those Marathons so unreliable or loads of different fault’s ?
Thats an expensive hobby chap going through 4 wives !!! 
Nothing to do with the unions then , cant believe they let you kip in the cab
robert1952:
3210
Picture No 1 is outside of my house in Northampton about 1976/7 !!!
DEANB:
Desert Rat:
You’re welcome mate, and it’s so good to talk about it after all these years and I’m 76 now and have had four wives since then.
When I said eight drivers,there was probably less, the drivers who were there when I was on Overland was Norman Ingram, who I know is on here but we lost contact a long time ago and Iand when I find his username I’ll post it . There was Bill Thomas, Keith Shirley, Terry Taylor ( deceased) the great John Bland but my memory fails me on the others.Great read John !
Thats an expensive hobby chap going through 4 wives !!!
Ha ha DeanB spot on mate
It was mainly waterpumps, drive belts and air-con. I tried to explain to BRS Overland that the Marathon was not up to job and when I lived in London I drove a new Middle East spec Volvo F12 and did regular Saudi and Doha and sometimes Pakistan and driving the Middle East spec Leyand Marathon came as bit of a shock. I can remember my truck was in for a new gearbox and BRS rented a new Middle East spec Daf 2800 for me to do a Ryiad and it was like driving a Rolls Royce and did everthing a Midde Eastern truck should do. The manager explained that BRS was a nationalised company so we must drive a truck made by a nationalised company… British Leyland, no matter they where rubbish and the Volvo’s, Scania’s and Daf’s were far superior and reliable, we had to drive 'em !!
As an aside does anyone know if ex-Overland Norman Ingram is still on here and what his username is. We messaged a lot and then he just disappeared and I wondered if I had upset him x
robert1952:
Plenty of info about this TL12-powered Middle-Easter on the normal Leyland Marathon thread. Robert1
And then there’s this model…
0
LNU 133P … my truck !!!
stevejones:
0hopefully on right forum this time my cousin in saudi or iran i was passenger in this one when i was thirteen what a trip
Is that John Bland ?
