Carryfast they did indeed have one eith a ■■■■■■■■■■ reiterate when Williams Hudson whose HQ was Dagenham Dock which they also owned were bought by that asset stripping get Tiny Rowlands all their tractors trailers and those from their Birmingham depot came to Springfields Transports depot in Trafford Park Manchester who were owned by the Williams Hudson Group this included countless warehouses all owned by Springfield.By whatever means definitely foul not fair most of the vehicles and trailers which had not been sold via the back door ended up at acertain dealer ■■■ scrapyard in Bolton.Amongst these jewels was 00G983G with the RR and OOG980G with the ■■■■■■■■ We bought the Roller and a guy called Billy Aspin the ■■■■■■■■■■■■ was in 1976. God alone knows how much these crooks made from these very suspect deals. There was a lot of equipment involved Scania 110s LB76s Atkis ,ERFs AECs you name it depots closed warehouses sold men out of work some with over 30 years service in all in the name of the eternal profit. How do i know this, idrove for Springys for 7 years and left in 1974 to set up on me own with me brothers . I d seen the writing on the wall. A good old moan this Afew got rich at the expence of the many. Regards to all especially old Springfield and Sammy Williams drivers. Crow.Sorry should have been Gingerfold.
I don’t do mousetraps!
I have a lot to owe for the rolly poley eagle because if they had been as relialble as the ■■■■■■■ engined vehicles we had
on H.T.S/Sampsons I would not have earned all my overtime pay to have left and started on my own so… Thanks Eagle diesel lol
Greetings All.I had a Seddon-Atkinson 401 with the Rolls Royce Eagle 265 engine when working for Shell.It never broke down and pulled like a train.Spicer splitter box-perfect for the job. Nearly all our Trunkers had the same engine and they all did well.I liked it,nice to drive too.Regards,900x20. 
in finland the roller(and leyland) in sisus where some times replaced whit scania DS11,s 
cheers benkku
We had quite a few Sed Ak’s with the 265 which proved to be very reliable, light on fuel and real good pullers , unfortunately the Seddon hub reduction axle could never stick the pace !
I drove a few rolls engined wagons especially the Scammell Crusaders 220 but mostly 280 and never had much problem one I had I hung onto and turned down new ones as PCX 832 M had a lower geared back end it would do 66 mph whereas most of the others would do around 75 mph but it did not get passed much on hills and was pretty decent on fuel for the time as I usually got around 7mpg and did as much work as the other wagons and I cannot recall much down time with it but I always drove with a bit to spare as it was more comfortable.
cheers Johnnie. 
P S a fair amount of the mileage was over the water which was running at 50
I can only go by what I drove during the 70’s early 80’s and can honestly say the RR Eagle, ■■■■■■■ 220/250/290, perkins V8 and 6354 never ever let me down, the same cannot be said of the Gardner 180, 1977 dropped piston in Newport Salop, 1978 fuel pump shook it’s self to bit’s, coming down to Tebay, both times needing a tow home, now I’m sure lot of drivers really like them, but for the life of me I don’t know why.
I used to drive a Roadtrain 2034, with the Eagle in it, it went well, but also spent a lot of time in the workshops if i remember correctly… I prefered the 2032 with the ■■■■■■■ in…
Jerry
Wasnt the bloke who designed the Eagle from AEC i think Gingerfold mentioned this and it was similar to the AV760
Its not unusual no not Tom Jones for every one to have their favourite motor although I coudnt fault the RR in that Scania that we had it was far outclassed by the TD 120a in the 89s that we later bought. This precluder for all the later big HP motors was in aclass of its own. Its nearest rival was the Scania 140 more HP but not as good. Apart from ■■■■■■■ ive no experience of Yankee engines and never had the desire to drive something with 10 ft of bonnet thats hood if youre a yank infront of me or a hotel welded on the back. How on earth did we manage with the tiny Volvo sleeper which was 4 inches longer than a non sleeper Scania either its because we re tough or we didn t know any better, Sweet dreams.Crow.
Evening Gentlemen, Rolls Diesels, an emotive brand! You either like them, or loath them!
Shrewsburys largest employer in 79, 3600 employees. Then in 79, due to a change in their clients national management, they lost the engine business for Irans tanks. 81, still Shrewsburys biggest employer, 2000 on the payroll. By 1984, when Vickers shareholders made 2million profit by selling Rolls Diesels to Massey Ferguson owned Perkins, for 17.4 million, it was still Shrewsburys biggest employer, 1300 on the payroll. Now the site is a Morrison Supermarket, and housing, it is not Shrewsburys biggest employer!! Sort of a British national trend is it not?
My first personal experience of Rolls Royces diesel engine, (and one of which I am to this day ashamed), was back in 1970 when I sold an operator a Rolls powered Mk 2 Atkinson, (ZFAK680, 6speed, Kirkstall double reduction, 9ft 6in WB), at full list price. The problems that my client experienced, exasapated by the rediculous warranty procedures of Atkinson themselves, were manifold, and caused him great inconvenience.
From then on I concentrated my efforts upon Mr ■■■■■■■ rather fine products, that is untill upon the scene burst Seddons 32.220 Rolls
powered tractor. 10speed Fuller, Kysor radiator shutter, Group axle, Motor Panels cab, and a bouncy throttle that made even the most sensible driver sound like a cowboy! And it was the tractor that we were encouraged to sell…So off I went to make my fortune selling Volvos! But I believe some operators ran these lorries quite succesfully, but as Bewick has mentioned, cheap and (not) cheerfull, seemed to sum up the overall sum of potentially quite a reasonable specification.
Yet by 81 Rolls had 30% of the “loose engine” market above 28tonnes GTW. A potentially lucerative deal with Mexico`s Motoequipos, engine manufacturer, and Yugoslavias Masinskaja Construction equipment manufacturer as main power unit supplier.
But I was away from the UK,and far from Rolls engines, but without any warning up popped a real dark horse, in the shape of one of our SM340 chassis cabs, fitted with a Rolls Eagle @320hp, and 9speed Fuller transmission. Rolls had funded the whole operation themselves, purchasing the chassis cab ex our development engineering department. Engineering, (very well), the installation, and presenting it back to “us”. The combination of the comfortable and quiet Saviem cab, the low chassis weight, (the Eagle weighed only 1000kgs), and a “quick” transmission produced a winning combination. Operators who tried it , well they loved it, and it was remarkably economic. The potential of this combination was never to be realised, as our marriage with Berliet was just around the corner, but the engines reputation for both power, and economy spread throughout France.
Leyland France, had struggled, with an inadequate Dealer Network, to sell Marathons into France. 1982 Roger Dougherty was appointed MD by Leyland. He knew from the UK market the importance of establishing a credible Dealer Network to support the product. And the Roadtrain for France was arguably a better product than that offered in the UK. 13tonne SOMA axle, Fuller Transmission, and the Rolls Eagle 290. Le Camion Rolls Royce was featured heavily in the French Trade press. Road test results were positive, the engines reputation good, (no baggage like in the UK). The 1983 Le Mans truck race saw the launch of the French instigated, charge cooled 350 Rolls Roadtrain, and French hauliers liked it!! The Dealer “sort out” following our merger with Berliet enabled Leyland France to pick up some usefull outlets, (why is it when networks merge invariably the best dealers loose out), for a UK example, Bill Beadnells DAF dealership, North East van and truck, (but DAFs loss, was Ivecos gain)! Sadly the UK Governments gift of Leyland to DAF meant the end of Leyland France, in favour of DAFs French operation, and Roger Dougherty went off to Spain to join other (good) ex Leyland men at ENASA.
1984 saw Perkins, via its parent Massey Ferguson, take control of the Shrewsbury Eagles. The use of the name Rolls Royce was only allowed up to1988. So the Perkins Eagle was born. Quality was improved, particularly with bought in components, the Eagle range dovetailed perfectly with Perkins road diesels. 1984 Shrewsbury produced 1800 Eagles for the UK market alone. Perkins knocked at RVIs door to try to get the Eagle into our tractors. But again the politics of merger got in the way, as Renault was now struggling with far too many production sites in France, plus Spain and Dodges Dunstable, to even contemplate an option outside of Venisseuxs produced 12litre and 16litre engines. And sadly we all know what happened to the UK assemblers over the next decade!!
So my personal feelings about Rolls/Perkins Eagles are a bit like the curates egg, good in parts! (particularly the last ones)! Cheerio for now.
And another …“what if”…Paul Gardner had persuaded the rest of his family to buy the Shrewsbury engine factory when RR went bankrupt in the early 1970s.
gingerfold:
And another …“what if”…Paul Gardner had persuaded the rest of his family to buy the Shrewsbury engine factory when RR went bankrupt in the early 1970s.
IMHO the game was up at Gardners when they tried,unsuccessfully,to turbocharge their engines in an attempt to compete,at last,with the likes of Scania and Volvo.Sadly,at the same time,the main users of Gardners,ERF,Sed/Atk were shrinking and losing ground as well.A perfect storm I believe if that is the correct description ! Cheers Bewick.
great engine we had the 265 li the 300tx 335 and the 375 never no trouble the 265 li was bullet proof they ran from 1985 to 1999 with out no mager problams
bradfordlad9999:
great engine we had the 265 li the 300tx 335 and the 375 never no trouble the 265 li was bullet proof they ran from 1985 to 1999 with out no mager problams
It appears that some companies had a trouble free experience with them, as we did, and others suffered problems which I guess can be said about every make of lorry and every make and type of engine. One operator will praise them and the next will tell a different tale, just down to the luck of the draw I suppose? Funny old world aint it! 
Pete.
windrush:
bradfordlad9999:
great engine we had the 265 li the 300tx 335 and the 375 never no trouble the 265 li was bullet proof they ran from 1985 to 1999 with out no mager problamsIt appears that some companies had a trouble free experience with them, as we did, and others suffered problems which I guess can be said about every make of lorry and every make and type of engine. One operator will praise them and the next will tell a different tale, just down to the luck of the draw I suppose? Funny old world aint it!
Pete.
An excellent point made. There was always a rogue engine / lorry from every manufacturer. Plus factor in differing driving styles, driver abuse or non-abuse, servicing schedules, frequency of oil and filter changes etc. etc. I can recall some drivers who would start an engine from cold and keep their foot flat to the board as soon as it fired revving at maximum. Others would let a cold engine fire and immediately it did so ease right back on the accelerator. Which engine would be in better condition after 250,000 miles? I’ve driven identical lorries of the same age in the same fleet and they have performed completely differently.
A further excellent point. Not on thread, but just compare the experience of driving a Fuller with a poor linkage or one that has been abused and suffered damaged the dog clutches, with a nice one.
al lorries are individuals ,like women,s you have to learn and listen to get along whit them.we have to sxxxxa of same year and they are total different in brakes,chlutch ,shifting and to drive, all other same spec,thought one is L one G series
bma.finland:
al lorries are individuals ,like women,s you have to learn and listen to get along whit them.we have to sxxxxa of same year and they are total different in brakes,chlutch ,shifting and to drive, all other same spec,thought one is L one G series
Are you sure the two sxxxa’s aren’t a Male and a female reindeer bma.,sounds like they could be to me so they will be very different !! hej benkku Dennis.