STRAIGHT EIGHT:
sad to say they have mate, getting on for 2 years ago i think, then went ERF, SO THATS IT! No more British lorries, its gone just like the rest of our industry. Dont know why they just sell the whole fxxxing country, might as well, theres nothing ‘great’ about britain anymore, all that was great was sold or closed down. Seddon,erf and foden all went for the sake of market share, its ■■■■■■■■ mate.
Hi STRAIGHT EIGHT,how right you are, I was driving Seddon’s in the 1960’s, first it was old 5 cylinder Gardener pulling wool and at times the low-loader with machinary and Fowlers bull-dozers from the factory on Hunslet Road, in Leeds, then I had an 8 wheeler with the 150 Gardner and an experimental 2 speed axle made by Seddon, but it was failed to live up to the job, it over-heated and eventually they took it out because it was costing the boss too much in down time, but it was a sad time when they let Atkinson take over, it was the start of the end of all British built lorries, if they had built cabs like they did in other countries they could have survived and sold more, instead like all British vehicle manufacturing “including Motorcycles”, they didn’t make what the public wanted, instead they expected us to buy what they made instead of the other way round like “what we needed”, and they paid the price and now we have nothing but memories and dreams of days gone by, it may have helped if we got help from the government, but that’s like asking them not to take there pay-rise in the new year of 11%, and like everything else we get nothing from them.
Keep this page and read others too because it helps some of old drivers to keep sane instead of dreaming of what could be instead. Kind Regards :-Jack Graham.
PS :- and a merry Christmas you every-one of you.
Latique:
found this old girl between Arbroath & inverkielor couple of years ago
also this was behind it can anyone identify it ?
An ex-British military AEC Militant Mk1 0859 6x4 or 0860 6x6 Lorry,1951-1962.
VALKYRIE
ta muchly
Latique the Atkinson shown was owned by a company called Central Motors in Calderbank in Lanarkshire , and they also ran the Atkinson dealership at Carlisle Road Airdrie Lanarkshire after Atkinson moved on , the dealership is still run by Central Motors and are now Iveco agents and the company under control of the Currie family .
Flyingrabbit:
Hi heres a picture of my first motor when I started my Company in 1983 a 1977 Seddon Atkinson ■■■■ Matthew R J Matthew Transport (Sittingbourne Kent)
This is a shot of the first two Sed/Atks we bought,both day cabs,240LXB engine,Fuller 9509 box and Seddon Group drive axle,we ran them on double shift all their time on the fleet,nights to Daventry and back and locals within 100 miles on days.
I hope that Bill Clowes will not mind me putting this pic up, he is an Ex Tilcon driver himself! My first truck was the sister one to this (GWJ 823 V) and was four years old when I got it, Gardner 201 and Fuller 8 speed + crawler, and I had it for two years until it was sold. Tilcon had a six year replacement policy, one of the ‘top driver’s’ would have a new truck and after three years it would then get handed down to a more junior member when the original driver would then get another new one. The one in the photo was driven from new by Henry Cope from Uttoxeter, when Henry passed away it went to the Late Colin Critchlow from Weston Coyney, S-O-T and worked from Tilcon’s Kevin Quarry in Staffordshire.
Funnily enough both my truck and this were later sold to the same customer in the Buxton area and the tale went that he took mine for test in the morning and when it passed OK he swapped all the plates over and then took the same truck back again in the afternoon, with its different ID of course! How true that is might be open to conjecture!
Eleven good brands and not a SINGLE left. I find that strange. I suffer with you because I believe that some of the English brands were good. The problem is that when other brands bought up some of the most prestigious brands also had the control and the power to decide on its fate. If any of the English lorries threatened the parent company’s trucks, I think that the English brands were deleted.
The English government did not take any of the English brands under its umbrella? Here in Sweden we had a parallel to SAAB and there were those who wanted the government to intervene. They declined and it went to hell. The Chinese bought it like everything else they do.
It is danger Because Americans are boycotting cars that are in the Chinese owned. Just look at Volovs cars. The sooner such good sales in the U.S. declined, and other marks passed by Volvo. If there is a 100% boycott, it could mean that one brand may close for good.
OR is it me . 
