I worked nights for WBS running out of Surrey docks to Toddington twice every night to meet two drivers from Manchester and swap trailers. Mostly containers. The Marathon was a flying machine that easily exceeded 65mph. On summer's night ,with the window open, the power train seemed to sing as we raced through the deserted London streets.
Cracking video, i drove one for Male & Son in 1988/89 ADH 585 S, sleeper, great motor, also had a few more Marathons, remember KEA 467 V, she would do 75 mph, glad to be able to say i drove one
Reminds me of being a boy in the mid 70's/early 80's when most of the trucks we dreamed of driving when we grew up were British - Scammell, Foden, ERF, Seddon Atkinson were regulars where my mum ran a warehouse and I'd get to sit in the cab pretending to drive while they unloaded by hand.
Marathon, a much better truck than given credit for! Those of W.B.S certainly proved their worth. (most had Cummins or Rolls, but the TL 12 was a strong puller).
hi, i worked at AEC ltd where the marathon was made, it was up to the customer what engine he wanted, we sold more vehicles with the AEC TL12 engines. the rolls royce eagle diesel was 220 bhp and the cummins NHCwas 250 bhp,, the mk2 was better than the mk1 because the braking system was improved ,because we were part of leyland we were not allowed to put an AEC badge on the front.
I'm sorry past my class one in 1980 and drove a leyland marathon a absolutely rubbish truck at least the leyland buffalo flew until the engine went bang
I'm proud to say I drove a Layland Marathon, A big cab in its day, export cab, plenty of room inside, no great padding by today's standard so probably a little noisy compared to today but quieter than a lot of the brits I've driven, a big airy sleeper, but that maybe because there was only one bed, for such a big cab what a small steering wheel, A 250 Cummins, not the biggest but adequate for what I hauled at 32tons. Thanks for the photos and the memories.
,hi, i worked at AEC, the mk1 was a death trap as the foot valve was in the centre of the chassis and between the brake pedal and the foot valve there was a cable and that used to stretch after a certain amount of time, thats why the clowns came up with the mk2 with the foot valve underneath the brake pedal, but our TL12 engine was very good, as was our av505/av760 engines, the av 1100 was available to order,as we were part of BL were not allowed to put AEC on the front panel
This is a brilliant video, loved every second of it. My Brother had a Marathon with a Rolls Royce engine and he swore by it. It replaced an AEC Mammoth Major that was a tough old girl and what sweet music that AV760 could make.
I remember hearing the marathon throttling along the m1 at night, the back axle howling away. Great memories. Always preferred the rolls Royce to the Leyland.
Like British Leyland cars the downfall of the company was the poor quality designs. Vehicles had no style, and often looked like several ‘designers’ did their own bits and hoped it would all look good when it was cobbled together. Sorry, but true.
I also drove the marathon for Males and son (tippers). They had it hooked up to a really old low loader, had to jack the rear up to roll the running gear off then lower it to drive the drot on then Jack it back up to roll the wheels back onto the stubs. They were held on by a big nut and a washer and some wire to stop the nut working its way off. Males and Son's Ltd at Pensnet near Dudley closed not long after one of the brothers got trapped under the body of one of they're tippers. He'd raised it then used a ladder to get up to tie it to the roof trusses with hand chain , of all things. Chain broke and he lived about 6 weeks after the accident.
Great photos, takes me back to 1979-1980 I was driving for Unger Meats in Manchester at the time, from memory it had a 290 Cummings.... great memories.
I think the Marathon divided opinion,some thinking it was a great late British truck,others thinking it was a breakdown waiting happen.My experience it was it was a good bit of kit. Much better looking with Middle East spec cab
Do you have any pictures of Oxenline Transport Cheltenham or Charles Russell. Keep up the great work, oddly enough a lot of your postings has been my generation. Thanks.
I worked for WBS transport at Surrey Docks and King George V Docks, in the vehicle workshops. Most of the Marathons were day cab, although there were a number of sleeper cabs. Marathon 2 was an improvement over Earlier models, and by and large was a good truck to drive, maintain, and was a lower cost alternative to premium brands such as Scania, Volvo, MAN etc. Cummins 250 was most popular engine fitted, but Rolls Royce 265 more desirable with drivers, or the Leyland TL12 which was a great puller but did not have same reliability as the others.
Hi Peter, can’t disagree with you regarding the engine being an AEC design. I believe the TL12 was born following the development of the AV760 naturally aspirated engine, that led to the turbocharged TL12 unit used in the Marathon. I may have been a bit unfair re reliability, but for some reason I recall a few cases of head gasket problems, but these were only a few in a sizeable fleet I was working with. The Leyland Marathons WBS operated did not have the RR Eagle 220 engine, as I understand this was non turbo. It was the RR Eagle 265 turbocharged engine WBS had in the early 1980s.
Unispeed (Birds Eye), BOC Transhield, G.L Baker, Neale and Buxted Poultry are some of the other firms who operated Marathons in the late 70s. Pity there's no Spanish reg'd ones shown though.
@@truckinghistorymydiecastco5274 Also is there a video on Bedford TMs? also what would be good if anyone has them are videos of trucks at Zeebrugge ferry port in the 1980s
I worked nights for WBS running out of Surrey docks to Toddington twice every night to meet two drivers from Manchester and swap trailers. Mostly containers. The Marathon was a flying machine that easily exceeded 65mph. On summer's night ,with the window open, the power train seemed to sing as we raced through the deserted London streets.
Cracking video, i drove one for Male & Son in 1988/89 ADH 585 S, sleeper, great motor, also had a few more Marathons, remember KEA 467 V, she would do 75 mph, glad to be able to say i drove one
Reminds me of being a boy in the mid 70's/early 80's when most of the trucks we dreamed of driving when we grew up were British - Scammell, Foden, ERF, Seddon Atkinson were regulars where my mum ran a warehouse and I'd get to sit in the cab pretending to drive while they unloaded by hand.
Brilliant 👍🏼🇬🇧🇬🇧
Some fantastic trucks there, keep up the great work👏
Marathon, a much better truck than given credit for! Those of W.B.S certainly proved their worth. (most had Cummins or Rolls, but the TL 12 was a strong puller).
hi, i worked at AEC ltd where the marathon was made, it was up to the customer what engine he wanted, we sold more vehicles with the AEC TL12 engines. the rolls royce eagle diesel was 220 bhp and the cummins NHCwas 250 bhp,, the mk2 was better than the mk1 because the braking system was improved ,because we were part of leyland we were not allowed to put an AEC badge on the front.
Good old days, sheets and Rope, No Power steering, the years my Dad did sheet and Roping
Star autos marathon is also the pickfords one,sold to star to be made into a wrecker
I'm sorry past my class one in 1980 and drove a leyland marathon a absolutely rubbish truck at least the leyland buffalo flew until the engine went bang
I'm proud to say I drove a Layland Marathon, A big cab in its day, export cab, plenty of room inside, no great padding by today's standard so probably a little noisy compared to today but quieter than
a lot of the brits I've driven, a big airy sleeper, but that maybe because there was only one bed, for such a big cab what a small steering wheel, A 250 Cummins, not the biggest but adequate for
what I hauled at 32tons. Thanks for the photos and the memories.
I loved my Marathon, it far out performed the F10's that replaced it.
,hi, i worked at AEC, the mk1 was a death trap as the foot valve was in the centre of the chassis and between the brake pedal and the foot valve there was a cable and that used to stretch after a certain amount of time, thats why the clowns came up with the mk2 with the foot valve underneath the brake pedal, but our TL12 engine was very good, as was our av505/av760 engines, the av 1100 was available to order,as we were part of BL were not allowed to put AEC on the front panel
This is a brilliant video, loved every second of it. My Brother had a Marathon with a Rolls Royce engine and he swore by it. It replaced an AEC Mammoth Major that was a tough old girl and what sweet music that AV760 could make.
Thank you and thanks for sharing your memories Philip
I remember hearing the marathon throttling along the m1 at night, the back axle howling away. Great memories. Always preferred the rolls Royce to the Leyland.
Why did trucks back then have red painted rims?
Proud to say I’m from and still live in Leyland
2:37 A&A 👍🏼👍🏼
Like British Leyland cars the downfall of the company was the poor quality designs. Vehicles had no style, and often looked like several ‘designers’ did their own bits and hoped it would all look good when it was cobbled together. Sorry, but true.
nice , interesting to see a Dutchman owning a Leyland ( 3.38 ) and nice to see a Bedford Km as well .( 2,32
I also drove the marathon for Males and son (tippers). They had it hooked up to a really old low loader, had to jack the rear up to roll the running gear off then lower it to drive the drot on then Jack it back up to roll the wheels back onto the stubs. They were held on by a big nut and a washer and some wire to stop the nut working its way off. Males and Son's Ltd at Pensnet near Dudley closed not long after one of the brothers got trapped under the body of one of they're tippers. He'd raised it then used a ladder to get up to tie it to the roof trusses with hand chain , of all things.
Chain broke and he lived about 6 weeks after the accident.
Marathon mania - awesome lad
Great photos, takes me back to 1979-1980 I was driving for Unger Meats in Manchester at the time, from memory it had a 290 Cummings.... great memories.
I think the Marathon divided opinion,some thinking it was a great late British truck,others thinking it was a breakdown waiting happen.My experience it was it was a good bit of kit. Much better looking with Middle East spec cab
Do you have any pictures of Oxenline Transport Cheltenham or Charles Russell. Keep up the great work, oddly enough a lot of your postings has been my generation. Thanks.
Glad your injoying the channel 👍 ☺️
They were never common considering they were in production for 10 years. Nice though!
I worked for WBS transport at Surrey Docks and King George V Docks, in the vehicle workshops. Most of the Marathons were day cab, although there were a number of sleeper cabs. Marathon 2 was an improvement over Earlier models, and by and large was a good truck to drive, maintain, and was a lower cost alternative to premium brands such as Scania, Volvo, MAN etc. Cummins 250 was most popular engine fitted, but Rolls Royce 265 more desirable with drivers, or the Leyland TL12 which was a great puller but did not have same reliability as the others.
hi, i worked at AEC and the TL12 was our engine not leylands, it was just as reliable as the the others. the RR engine was the eagle 220bhp engine
Hi Peter, can’t disagree with you regarding the engine being an AEC design. I believe the TL12 was born following the development of the AV760 naturally aspirated engine, that led to the turbocharged TL12 unit used in the Marathon. I may have been a bit unfair re reliability, but for some reason I recall a few cases of head gasket problems, but these were only a few in a sizeable fleet I was working with. The Leyland Marathons WBS operated did not have the RR Eagle 220 engine, as I understand this was non turbo. It was the RR Eagle 265 turbocharged engine WBS had in the early 1980s.
Brilliant video,my Dad drove for P.J.Butler for over 20yrs and had many a Marathon.
Loved every minute I could get away with him in them…
You could call that a Marathon Marathon
Unispeed (Birds Eye), BOC Transhield, G.L Baker, Neale and Buxted Poultry are some of the other firms who operated Marathons in the late 70s. Pity there's no Spanish reg'd ones shown though.
See what I can do, Michael
@@truckinghistorymydiecastco5274 Also is there a video on Bedford TMs? also what would be good if anyone has them are videos of trucks at Zeebrugge ferry port in the 1980s
Can you do ULS next please mate love the vids
Brilliant mate 👏
Thank you Andrew