BRS, who I worked for, ran a lot of Sed Akkies, up until BRS was dissolved. They were great quality trucks to drive, and I would have listed them in the top bracket. 😁👍🏼
My dad used to be a truck mechanic, and used to help maintain the Leyland truck fleet of the now long-gone Homepride (later Sunblest) Cambridge Bakery. When that closed down he went to work for Frederic Smart & Son Corn and Seed Merchants in the village of Whittlesford (they operated out of Whittlesford Mill) south of Cambridge, helping to keep their small fleet of ERF trucks on the road.
Nice compilation… I always loved the Albion ‘sunrise’ radiator badge, a beautiful piece of design! Have fond memories of driving a Bedford TK truck for ITN news, it was their multi camera Outside Broadcast vehicle, very reliable & handsome in its two tone blue & white (with yellow waistband!) livery it was too!
@@bernardrandles8013 They made trucks too, including the BigJ series. I learned to drive artics on one of them. They were still in production up to about 1978. The Warrior was also a truck, and a predecessor of the Big J series.
As a commercial mechanic it's a real shame to see so many failed truck builders and now dennis have shut down in my town of Guildford where they first opened up a factory and we have the first assembly line car factory in the U K the rodborough buildings now a witherspoon .
Great brands. In Pakistan they still like the Bedford J, they place wooden bodies on them so they have flex for their rough roads. And Leyland is still going strong in India I believe, known as Ashok Leyland. A bit like the Royal Enfield, the Indians don't give up a good thing easily.
hi there.i worked at AEC LTD. southall, a very sad day on the last day, for some AEC was a way of life. a great social club in the middle of the golden triangle.but we knew this was coming when in 1977 we were told we might have 2 years left. Thornycroft went first then us then Scammell motors, a few staff were kept on to complete orders and check the chassis cabs. Foden took over the army orders,
Yes, it's a sad day when the factory closes, I experienced the same situation when working with Caterpillar Tractors on the outskirts of Glasgow. Although an American company, the factory had been there for 30 years employing local workers..I managed to get work with Hoover Floorcare for 16 years, before they closed after 57 years production.
It was a sad loss for a respected marque that made everything mechanical in the one place, engine, gearboxes, axles, chassis, suspension all in London. No outsourcing engines from elsewhere. The Japanese truck and bus makers believe the heart of their products are their engine, hence why they resist outsourcing to vendor engine makers such as Cummins, Detroit Diesel or Caterpillar, and persist with their own very reliable highly tested power plants despite difficulties meeting emission regs. If only Britain had that luxury of having a commercial vehicle builder with that philosophy.
Hello Peter, I was an Apprentice Mechanic at AECs Bristol, Arlingtons Victoria St, and stood in Awe at the first tilt cab, about 1967/68, so much easier to work on, except the dry liners when the pistons kept “ picking up “
@@exb.r.buckeyeman845 hi. i did my apprenticeship at AEC 1969-1974 then went in to chassis finishing till the end which was may 1979, great days at the golden triangle
I have just realised , the makers of this video have forgotten to include the main truck of the 60's , the main choice of long distance hauliers and the most recognisable . What a disgrace ..... The Seddon Atkinson . !!!! The borderer and the viewline were the most common sight on all motorways . Know as the big A . and powered by the imortal Gardner 180 or Cummings varients .
I remember in the early(ish) 1970s as a schoolboy, (about 13/14) working in the holidays helping a friend of mine clean newly assembled ERF truck chassis in Auckland New Zealand.
Scammel Crusade..took my HGV 1 Test in one of those..ASMT Leconfield 1980... Beautiful motor..managed to get an ERF Twin split in the 90s..another fabulous motor
I worked on AECs in Bristol, the problem was all our Commercials were normally aspirated, no one did a turbo, so we went under, just like motor bike industry.
The question is why… why didn’t the industry move on? I know Land Rover had this problem in the 80s and the naturally aspirated Diesel engines they built were very reliable and worked well under most conditions but were very underpowered! Land Rover thought they could bolt a turbo on the 2.5 NA and that would sort the problem but the engines were very unreliable with cracked pistons and cracked heads… it wasn’t until early 90s when the defender had a true reliable turbo diesel with the 200tdi but by that time the world had moved on yet again! The British vehicle manufacturers always tended to try and cure the problem too late…to me being the suspicious old bastard that I am really makes me wonder why… personally I think it was all part of the denationalisation of the UK.
I remember everyone of those makes and most of the models, it’s a dam shame they were incorporated into EU brands, there were many more not mentioned but that would’ve taken it over the ten, but thanks for reviving memories
Ah yes let's blame the EU for our own fuckin incompetence. Much easier than sorting ourselves out. The problems are very serious and deep rooted and certainly can't be sorted by blaming everybody else. If we can't compete at a global level in today's real world we go bust.
@@TheLRider Was just going to say that myself..looking at the attitudes of British manufacturers back then- we've not one to blame for the demise of a truly world wide industry than ourselves
I am not really into trucks , but you have got to admit these older models have style , they make you stop and admire them , not like the modern machines you see one you keep on walking .
Leyland Trucks are still going strong! Albeit owned, along with DAF, by an American truck builder. All RHD DAF badged trucks are built by Leyland and they even export to Australia.
I know that Dennis is still going strong as Dennis Eagle who specialise in making waste collection vehicles for local authorities etc including battery powered models and are based in Warwick and have a plant in the USA too.. So not all is lost but far too much has been, how did we manage to screw things up so badly?
Sadly Dennis Eagle is actually owned by the Terberg group, Netherlands and Spanish companies merger. So only using UK for assembly, so another Classic British manufacturer lost to the EU.
@@danielhanney3326 I worked in the automotive industry for over 35 years and understand how competitive the industries are. Each company/plant have to compete in terms of profitability and productivity and quality etc etc. Well done Denis Eagle therefore for being competitive enough to keep its operation going in Warwick. Sadly so many others have failed to be that competitive. Companies will move to the most profitable locations and that takes account of Govt support/funding/grants etc. So I'll leave it with you to suss that out.
@@petermorris3665 In my experience union's only get militant when their members are not treated as team members. If you look at France/Italy where Stelantis is a massive company or Germany where Unions are members of works councils I think illustrates that fact. I really do think that our outdated divide and rule class system creates serious problems for us as a country. It suits some that way ofcourse and they think that's the only way to manage people. Some companies in the UK have cracked it most notably Bentley who have been voted Employer of choice for about the last 10 years.
very sorry but i would put atkinson in and bedford out. as a kid i would go with my mates dad in an atkinson borderer with a 240 gardner under the bonnet. it would pull a house down.
I used to go with my late brother in an Atkinson/Gardner pulling steel from Sheffield in the 60s. Couple of years later I was in sales for a dealer carrying another old brand, Seddon. Never sold even one :)
Some Albions had AEC motors and Some Bedfords were Leyland powered as well as Scammel. Late survivors like Erf and Dennis ended up mechanically generic with American sourced drive lines.
You will note these timelines have a lot in common the 1960/70/80s when industrial action by the unions for the most trivial reasons was rife in this country. So all these wistful comments on the demise of the British truck industry is somewhat hollow as it was partly self inflicted. The later ones ERF/Fodens were under that bastion of a government that did nothing to support manufacturing - New Labour when the % of manufacturing plummeted for what were hardly the halcyon days of the 1980s.
The trade unions weren't responsible for the economic policies of successive governments, Thatcher murdered manufacturing in the 80s/90s in favour of the financial sector , if a country isn't making stuff then it doesn't need wagons to transport it .
The 1963 Albion Reiver and 1958 Leyland Super Comet are identical. I had to switch the sound off because off the iritating thumping, but otherwise I enjoyed the video.
Sorry Bill, they aren’t. They have different cabs; the Leyland has the short door version of the LAD cab into which the driver had to climb onto the wheel tong
As a transport refrigeration engineer, I used to go to the Foden factory in Sandbach to commission the air conditioning units on new trucks. I loved going there.....watching them build those beautiful vehicles. The Commer two stroke diesels....what a fabulous noise they made! (n.b. The Bedford TK shown has a K registration: 1972, not '82.)
My late father worked for associated lead in chester for 34 years as a truck driver, the drivers had to work once a month each on a Saturday morning to clean the trucks and get the ones loaded that were on the longer trips for the Monday morning, so that they could leave just after 8am, any way it was in the sixties and my dad had at the time a Bedford TK and he was cleaning the engine down with a small paint tin of paraffin and brush, unfortunately it flashed and went on fire along with my dad, however building work was in process on site and he had the sense to roll in the sand to extinguish the fire on himself, he sustained 3rd degree burns on some parts of his body in particular his throat which resulted him having skin grafts taken from his thighs, he spent over 4 months in what was then chester royal infirmary, I was 9 years old, but 60 years on I remember it quite vividly as you have mentioned the said TK, but not a problem or issue sometimes It's nice to be kicked back to our past and memories either good bad or indifferent 👍👍
Great informative video, didn’t Leyland trucks continue after 1968 eventually it become leyland daf fir a while then the leyland name quietly dropped then all trucks become DAF, regards mark
Your correct, its still called Leyland trucks, just they put all the dafs together you see on British roads and lots of 45/ 55 left hand drive export. They also built the badge engineered kenworths sent to Australia. The last foden was built there in 2006, its a yellow cab 8 wheel chassis, its in the commercial vehicle museum in King Street Leyland. Ldv was the van side which split years back an went to Birmingham. I drove for daf taking parts from Holland to Leyland. Our whole town is about trucks, the market is in the old northworks and the bus devision is now under a housing estate and a Morrisons plus other shops. Very sad.
@@michaelbamber4887 , hi , thanks for reply, ldv was also bought by a Russian owner but went broke and Uk government was not interested, the factory ldv was based was originally the Wolseleys was built many years ago . Regards mark
How ERF must have wished they never claped eyes on MAN Shortsightedness of the ERF management with an unhelpful government means that companies that could one day make money and provide work for the nation are lost forever . And now with Brexit, ERF would have had order books bulging . Same goes for Rover , LDV, and many more .
UK needs to revive it's aviation and motor industries by teaming up with none European and American companies. The wealth of knowledge and most manufacturing shifted to the rest of Europe and in return the Europeans and Americans made London a world financial centre but this is not the case anymore.
As a non-truck person I was amazed at how many of these companies I knew. Dennis, ERF I there're still about. Quite sad actually Dennis making Fire Engines. What happened?
The only British trucks still in use are those used by the showmen on the funfairs, mainly ERF and Fodens but these are slowly being replaced with modern foreign lorries, so many truck builders in this country and now all gone!
These industries cannot survive if the political will is not there to help them. No industry can survive anywhere unless politics is on the same side. Sadly the UK is full on neoliberal which is open yer legs to get raped by every corporation on the planet mindset. Free trade often means allowing the vultures to circle and pick off all the assets of any value and dispose the rest. If a country that builds air-craft gets access to the UK market and that country heavily subsidises that air-craft manufactufer then the UK manufacturers will be at an instant disadvantage. The UK Government mantra after Thatcher was sink or swim, coupled with bat shit crazy unionism and out of touch management meant our industry sank. I was born in 1980, but looking at history the 70's was a turbulent time with the UK still in a class war after WW2. A lot of attitudes of workers in the 70's appeared to be stinking, I unserstand that not all were like this but it only takes a handful of rotten apples to spoil everything. Being from Scotland I call the attitude of blokes of a certain age group; 70's Scotsman syndrome. Which involves acting like a pigeon chested hardman, arguing with yer own shadow, manipulative and passive aggressive behaviour, and a fuck you I'm number 1 attitude. No wonder heavy industry fled Scotland in the 70's and early 80's, I worked with Blokes from this era in the early 90's as an apprentice and thought I had gone back to Primary School, the behaviour was shocking. A lot of the issue is management, apathy and piss poor worker attitude and failing to modernise. If I owned a manufacturing business I would not set up in the UK, there are great hard working people here , but this country has too many destructive, difficult to deal with vindictive types in its ranks that would destroy yer business over night. I know, I have had to work with them 😣.
@@simongee8928 one thing for definite an awful lot of uk based companies, that were stable in the 60s/70s have either been taken over and closed down or manufacturing in Europe the lucky few are still producing in the United Kingdom but under their European overlords, I’ve seen far too many companies disappear.
Some would say what a load of rubbish,But compare to what a all of the continentals were driving these were ALL top of the range the best of british,We were leading the continent,,We all know the volvo 86 came along,but the engins of most came from the UK designed Should be a government dept to fund the upkeep of all our makes
Back in 1973, an artic arrived, the make I can't recall, but it had a Rolls Royce Eagle diesel engine. I said to the driver that must be something, but he responded that the injectors were rubbish and constantly gave trouble. Hmm. 😐
@@simongee8928 It could have been a Seddon Atkinson , they were powered by the RR eagle, but I was driving them in the later sixties for a paint manufacturer, they had a twelve speed gearbox.
@@ronniesimpson9141 I did like the AEC range. I kept the AEC badge from the engine rocker cover for some years, but list it when I was divorced. 🤥 I did get my hands on an ERF with a big Cummins engine for a while. That was a beast - ! 😄
Well I’m a big Volvo truck fan but love my British vehicles… surly a county like ours who have been behind so many brilliant inventions and creations could have made trucks just as good or even better than the truck manufactures across the water! It’s almost like somebody was trying to denationalise our country!!! Good job we still build ships, motorbikes and our legendary Land Rover Defender! Shit, thats all gone as well….
Pill Sharks .you are right about all them jobs. France has huge shipbuilding , there own car makers , there own train makers , there own plane makers . A real shame in my life all these jobs are done away from Britain . 🙁
@@rundt7605 I was talking with a bloke who grew up in Leslie street, Wallsend. If you look online there’s a famous photo of a esso tanker at the end of the street..it’s an amazing photo! He was saying when he was a lad it was thriving industry with things happening everywhere you looked and everyone was employed around ship building.. my area also had a dry dock (not the same industry as the Tyne area) and exactly the same thing happened…it was strange to share our stories of the ship industry in completely different parts of the country which ended up going the exact same way as each other…bloody disgusting!
@@PillSharks yes but times change.and so does design. In everything. What works from 1810 that would work today .a horse outrun a scania truck.if you don't change quick enough you get left behind.and if you change too quickly you get left behind.timing is everything.
@@raymondsawyer8626 Well I think you'd have to think that there was a strategic decision taken back then to "withdraw" from the Manufacturing and Engineering sectors except the defence industries, and everything was sold off to US, European, or Japanese companies and once you do that all major decisions are exported too. Added bonus to the Tory party of a massive reduction in paid up trade union membership which I think was the main factor driving the decision..Add to that that the Japanese and Europeans still build cars in the UK quite successfully hints that a change of management accounts for some of that success, The labour force is still largely from the UK.
Leyland bought Albion and used their heavier chassis designs (six and eight wheel), as a cost cutting measure Albion trucks were fitted with Leyland cabs.
@@dcanmore The Kew dodge ( the 300 series I think it was)around the same area used the same cab as well with a different grill. That cab I think was referred to as the LAD cab as Leyland Albion and dodge all used it around the same time.
A lot of Australians made a lot of money with Atkinson Trucks. You English be damn proud you provided us Aussies with good Trucks. A lot of Aussies made a lot of Money out Bedford's and Foden's to.
Funny how you can buy a brand new BMC truck in Turkey and its a major player in the truck making world , same as Royal Enfield 4th biggest bike maker in the world ! Feel like ringing the Indians up and asking for our Motorbike company back with a promise to look after it this time .
Well'l some of the rose tinted comments here don't take into account that the Trucks made abroard were just simply BETTER like the cars and motorcycles. They are not rattling vibrating oil leaking rot boxes!!!
Don't know what the fuck we would have done without that music, after all that's the only reason people visit your site I guess to listen to what music you're playing
Wonderful lorries that were so reliable & loved by the owners, no surprise as they were extremely basic so no much to go wrong Not the drivers though as they had to drive those noisy gutless heaps for a living. Then the likes of Scania / Volvo and others showed up to show how things could be & the rest is history.
What the hell has happened to this country, all these manufacturers lost our car industry foreign owned, why was this allowed to happen. Why don’t any of our leaders have any pride in our country anymore.
This should be named 'the hall of shame of Britain'.
I used to work for Seddon Atkinson, the fact that you put Dennis in but not Atkinson, jeez!
Right. In the nineteen sixties and seventies, about 60% of the long haulage trucks anywhere along the A1 were Atkinson.
BRS, who I worked for, ran a lot of Sed Akkies, up until BRS was dissolved. They were great quality trucks to drive, and I would have listed them in the top bracket. 😁👍🏼
My dad used to be a truck mechanic, and used to help maintain the Leyland truck fleet of the now long-gone Homepride (later Sunblest) Cambridge Bakery. When that closed down he went to work for Frederic Smart & Son Corn and Seed Merchants in the village of Whittlesford (they operated out of Whittlesford Mill) south of Cambridge, helping to keep their small fleet of ERF trucks on the road.
So many names and sights from my younger days, now like my youth, things of the long past.
Really have to wonder how could someone dislike a video like this. Great job all round. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Nice compilation… I always loved the Albion ‘sunrise’ radiator badge, a beautiful piece of design! Have fond memories of driving a Bedford TK truck for ITN news, it was their multi camera Outside Broadcast vehicle, very reliable & handsome in its two tone blue & white (with yellow waistband!) livery it was too!
A very nice compilation of some favourite Trucks of mine from the past. How about Guy Motors ?
I remember them they made buses named Guy Warrior, had a chieftain head on the top of the radiator, chester corporation had them
@@bernardrandles8013 They made trucks too, including the BigJ series. I learned to drive artics on one of them. They were still in production up to about 1978. The Warrior was also a truck, and a predecessor of the Big J series.
I agree Guy motors was a grand producer, but where is Trojan and Fordon Thames
As a commercial mechanic it's a real shame to see so many failed truck builders and now dennis have shut down in my town of Guildford where they first opened up a factory and we have the first assembly line car factory in the U K the rodborough buildings now a witherspoon .
Did they have anything to do with mowing machines, I used to operate one in the late sixties to cut the cricket square.
Great brands. In Pakistan they still like the Bedford J, they place wooden bodies on them so they have flex for their rough roads. And Leyland is still going strong in India I believe, known as Ashok Leyland. A bit like the Royal Enfield, the Indians don't give up a good thing easily.
Thank you India. I believe lots of English trucks are still in use in Cypress. Greetings from Cornwall.
hi there.i worked at AEC LTD. southall, a very sad day on the last day, for some AEC was a way of life. a great social club in the middle of the golden triangle.but we knew this was coming when in 1977 we were told we might have 2 years left. Thornycroft went first then us then Scammell motors, a few staff were kept on to complete orders and check the chassis cabs. Foden took over the army orders,
Thnks.
Yes, it's a sad day when the factory closes, I experienced the same situation when working with Caterpillar Tractors on the outskirts of Glasgow. Although an American company, the factory had been there for 30 years employing local workers..I managed to get work with Hoover Floorcare for 16 years, before they closed after 57 years production.
It was a sad loss for a respected marque that made everything mechanical in the one place, engine, gearboxes, axles, chassis, suspension all in London. No outsourcing engines from elsewhere.
The Japanese truck and bus makers believe the heart of their products are their engine, hence why they resist outsourcing to vendor engine makers such as Cummins, Detroit Diesel or Caterpillar, and persist with their own very reliable highly tested power plants despite difficulties meeting emission regs. If only Britain had that luxury of having a commercial vehicle builder with that philosophy.
Hello Peter, I was an Apprentice Mechanic at AECs Bristol, Arlingtons Victoria St, and stood in Awe at the first tilt cab, about 1967/68, so much easier to work on, except the dry liners when the pistons kept “ picking up “
@@exb.r.buckeyeman845 hi. i did my apprenticeship at AEC 1969-1974 then went in to chassis finishing till the end which was may 1979, great days at the golden triangle
I have just realised , the makers of this video have forgotten to include the main truck of the 60's , the main choice of long distance hauliers and the most recognisable . What a disgrace ..... The Seddon Atkinson . !!!! The borderer and the viewline were the most common sight on all motorways . Know as the big A . and powered by the imortal Gardner 180 or Cummings varients .
I remember in the early(ish) 1970s as a schoolboy, (about 13/14) working in the holidays helping a friend of mine clean newly assembled ERF truck chassis in Auckland New Zealand.
Thanks for the memories.
Thanks 👍
Scammel Crusade..took my HGV 1 Test in one of those..ASMT Leconfield 1980...
Beautiful motor..managed to get an ERF Twin split in the 90s..another fabulous motor
I worked on AECs in Bristol, the problem was all our Commercials were normally aspirated, no one did a turbo, so we went under, just like motor bike industry.
The question is why… why didn’t the industry move on? I know Land Rover had this problem in the 80s and the naturally aspirated Diesel engines they built were very reliable and worked well under most conditions but were very underpowered! Land Rover thought they could bolt a turbo on the 2.5 NA and that would sort the problem but the engines were very unreliable with cracked pistons and cracked heads… it wasn’t until early 90s when the defender had a true reliable turbo diesel with the 200tdi but by that time the world had moved on yet again!
The British vehicle manufacturers always tended to try and cure the problem too late…to me being the suspicious old bastard that I am really makes me wonder why… personally I think it was all part of the denationalisation of the UK.
I remember everyone of those makes and most of the models, it’s a dam shame they were incorporated into EU brands, there were many more not mentioned but that would’ve taken it over the ten, but thanks for reviving memories
Ah yes let's blame the EU for our own fuckin incompetence. Much easier than sorting ourselves out. The problems are very serious and deep rooted and certainly can't be sorted by blaming everybody else. If we can't compete at a global level in today's real world we go bust.
@@TheLRider Was just going to say that myself..looking at the attitudes of British manufacturers back then- we've not one to blame for the demise of a truly world wide industry than ourselves
2:41 1967 Foden S21 One of the coolest looking trucks ever!!!
I am not really into trucks , but you have got to admit these older models have style , they make you stop and admire them , not like the modern machines you see one you keep on walking .
My favourite truck was an old ERF. Starting off in 3rd and still getting good accerelation. The gear changes were what made this truck a pleasure.
Sadly as with most British industry - there are many, many defunct brands......but many, many museums displaying what Britain used to manufacture!
I remember the commer flat bed the milk delivery company I worked for had a fleet of them 1970 sloans dairy’s Glasgow
great vdeo a shame so many of these companies are gone
Thanks for watching
Leyland Trucks are still going strong! Albeit owned, along with DAF, by an American truck builder. All RHD DAF badged trucks are built by Leyland and they even export to Australia.
Indeed.
I believe the company that owns them is paccar
I know that Dennis is still going strong as Dennis Eagle who specialise in making waste collection vehicles for local authorities etc including battery powered models and are based in Warwick and have a plant in the USA too.. So not all is lost but far too much has been, how did we manage to screw things up so badly?
Sadly Dennis Eagle is actually owned by the Terberg group, Netherlands and Spanish companies merger. So only using UK for assembly, so another Classic British manufacturer lost to the EU.
I have pictures of my father in law standing next to a Dennis fire engine 🚒 1960s he was a Glasgow fireman
@@danielhanney3326 I worked in the automotive industry for over 35 years and understand how competitive the industries are. Each company/plant have to compete in terms of profitability and productivity and quality etc etc. Well done Denis Eagle therefore for being competitive enough to keep its operation going in Warwick. Sadly so many others have failed to be that competitive. Companies will move to the most profitable locations and that takes account of Govt support/funding/grants etc. So I'll leave it with you to suss that out.
@@TheLRider Companies also move to the locations where the Unions are less militant............
@@petermorris3665 In my experience union's only get militant when their members are not treated as team members. If you look at France/Italy where Stelantis is a massive company or Germany where Unions are members of works councils I think illustrates that fact. I really do think that our outdated divide and rule class system creates serious problems for us as a country. It suits some that way ofcourse and they think that's the only way to manage people. Some companies in the UK have cracked it most notably Bentley who have been voted Employer of choice for about the last 10 years.
very sorry but i would put atkinson in and bedford out. as a kid i would go with my mates dad in an
atkinson borderer with a 240 gardner under the bonnet. it would pull a house down.
Thanks for watching
I used to go with my late brother in an Atkinson/Gardner pulling steel from Sheffield in the 60s. Couple of years later I was in sales for a dealer carrying another old brand, Seddon. Never sold even one :)
Some Albions had AEC motors and Some Bedfords were Leyland powered as well as Scammel.
Late survivors like Erf and Dennis ended up mechanically generic with American sourced drive lines.
beautiful trucks ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Might be about 100 years out with ERF but good video.👍
You will note these timelines have a lot in common the 1960/70/80s when industrial action by the unions for the most trivial reasons was rife in this country. So all these wistful comments on the demise of the British truck industry is somewhat hollow as it was partly self inflicted. The later ones ERF/Fodens were under that bastion of a government that did nothing to support manufacturing - New Labour when the % of manufacturing plummeted for what were hardly the halcyon days of the 1980s.
The trade unions weren't responsible for the economic policies of successive governments, Thatcher murdered manufacturing in the 80s/90s in favour of the financial sector , if a country isn't making stuff then it doesn't need wagons to transport it .
I remember working on some of these truck models late 70,s early 80s
The 1963 Albion Reiver and 1958 Leyland Super Comet are identical.
I had to switch the sound off because off the iritating thumping, but otherwise I enjoyed the video.
Thanks for watching
Sorry Bill, they aren’t. They have different cabs; the Leyland has the short door version of the LAD cab into which the driver had to climb onto the wheel tong
Wheel ring to get in; the Albion had the long door version with the step in front of the front wheel.
As a transport refrigeration engineer, I used to go to the Foden factory in Sandbach to commission the air conditioning units on new trucks. I loved going there.....watching them build those beautiful vehicles.
The Commer two stroke diesels....what a fabulous noise they made!
(n.b. The Bedford TK shown has a K registration: 1972, not '82.)
My late father worked for associated lead in chester for 34 years as a truck driver, the drivers had to work once a month each on a Saturday morning to clean the trucks and get the ones loaded that were on the longer trips for the Monday morning, so that they could leave just after 8am, any way it was in the sixties and my dad had at the time a Bedford TK and he was cleaning the engine down with a small paint tin of paraffin and brush, unfortunately it flashed and went on fire along with my dad, however building work was in process on site and he had the sense to roll in the sand to extinguish the fire on himself, he sustained 3rd degree burns on some parts of his body in particular his throat which resulted him having skin grafts taken from his thighs, he spent over 4 months in what was then chester royal infirmary, I was 9 years old, but 60 years on I remember it quite vividly as you have mentioned the said TK, but not a problem or issue sometimes It's nice to be kicked back to our past and memories either good bad or indifferent 👍👍
Foden 2-stroke 6- cylinder diesels also made a wonderful noise. Fodens were rare in S.Africa though.
Great informative video, didn’t Leyland trucks continue after 1968 eventually it become leyland daf fir a while then the leyland name quietly dropped then all trucks become DAF, regards mark
Now known as LDV and made by the big Chinese car manufacurer SAIC.
Thanks for watching
Your correct, its still called Leyland trucks, just they put all the dafs together you see on British roads and lots of 45/ 55 left hand drive export. They also built the badge engineered kenworths sent to Australia. The last foden was built there in 2006, its a yellow cab 8 wheel chassis, its in the commercial vehicle museum in King Street Leyland. Ldv was the van side which split years back an went to Birmingham. I drove for daf taking parts from Holland to Leyland. Our whole town is about trucks, the market is in the old northworks and the bus devision is now under a housing estate and a Morrisons plus other shops. Very sad.
@@michaelbamber4887 , hi , thanks for reply, ldv was also bought by a Russian owner but went broke and Uk government was not interested, the factory ldv was based was originally the Wolseleys was built many years ago . Regards mark
@@michaelbamber4887 , re the kenworths I understand that Paccar USA company own Leyland daf fir a while . Regards mark
Bedford TK best truck in the world
Enough to make you cry
ERF 1833? wow way before it's time! Same as an 1831 bedford.
How ERF must have wished they never claped eyes on MAN Shortsightedness of the ERF management with an unhelpful government means that companies that could one day make money and provide work for the nation are lost forever . And now with Brexit, ERF would have had order books bulging . Same goes for Rover , LDV, and many more .
UK needs to revive it's aviation and motor industries by teaming up with none European and American companies. The wealth of knowledge and most manufacturing shifted to the rest of Europe and in return the Europeans and Americans made London a world financial centre but this is not the case anymore.
Foden and Scammel always had images as tough workhorses.
My mate drove fuel tankers for IFT and said that Atkinson were the best. Are they still going?
As a non-truck person I was amazed at how many of these companies I knew. Dennis, ERF I there're still about. Quite sad actually Dennis making Fire Engines. What happened?
Wasn't the Bedford TK flatbed around in the yr. 63 64 65 . Sure it was .
Kool🍻🇦🇺
What happened to Seddon Diesels..and Seddon Atkinson.?
Some here: ua-cam.com/video/E3FJ2vD9NEw/v-deo.html&ab_channel=OldClassicCar
The only British trucks still in use are those used by the showmen on the funfairs, mainly ERF and Fodens but these are slowly being replaced with modern foreign lorries, so many truck builders in this country and now all gone!
When I was a youngster Britain had a number of car makers along with aeroplanes, lorries etc. what the hell happened ?
These industries cannot survive if the political will is not there to help them. No industry can survive anywhere unless politics is on the same side. Sadly the UK is full on neoliberal which is open yer legs to get raped by every corporation on the planet mindset. Free trade often means allowing the vultures to circle and pick off all the assets of any value and dispose the rest. If a country that builds air-craft gets access to the UK market and that country heavily subsidises that air-craft manufactufer then the UK manufacturers will be at an instant disadvantage. The UK Government mantra after Thatcher was sink or swim, coupled with bat shit crazy unionism and out of touch management meant our industry sank. I was born in 1980, but looking at history the 70's was a turbulent time with the UK still in a class war after WW2. A lot of attitudes of workers in the 70's appeared to be stinking, I unserstand that not all were like this but it only takes a handful of rotten apples to spoil everything. Being from Scotland I call the attitude of blokes of a certain age group; 70's Scotsman syndrome. Which involves acting like a pigeon chested hardman, arguing with yer own shadow, manipulative and passive aggressive behaviour, and a fuck you I'm number 1 attitude. No wonder heavy industry fled Scotland in the 70's and early 80's, I worked with Blokes from this era in the early 90's as an apprentice and thought I had gone back to Primary School, the behaviour was shocking. A lot of the issue is management, apathy and piss poor worker attitude and failing to modernise. If I owned a manufacturing business I would not set up in the UK, there are great hard working people here , but this country has too many destructive, difficult to deal with vindictive types in its ranks that would destroy yer business over night. I know, I have had to work with them 😣.
Aren't Dennis still making fire engines and refuse trucks - ?
Basically an M.A.N. (Volkswagen) with a Dennis badge on it.
@@brianfoster7794 Aah, like Vauxhall who have been badged General Motors vehicles since 1923 - ! 😄
@@simongee8928 yah but it’s not General Motors now Peugeot Group own Vauxhall/ Opel took them over in 2017
@@brianfoster7794 All these takeovers, can't keep up with who the heck owns who nowadays.
@@simongee8928 one thing for definite an awful lot of uk based companies, that were stable in the 60s/70s have either been taken over and closed down or manufacturing in Europe the lucky few are still producing in the United Kingdom but under their European overlords, I’ve seen far too many companies disappear.
Some would say what a load of rubbish,But compare to what a all of the continentals were driving these were ALL top of the range the best of british,We were leading the continent,,We all know the volvo 86 came along,but the engins of most came from the UK designed Should be a government dept to fund the upkeep of all our makes
Back in 1973, an artic arrived, the make I can't recall, but it had a Rolls Royce Eagle diesel engine. I said to the driver that must be something, but he responded that the injectors were rubbish and constantly gave trouble. Hmm. 😐
@@simongee8928 It could have been a Seddon Atkinson , they were powered by the RR eagle, but I was driving them in the later sixties for a paint manufacturer, they had a twelve speed gearbox.
@@ronniesimpson9141 At the time I was driving an oldish AEC Mandator mk.5. Four sped crash box and no power steering or cab heating - ! 😆
@@simongee8928 I drove an AEC Mercury round about 1966/67 on general haulage.
@@ronniesimpson9141 I did like the AEC range. I kept the AEC badge from the engine rocker cover for some years, but list it when I was divorced. 🤥
I did get my hands on an ERF with a big Cummins engine for a while. That was a beast - ! 😄
Magnet Southerns timber was a big buyer of ERF and Leyland trucks
I think the last one the Bedford TK flatbed looked more like 1972 not 1982...?
Just waiting for the comment from "draxindustries1" 🤣🤣
Still suffering bad knees and deafness from driving old fodens and erf beasts thank god for Swedish trucks
Well I’m a big Volvo truck fan but love my British vehicles… surly a county like ours who have been behind so many brilliant inventions and creations could have made trucks just as good or even better than the truck manufactures across the water!
It’s almost like somebody was trying to denationalise our country!!! Good job we still build ships, motorbikes and our legendary Land Rover Defender! Shit, thats all gone as well….
Pill Sharks .you are right about all them jobs. France has huge shipbuilding , there own car makers , there own train makers , there own plane makers . A real shame in my life all these jobs are done away from Britain . 🙁
@@rundt7605 I was talking with a bloke who grew up in Leslie street, Wallsend. If you look online there’s a famous photo of a esso tanker at the end of the street..it’s an amazing photo!
He was saying when he was a lad it was thriving industry with things happening everywhere you looked and everyone was employed around ship building.. my area also had a dry dock (not the same industry as the Tyne area) and exactly the same thing happened…it was strange to share our stories of the ship industry in completely different parts of the country which ended up going the exact same way as each other…bloody disgusting!
@@PillSharks yes but times change.and so does design. In everything. What works from 1810 that would work today .a horse outrun a scania truck.if you don't change quick enough you get left behind.and if you change too quickly you get left behind.timing is everything.
What about Thames Trader?
Thames Trader.
It's Ford.😉
But then what happened to British vans, cars, motor bikes and cycle manufactures over the last thirty years - ?
Didn't someone say that we didn't want to work in factories any more? and that we should all work in the service sector?
@@TheLRider would you agree Thatcher's policies had something to do with manufacturing decline of British owned company's making these trucks
@@raymondsawyer8626 Well I think you'd have to think that there was a strategic decision taken back then to "withdraw" from the Manufacturing and Engineering sectors except the defence industries, and everything was sold off to US, European, or Japanese companies and once you do that all major decisions are exported too. Added bonus to the Tory party of a massive reduction in paid up trade union membership which I think was the main factor driving the decision..Add to that that the Japanese and Europeans still build cars in the UK quite successfully hints that a change of management accounts for some of that success, The labour force is still largely from the UK.
@deltr0tt I think it was a Labour female minister ,and her words were ,we no longer wish to be seen as a metal bashing country
Simon Gee, they didn't keep up with modern technology. And lagged behind European models.
i like made in England 👍👍🇬🇧🇬🇧🚚🚚
That Albion Reiver looks the samas the Leyland Super Comet.
Leyland bought Albion and used their heavier chassis designs (six and eight wheel), as a cost cutting measure Albion trucks were fitted with Leyland cabs.
@@dcanmore The Kew dodge ( the 300 series I think it was)around the same area used the same cab as well with a different grill. That cab I think was referred to as the LAD cab as Leyland Albion and dodge all used it around the same time.
The cabs were called Lad and were fitted to several different truck brands
That last Bedford was 1972 not 1982.
It's a pity we didn't get to know what the letters ERF stood for.
Edwin Richard Forden, if I recall and think a brother of the other Forden truck. But I could be wrong.
@@stephenizzy1I think you're probably right.
is there a need for that idiotic music,
Thats a 1972 TK Bedford at the end not 1982, just saying.
It would of been nice to see a Leyland marathon 😕 🙄
But you left out the amazing Atkinson trucks!😔
Davy brown gearbox straight six 180 Gardiner
A lot of Australians made a lot of money with Atkinson Trucks. You English be damn proud you provided us Aussies with good Trucks. A lot of Aussies made a lot of Money out Bedford's and Foden's to.
@@davidwolff8903 we did not modernise Quickly enough Volvo and scania took over did not invest money in truck manufacturers
Yes! Seddon-Atkinson...(Or "Seddon-Atky" as a mechanic I knew constantly referred to them!) Oldham I think?
@@patagualianmostly7437 seddon atky is right handbrake on right hand side like gear stick
Dennis are still going strong.
What the bloody hell went wrong in such a short time frame, we are now left with around half a dozen boring foreign brands
Most of these trucks i'v seen at shows but this chap has his years wrong it wasn't 1831 it was 1931 with Bedford 1933 with ERF
Today 01/01/22 ☔☔
I was waiting for the Guy Invincible.
Also no mention of the "GUY" , "Karrier" or the Dodge trucks
and its preserved
No mention of Guy trucks....?
Funny how you can buy a brand new BMC truck in Turkey and its a major player in the truck making world , same as Royal Enfield 4th biggest bike maker in the world ! Feel like ringing the Indians up and asking for our Motorbike company back with a promise to look after it this time .
The Indians might bring it with them.as they all emigrate to England to make up for the chronic labour shortage
ERF and Foden were brothers - ERF Eric Robert Foden....
What happenin in 1979?
Seddon atkinson?
Well'l some of the rose tinted comments here don't take into account that the Trucks made abroard were just simply BETTER like the cars and motorcycles. They are not rattling vibrating oil leaking rot boxes!!!
Seddon Atkinson!
Today 🇮🇳 01/01/22
The fact that there can even be a top ten about this topic makes me very sad.
Don't know what the fuck we would have done without that music, after all that's the only reason people visit your site I guess to listen to what music you're playing
How did we lose so much?
Doesn't look like kaizen had any role to play in the manufacturing process.
Wonderful lorries that were so reliable & loved by the owners, no surprise as they were extremely basic so no much to go wrong
Not the drivers though as they had to drive those noisy gutless heaps for a living.
Then the likes of Scania / Volvo and others showed up to show how things could be & the rest is history.
Spot on.😱😖😖👍👍scania volvo 😁😆👍👍
What the hell has happened to this country, all these manufacturers lost our car industry foreign owned, why was this allowed to happen. Why don’t any of our leaders have any pride in our country anymore.
Some of then are still used by travelling fairs scammed
Leyland isn't defunct, neither is Dennis. Both still building trucks in the UK.
Heaps of scrap.thank goodness scania and volvo came on stream.
Industrial vandalism
Uĵj
Badly run country involved in to many other countries problems and not minding there own problems.
How much has this country lost
Great video, awful soundtrack.
Thanks 👍
Sorry, maybe the top ten of the most ugliest trucks in the world!
What no Atkinson. ?