Heritage Commercials Magazine - capturing the spirit of vintage days

Comment - September 2011

Take for example the superb Manchester that you can read about on page 88 courtesy of Roger Hamlin. This really is my sort of thing and I think it’s excellent that something so rare has been restored and is out there for us to see.

I must admit I’d never heard of the make when Roger rang to tell me what he’d found, so I had a quick trawl through the archives to find out some more.

Unfortunately there was very little in there apart from the fact that it is basically a Willys-Overland made under licence by Crossley in the late 1920s/early 30s. By the way, for those of you who also like classic cars, did you know Crossley also assembled Bugatti cars in Britain in the 1920s as well?

Anyway, the Manchester feature got me thinking about all the minor vehicle manufacturers that have fallen by the wayside over the years and what a shame it is that many never even get a mention nowadays – and I don’t just mean those back in the early days of the internal combustion engine. Take for example Argyle up in Lanarkshire which started making lorries such as the 16-ton ‘Christina’ in 1970. Unfortunately production ceased in 1973 but it was a very brave attempt at making something different.

Even here in rural Lincolnshire we had a few commercial vehicle makers. Lincoln, for example, was home to several steam vehicle manufacturers such as Robey, Clayton & Shuttleworth and Ruston. During the First World War these firms had been involved in war work, particularly in the production of aircraft, and so gained experience of the petrol engine. Therefore it was no surprise that in 1918 both Clayton and Ruston started experimenting with such engines. Ruston ended up producing cars, but also made an ambulance with twin rear wheels. Clayton on the other hand tried making a petrol lorry but in the end abandoned the idea and produced battery electric lorries of two to six tons capacity.

These are just a few of the long-gone makes, but if you know of something from your neck of the woods I’d love to hear from you. Let’s not let them be forgotten.