Who remembers these ?

[Steve]

I took these pics at a show a few years ago, I can remember the trucks as a kid, not seen the landcover before though. Anyone want a stab at the years these would of been built? don't know if the reg plates help! The second pic looks like our old coal delivery truck, back in the 60s.

[Y0ungN1ck]

The first two are probably 1963 and the third one 1971.

[Dartskipper]

The AEC Matador FWD in pic. 1 looks like an ex artillery tractor converted for civilian use. Devon General had one just like it as a breakdown rescue tow truck parked in their Newton Road Garage in Torquay in the 1960s and 1970's.

[Malcolm G]

Pic 1 - A lovely Series IIa Forward Control Land Rover - The part I remember is that they used 900 x 16 tyres rather than 750 x16.
They were produced from early 1960s and replaced by the Series IIb in 1966 so the year letter for 1965 could be about right - unless it had an older plate which was sold on as a cherished plate, when it would be given the first available for the registration district, C in most cases.

What about the fire extinguisher? carbon tetrachloride type!

[cptept]

Found it in an old Building in Piraeus, Greece.

[BobClay]

Just to help with the early letter dating of the registration plates. This was my brand new Triumph Trident I bought in 1972 and it had an 'L' registration. It cost out of the showroom £750 (a pound per cc.)

[SteveK]

This was my 1973 "L" plate car. Cost me £1600 with a hardtop as well. My first new car. Insurance fully comp for a 21 year old £200

[Saudisid]

Originally Posted by Steve

I took these pics at a show a few years ago, I can remember the trucks as a kid, not seen the landcover before though. Anyone want a stab at the years these would of been built? don't know if the reg plates help! The second pic looks like our old coal delivery truck, back in the 60s.

Once carried a Land Rover Fire Engine . It could have been to Mombassa in the City of Glasgow [ Ex Hereford ] in 76.
Alan

[Raymundo]

1964 for the first two and 1970 for the J reg

[Steve Oatey]

The C reg is 1965. The J is 1971/72. When the E was in use they switched the change over from January to August, so E went from Jan 67 to Aug 67, then F from Aug 67 to Aug 68. Thus we see L as 72 and 73.

[Farmer John]

Aargh, and I keep thinking I will get used to the new way, but it goes back to the days of the horse!

[BobClay]

I think one of the problems with the year/letter registration is it caused a 'rush' of vehicle buying when the new letter came out which the manufacturers weren't so keen on.

Apparently you can work out things from the new registration if you have a Turing Bombe machine and a Kray supercomputer ....

[ART6]

The third pic in #1 looks like an old Matador. Years ago when I was running a motor works in the UK we had one of them as a wrecker, and what a beast it was! No power steering, so anyone driving it ended up with muscles like a carthorse. It was like a block of flats on wheels, and about as maneuverable!

[Naytikos]

I agree with what seems to be the consensus: C is 1965, I had a Triumph Vitesse convertible of that year. L was indeed the last half of 1972 and first half of 1973; I still have a Triumph GT6 VJE613L bought in September 1972. (Sorry SteveK but the hinge in the chassis put me off the TR6).
Only 30k miles, one careful (absentee) owner......... offers over £10K on a postcard please.

[Farmer John]

That old Triumph Vitesse convertible! I had one, and loved it dearly. The gearbox was so worn, no-one else could drive it but when you knew it it was a quick box, good for double de-clutch and heel-and-toe changes, loved the overdrive except it dropped out when you went to second gear, so changing from third overdrive to second effectively dropped two gears if you were not thinking too hard. A really good car, with a full tonneau cover you never needed a lid.

[Malcolm G]

The 'C' plate can be complicated with vehicles originally registered before suffix letters where the original number has been transferred as a cherished plate or where the vehicle has been rebuilt using parts without identification numbers.
Not all local registration offices started with 'A' or even 'B' plates. This meant that the first available suffix was a 'C' and when a vehicle needed a replacement number that is what was issued, for the first few years at least.
Later they did start to use 'A' plates even in places where they were not originally issued.
Out of the ordinary Scottish registration numbers also often indicate a vehicle which has been given a replacement number.

I had a '58 BSA Bantam and the frame got bent. I found a legal replacement 'scrap' frame without paperwork and rebuilt the bike. The Local registration office gave me a 'C' plate for my 'new' bike even though every part of it was 7 years old, or older.

[Malcolm G]

Originally Posted by Farmer John

That old Triumph Vitesse convertible! I had one, and loved it dearly. The gearbox was so worn, no-one else could drive it but when you knew it it was a quick box, good for double de-clutch and heel-and-toe changes, loved the overdrive except it dropped out when you went to second gear, so changing from third overdrive to second effectively dropped two gears if you were not thinking too hard. A really good car, with a full tonneau cover you never needed a lid.

I replaced the nylon bushes in the selectors of my Vit convertible - An absolute gem and one of the all time favourite cars that I have owned.

[BobClay]

The Herald and the Vitesse I remember as having one of the most accessible engines ever, which to a former Reliant Regal and Robin owner (I only had a bike licence at the time) was true beauty.

[Naytikos]

Re Triumph Vitesse:
As there have been a few posts on the topic: I quite agree with all that has been said; a really enjoyable car. Mine had a doctored head with double valve springs and a fabricated gas-flowed manifold with two exhausts. Still had the Solex carbs though.
Unfortunately my brother had a contre-temps with a lady in an 1100 who couldn't see a 'Give Way' sign in the wilds of Gloucestershire and that was the end of it.

[PATFOU]

the second lorry is Ford Thames Trader remember seeing them late 50`s building sea wall opposite my home

[Farmer John]

When I was working in Cumbria we had a TK Bedford truck which we loaded up with shearing gear and went to farms all over the County, teaching people to shear. After a week or so of this, we were quite scruffy. I remember being stopped by a policeman, he asked me what my occupation was. "Lecturer" I replied. His eyebrows nearly went through his hat. The old Bedford was a good steady worker.

We were lecturers when we weren't driving round in filthy clothes smelling like old tramps. And even then we still were. Good times, until you had a hundred or so to finish off.

[woodend]

Progressed from a Velocette Venom to a Triumph Herald. Loved them both. The turning circle on the Herald could beat a London taxi an was ideal for finding parking 'gaps'.

[Fergie]

From Auckland NZ I can vaguely remember petrol tankers with solid tyres, no inflatable tyres, a round tank instead of elipitical. The solid wheels were narrow and could get caught in railway tracks laid on Quay Street that allowed refrigerated wagons stacked full of ice and meat to be shunted to ship sides. The tankers I believe would have been Leyland and the petrol brand "Big Tree', now extinct.


Also a brewery had a steam driven monster for delivering kegs. It was crewed by one huge man who could lift a full keg and deliver to hole in footpath and into the hotel cellar. The boiler chimney appeared to be in centre of windscreen and an unguared chain drive delivered power to rear axle.


I am 90 now so these memories must go back to about 1933, certainly before WW2

[Farmer John]

That sounds like a Sentinel steam lorry. The later ones, I hesitate to say nimble, but they could put on a fair turn of speed.

[Farmer John]

I surprised myself, they were made in Shrewsbury. I lived near the town in the 1970, never heard the name mentioned.

Here is a Sentinel at Pickering, near where I now live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv3LNNwSx6M