The Leyland Octopus (Commercial Vehicles Archive Series)

Product Information

Collaboration with Danish Automobile Building (DAB), a bus manufacturer, later with a majority stake in the 1970s Long after I had moved into an entirely different career trajectory, EFE Models produced a remarkably accurate model of this very type. The EFE version came out in January 1997 and depicted the vehicle registered VBY354M. Could this have been the very same as seen here? A management buyout made the bus division independent for a short period before it was sold to Volvo, who integrated Leyland models into their range before gradually replacing them with Volvos as they aged.

A souvenir from my original career as an aspiring road haulage manager. I joined British Road Services as a management trainee straight after graduation in September 1972, one of two dozen new recruits. Our arrival coincided with the break-up of BRS into autonomous regional companies. Thus I found myself drafted to Southern BRS. As well as traditional hire-and-reward haulage, the company had an extensive contract hire operation, providing vehicles for dedicated service to specific customers, the vehicles often being in that customer’s colours rather than standard fleet livery. Anyway, as you know, there is film project in the pipeline. I’m not permitted go into too much detail right now, but suffice to say that it’s not going to be filmed in London thanks to the various Boroughs constantly putting up hurdles thus making the locations unworkable. Plan B was Bristol, but again the same issues arose, so alternative plans are in progress it’s still going to happen and we will keep you abreast of developments. The Octopus comes to life was a year which was to open up the military market for Leyland as their 3-tonner, commonly known as the ‘RAF-type’, was to become the standard subsidy vehicle. The following year saw the start of work on the Farington plant, later associated with bus production. By the outbreak of war in 1914 the company had 1500 employees and had produced approximately 1275 petrol engined vehicles and 415 steam wagons. From 16th November 1931 until 31st October 1965, Wolverhampton Corporation, and Walsall Corporation ran a joint trolleybus service between the two towns, the service numbered 29, running successfully until the 1960s. Very few places in Britain ran joint trolleybus routes, so the sight of Walsall’s blue trolleys intermingling with Wolverhampton’s green and yellow trolleys was quite novel.

Scammell Routeman 1

A closeup of the cab, showing the wonderful detail that is quite visible. But many would likely never look close enough to notice the almost hidden detail lurking behind the silver grill; if you look closely, you will see that the master die makers from Meccano managed to show the vertical tubes of the radiator. How intricate that work must have been, and since it is barely visible, my guess is they did it because they could. Leyland Motor Corporation and British Motor Holdings merge to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC), which was now the fifth-largest vehicle producer in the world. BMH also owned Guy at that time; thus, BLMC owned and produced Leyland, Albion, Scammell, AEC, Thornycroft, and Guy lorries by the end of the decade.

with the Comet received a new cab - called the "Vista Vue" cab, it was developed by Albion for a variety of their models. Dodge UK also used it for their 300 model, consequently this cabin shape is often referred to as the "LAD" designThe test vehicle was fitted with an optional hand-operated hydraulic tilt mechanism which saves struggling with the heavy cab. As the steering column and instruments stay with the floor when the cab is tilted, it is necessary to remove the driver's seat otherwise it would come up against the column and prevent full tilting. IN SEPTEMBER last year Leyland introduced its latest version of the Octopus eight-wheeled chassis which, it is claimed, is 500kg (10cwt) lighter in chassis cab form than its nearest competitor. Copies of the new regulations are available from the British Plastics Federation, 47-48 Piccadilly, London, W.I. Foden 14-Ton Tanker ‘Mobilgas’; made 1953 through 1956, eventually superseded by the Regent livery version. As with the heavier models, brakes are fitted to the first, third and fourth axles only, these being air operated and affording a total frictional area of 1,002 sq. in. The single-pull handbrake is air assisted. The standard tyres are 9.00-20 radial steel cord. The cab is the plastics-panelled assembly that has been available on Leyland Power-Plus heavies since their introduction. It weighs 6.75 cwt., and the panelling is carried on the same steel framing members as are used in the Leyland all-steel cab.

Three generations of Spurriers controlled Leyland Motors from its foundation until the retirement of Henry Spurrier in 1964. Spurrier inherited control of Leyland Motors from his father in 1942, and successfully guided its growth during the postwar years. Whilst the Spurrier family were in control the company enjoyed excellent labour relations—reputedly never losing a day's production through industrial action. The First World War had a profound effect on Leyland Motors and the company concentrated on building 5,932 vehicles for the British forces. At the height of the war Leyland was employing over 3000 people. North Works and Farington had expanded, South Works had come into existence as had a factory in Chorley and a steel works with its own power plant was built. Pourvand, Kaveh (12 June 2013). "Was British Leyland really an industrial policy disaster?". Civitas . Retrieved 5 April 2018.The Leyland Comet was introduced in 1986, also designed for export markets mainly in the developing world. As such, it was a no-frills vehicle of a simple and sturdy design, with five- or six-speed transmissions rather than the multi-speed units used on European models. The cabin was a simplified all-steel version of that used by the Roadrunner, designed to enable local assembly. The three-axle version is called the Super Comet. [18] Diesel multiple units [ edit ] The whole interior has been revamped on the latest Octopus with ABS plastic trim all round and a ventilated headlining in the same material. Seats, now faced in brushed nylon, remained very cool despite temperatures nearing the 90s on the road test. The G-series cab was built in Bathgate and was available with several different names, such as Terrier, Clydesdale, and Reiver. After this cab was replaced the tooling was shipped to Turkey, where BMC's Turkish subsidiary built it as the "BMC Yavuz" and then as the "Fatih" (with Cummins engines) from 1986 until 1996. In August 1962, the Routeman Mk1 was replaced by the Routeman Mk2 with its distinctive cab designed by Michelotti. This new cab was very striking, although it was non tilting, the Leyland group not having a tilting cab until the introduction of the Ergomatic in 1965. Engines for the Routeman Mk2 were Leyland 0.600 or 0.680, or Gardner 6LW or 6LX. The Routeman models were widely used as tankers, both for fuel and industrial liquids. In 1968 a double drive Routeman III was introduced using Albion Reiver hub reduction axles. In 1920, Leyland Motors produced the Leyland Eight luxury touring car, a development of which was driven by J.G. Parry-Thomas at Brooklands. Parry-Thomas was later killed in an attempt on the land speed record when the car overturned. Rumours that a chain drive broke were found to be incorrect when the car was disinterred late in the 20th century as the chains were intact. At the other extreme, they also produced the Trojan Utility Car in the Kingston upon Thames factory at Ham from 1922 to 1928.