Skill at the wheel of a truck is the theme of the "Lorry Driver of the Year" competition, which was held in England every year since after the Second World War. In our report, the authentic photos are particularly fascinating. The photographers from the magazine "Commercial Motor" were out and about at the event site in Birmingham in 1960 to take pictures of the competitors and their vehicles, which have long since become classics. Looking at the old black and white photos, we feel transported back to a bygone era.
The popular "Lorry Driver of the Year" competition was probably launched in Britain after the Second World War. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to determine the exact year of the first event of this kind. The sponsor was the English trade magazine "Commercial Motor", founded in 1905. A different city was chosen for each year's event, with participants coming from all over the country.
Divided according to vehicle size, the participants and their vehicles competed against each other in various disciplines in which vehicle control and good judgment were essential. When reversing, the aim was to maneuver past obstacles as quickly as possible and drive through narrow passages that were limited by flexible posts. Another discipline was reverse parking as close to the kerb as possible. The participants' skills were assessed by judges equipped with a stopwatch and folding rule. Their armbands identified them as "marshals".
The author was lucky enough to be able to acquire a large number of negatives of these events, which were actually taken by the photographers of the magazine "Commercial Motor" at the time. The pictures take us back to a time when a large number of manufacturers produced very individual and beautiful, typically British vehicles.
This is Birmingham in the year 1960. 139 participants gathered on the event site with their spick and span vehicles, probably on a Sunday. The drivers lined up in their Sunday best with ties and collars. Some companies such as British Road Services, Shell-Mex and Express Dairy sent several vehicles, as did the British Army.
The competition also met with great interest from the public. In some of the photos, spectators crowd around to watch at close range as the truck drivers maneuver their vehicles close to the obstacles without touching them. One example of this is the picture at the beginning of this article, in which a Foden S 20 eight-wheeler, which was built from 1956 onwards, parks in reverse under the scrutinizing gaze of the audience.
Carousels were set up on the event site for the children, and snack stalls catered for the public's sustenance. Not only the drivers came, but also entire families in their Sunday best. Determining the "Lorry Driver of the Year" was always an important event at a time when only a few families had a television set. The photos bring back the atmosphere of those days and you wish you could have been there. At the same time, the respect for the drivers grows when you see how they maneuvered the vehicles through the obstacles without steering assistance and only with tiny mirrors. Bravo, well done guys!
The eight-wheelers from AEC (Associated Equipment Company) were called "Mammoth Major" since before the war, and were redesigned several times until 1978. The Mammoth Major Mark V shown here was available from 1958 to 1964, with either 125 or 150 bhp AEC diesel engines. In 1980, the last AEC left the factory in Walthamstow (East London), which had already been taken over by Leyland in 1962.The Austin Loadstar was built between 1948 and 1956. The standard engine was a four-liter Austin petrol engine with 68 bhp, but Perkins diesel engines were also offered as an alternative.The Dennis Pax was launched on the market straight after the Second World War. It was available as a cab-over and as a conventional, initially with Dennis engines of either 70 or 80 bhp, later Perkins engines were also offered. The design continued in production throughout the 1950s. This example is from the fleet of Lucas Ltd, a manufacturer of automotive lights, switches and electrical components.The Bristol HG 6 L was built from 1952 until the late 1950s. It had a Leyland 600 engine rated at 125 bhp for 22-ton operation. Bristol Commercial Vehicles built these trucks exclusively for the state transport company British Road Services; they were generally not sold to other operators. Bristol was better known as a bus builder.This is also a Bristol HG 6 L, but this time with a different cab. British Road Services had some re-cabbed during their working life with this different design.The design dated back to the pre-war period, but the Scammell Articulated Eight existed until the mid-1950s. Scammell built both the tractor unit and the trailer, both were permanently connected to each other. It was usually powered by an 8.3 litre Gardner 6 LW engine rated at 102 or 112 bhp.The Thames Trader Mark 1 was built between 1957 and 1962. The seven-tonner had a 5.4-liter six-cylinder 6D diesel engine rated at 100 bhp.The Thornycroft Trusty was announced in 1955 and entered full-scale production in 1957. It was powered by Thornycroft’s own QR 6 engine of 9.83 litres and 130 bhp and although regarded as a high-quality vehicle in its day, sales suffered due to its expense against competitors built in higher volume.The Morris Commercial Five Tonner was a design introduced in 1953 and available with a petrol or diesel engine. This one is an articulated outfit with an “automatic coupling”.This Bedford design, known as the O-Type, was introduced in 1939 but was suspended at the outbreak of war. Revived in 1945, the O Type enjoyed immense success in Great Britain before its replacement in 1953. Powered by a 72 bhp petrol engine, this example appears to be an OLB 5 tonner.The Leyland Beaver had a Leyland 600 engine rated at 125 bhp. This version of the Beaver was introduced in 1954, although the example shown with a Homalloy coach-built cab in place of the Leyland steel cab was unusual.The Octopus eight-wheeler was introduced at Leyland in 1935 and received various updates throughout its production. The model shown is a “24“ series, which was introduced in 1955. It was powered by a Leyland 600 or 680 diesel engine, rated at up to 150 bhp.In 1958 the Austin FFK was launched, powered by either a 5.1-litre BMC diesel engine producing 105 bhp or a 5.7-litre engine producing 120 bhp. A similar model with the same cab, the FH, remained in production until it was replaced in 1964. After the Austin Motor Company and its former rival Morris had merged in 1952 to form the British Motor Corporation, the vehicles of both brands were given modified badges. In the picture below, this can be seen in the badge, which now bore the addition of BMC.The Leyland Comet 90 was introduced in 1951. Under the elegantly curved hood it featured a 5.76 litre engine rated at 90 bhp. The semitrailer version was suitable for a gross combination weight of up to 17.85 tons.This panel van is typical of the light and middleweight Thornycroft trucks of the post-war years. They were named Nippy, Sturdy and Sturdy Star and featured the company’s own diesel engines. In the second half of the 1950s, Thornycroft abandoned this market segment and specialized in heavy trucks and oilfield vehicles.The Albion HD 57 was launched in 1950 and was powered by an Albion diesel engine with an output of 120 bhp. Shortly after the takeover of Albion by Leyland Motors in 1951, the HD 57 was phased out.The upper of these two photos shows an Atkinson eight-wheeler L 1786, powered by a Gardner 6 LW engine with 112 bhp. Below is an Atkinson L 1266, presumably with the same drive. Both belonged to the Atkinson "Bow Front" models, which were produced between 1952 and 1964.Smaller commercial vehicles also took part in the competition. The post-war version of the Morris Minor was launched in 1948, initially as a passenger car and five years later as a panel van and a pick-up with a quarter-ton payload. The Morris Minor 1000 shown here already had the full-length windshield of the second series from 1956.These two photos show trucks of the Scottish brand Albion. Unfortunately, it is not possible to tell whether these are the Chieftain or Clydesdale models, as both types had the same cab. The traditional Albion brand from Glasgow started producing vehicles in 1900 and was taken over by Leyland in 1951, but continued to produce under its own name until 1972.The Bedford S Type was launched in 1950 and was referred to as the “Big Bedford”. Originally it had a Bedford petrol engine, but between 1953 and 1957 Perkins, Leyland and Bedford diesel engines became available, with the top power rating being 104 bhp.Another Bedford S, this time without the "diesel" badge, so we can presume it is a seven-tonner powered by a Bedford 110 bhp petrol engine.The photo above shows the Austin conventional type 303 with a 3.4-liter diesel engine from BMC with 68 bhp. The model was built from around 1955. Below, we see an Austin cab-over Type 303 from around 1958 reversing into a parking space. It wasn't just the model number that was similar, but also the engine. However, the cab-over was also available with a 4-liter petrol engine with 90 bhp.The cab of this Austin 503 with BMC diesel engine, whose manufacturer is not known, was probably a one-off.The Dodge 300 Series was introduced in 1958. It featured the "LAD" (Leyland-Albion-Dodge) cab. Most Dodge 300 trucks were powered with Perkins engines, but some were powered by AEC. This example is a rare conversion of a factory 4x2 chassis to 6x2 "Chinese Six" configuration.The AEC Matador was probably Britain's most famous military truck. The British Army received a total of 9,620 units. The Matador was built between 1938 and 1945 and was powered by AEC petrol or diesel engines with an output of between 92 and 105 bhp.
This article was compiled for us by Christoph Büch of Berlin. For the data in the captions we would like to thank Richard Stanier of Stoke-on-Trent, whose expertise was of great help in the identification of the vehicles.
