Wigan Album
Owen Owen/Louis Reece,Fruit Market
15 CommentsPhoto: Ray Smyth
Item #: 28255
At the Wholesale Fruit Market,Worthington Way.
Photo, Late 60s.
This model had the tilt cab for easy access to the engine - innovative for it's time and before Leyland lost it's way on being merged with BMC.
The Leyland super comet was introduced in 1964, it had the Ergomatic tilt cab. It was years ahead of it's time, and even today looks good.
Leyland AEC was the same cab.
The first Comet was produced immediately after the war and Named after the Comet tanks built by Leyland during the war and was. the first Leyland model not named after an animal I started my apprenticeship there at that time
Good photo Ray, just after this was taken I drove vehicles with the Ergomatic cab, a Albion 4 wheel rigid that could startle pigeons and leave them for dead, and a AEC Mandator with a very troublesome 680 engine, it spent more time in the workshop with its cab tilted than being driven.
Not quite right, AB - there were deckers dating from pre-war called Leviathan, Titan and Titanic.
Rev.You are right I remember the Titan. Incidently. Morrisons store in Leyland Is built on the site of The Comet Shop and various pictures of Leyland Vehicles are displayed there, including a Wigan Corporation Bus
Hi JJP, Re your Mandator comments,I didn't know that they
had a 680 under the bonnet,the 680 was as far as I recall
a Leyland "Power Plus". The only Mandator that I drove had
the AEC AV760,It was for Robert Baillie,Ex Percy Powell,
Horndean, Hampshire. For some more Owen Owen/Louis Reece,
have a look at "Louis Reece Pictures" on TrucknetUK.
Regards,Ray.
I agree with Ray JJP, the Leyland and the AEC had identical cabs only one or two differences ie front indicator lamps and emblems. Leyland 680 was indeed the power plus series and AEC had their own 760 engines fitted, the AV 760s could shift with the 12 speed box.
When these cabs were tilted, the steering wheel, dash and seats stayed fixed to the chassis, unlike todays modern cabs were everything in the cab tilted together as one unit. We ran a 1966 tractor unit with the Leyland 680 eng and a 1966 four wheeler rigid with 400 eng. both cabs were identical.
I joined what was then Shell Mex & B.P. in 1969 at the then newly opened Haydock storage and distribution terminal. We had approx. 100 vehicles and 99% were from the Leyland group i.e. Leyland, A.E.C., Albion and Scammell and the situation was the same throughout the Shell-Mex and B.P.fleet nationally. Leyland Trucks went into a downward spiral following the forced merger with BMC which deprived it of R&D funds whilst money was funnelled into the already doomed car division. The likes of Scania, M.A.N then started appearing on the scene.
No DerekB it wasn't that at all. It was because of the euro, look at the cars we now have. It's not only trucks.
Thing is Leyland can't/couldn't compete with the likes of Scania, Daf and Volvo, sad really but true.
Hi Ray and Colin, you are probably right about the engine not being a 680 but I always believed it to be, head gaskets being the main culprit. I rarely drove the Mandator due to it being so troublesome, we also had `BMC Mastiff with Perkins V8 150 bhp better known as BMC Misfits by the boys.
I am aware that this picture and others of the Owen Owen/Louis Reece
pictures of lorries have been on here before. I have been contacted again
by a gentleman from Kent whose father drove this lorry. He is trying to
raise interest locally from the former Owen Owen/ Louis Reece staff and
would appreciate if any Owen Owen/Louis Reece staff who were based
at the company at Worthington Way, Wigan had any pictures and info
regarding their time with the company, and we would be greatful.