Scammell Lorries Limited was a British manufacturer of trucks, particularly specialist and military off-highway vehicles, from 1921 to 1988.

History

Scammell started as a late-Victorian period wheelwright and coach-building business in Spitalfields, London. By the early 1900's, the firm had become fiancially stable, providing maintenance to customers of Foden steam wagons. One such customer, Edward Rudd, had imported a Knox Automobile tractor from the United States, and impressed with its lw weight/high hauling power had asked Scammell if they could make a similar model of their own.

However, the outbreak of war in 1914 stopped the project and presented itself as a turning point in road transport history. Mechanical transport was seen to work, proving its vast potential beyond doubt to forward-thinking companies such as Scammell. George Scammell's great nephew, Lt Col Alfred Scammell, was injured and invalided out of the army, and he was able to apply the practical experience he had gained during the war and began developing the articulated six wheeler. The vehicle's very low axle weight allowed it to carry 7.5 ton^{[convert: unit invalid here]} payload legally at 12 miles per hour (19 km/h), rather than being limited to 5 mph.^[1]

Scammell started production of the 7.5ton articulated vehicle in 1920. In 1921, the company exhibited the vehicle at the Olympia Motor Show, where they received 150 orders. Needing to move to new premises, Scammell & Nephew floated a new company, Scammell Lorries Ltd in July 1922, with Col Scammell as Managing Director. The new firm built a new factory at Tolpits Lane, Watford, where all manufacturing business was moved to.^[2]

In 1929, Scammell designed and manufactured the "100 Tonner" low loader. Only two were produced; the first was delivered to Marston Road Services, Liverpool, for the transportation of steam engines to Liverpool docks. Scammell were also looking for new markets, and diversified into four- and six-wheel rigid (nonarticulated) designs. The 'Rigid Six-wheeler' found some success and, with its balloon tyres, at last permitted sustained high-speed, long-distance road operation.

In 1934, Scammell produced the three-wheeled 'Mechanical Horse', designed by Oliver North to replace horses in rail, postal and other delivery applications. This featured automatic carriage coupling and the single front wheel could be steered through 360 degrees. It was sold in three- and six-ton versions. The three-tonner was powered by a 1,125-cc side-valve petrol engine and the six-tonner by a 2,043-cc engine. Karrier had introduced a similar vehicle, the 'Cob', four years earlier.

From 1937, a Citroën Traction Avant-powered version was made under licence in France, by Chenard-Walcker-FAR, known as the 'Pony Mécanique'. This continued in production, in various versions, until 1970.

In the late 1940s, the 'Mechanical Horse' was superseded by the Scammell Scarab, with similar features, but a much less angular cab and now with a 2,090-cc, side-valve petrol engine in both models and a diesel version with a Perkins engine.

In 1967, the 'Scarab' was replaced by the 'Townsman', which had a fibre-glass cab.

The company mainly concentrated on articulated and rigid eight-wheeler lorries, from the 1920s. One vehicle not in those lines that became well-known was the six-wheeled Pioneer. This was an off-highway, heavy haulage tractor first produced in 1927. It showed outstanding cross-country performance due to the design that included a sideways rocking front axle, and 2 feet (1 m) of vertical movement for each of the rear wheels.

The Scammell Pioneer was popular in the oil field and forestry (logging) markets, and formed the basis of the British Army's World War II 30-ton tank transporter. With the outbreak of war, development of new vehicles stopped and production concentrated on military Pioneers for use as artillery tractors, recovery and transporter vehicles.

Post war, foreign competition and rationalisation of the UK manufacturers led to Scammell coming under Leyland Motors Ltd in 1955. It continued production in specialist and military markets until 1988 when the site at Watford was closed and the last vehicles under the Scammell name were sold.

Alvis Unipower set up an operation in Watford in 1988 developing trucks and offering ongoing support and spare parts for Scammell vehicles.

In popular culture

An S24 Tank Transporter is Jill's vehicle in the Terry Gilliam film Brazil.

Vehicle list

• 80 Tonner
• 100 Tonner
• Commander
• Constructor
• Contractor
• Crusader – See below
• Explorer
• Handyman – See below
• Highwayman
• Himalayan
• Mechanical Horse, Scarab and Townsman
• Mountaineer
• Pioneer, Pioneer Semi-trailer (tank transporter)
• Rigid Eight
• Rigid Six
• Routeman
• S24
• S26
• Showtrac – Showman's tractor fitted with generator for fairground ride haulage and power supply
• Trunker – See below

Products

Rigid 8

The Rigid 8 was produced from 1937 to 1958.

Showtrac

The Showtrac was a short-wheelbase 4x2 ballast tractor, one of the few vehicles ever designed specifically for fairground use. It could be supplied with a rear body (with half-height roller shutter access doors), winch, and dynamo with the ballast block underneath.^[3] Eighteen were built, to varying specifications (not all had the body fitted, for example), between December 1945 and September 1948. Seventeen have been preserved. There are many look-alike Scammell tractors, but genuine Showtracs had a special "Showtrac" badge on the radiator, and a full-width cab.^[3]

Handyman

The Handyman initially used a glass fibre cab designed by Scammell - for the Mark 2 and 3 versions a new Michellotti-designed "cheesegrater" fibreglass cab as used on the 2nd and 3rd versions of the Routeman Rigid was fitted.

Early versions were equipped with Scammell's own "gate-change" gearbox but subsequent versions were fitted with AEC and David Brown gearboxes.

Engines fitted included the Leyland 680, Gardner 150 and Rolls Royce 220.

Trunker

The Trunker was a three-axle version of the Handyman, equipped with a lifting mid-axle.

Crusader

The Crusader was a 4×2 or 6×4 tractor that used a Motor Panels-supplied steel cab, available in sleeper- or day-cab forms. It had the option of Detroit Diesel, Cummins, Rolls Royce or Leyland engines.

The Crusader was used by the British Army as a 6×4 tow-truck (with EKA underlift equipment) and as a 6x4 tractor unit normally used for towing 35 tonne plant trailers or 30 tonne tank bridge transport trailers. A recovery variant was also in use. The British Army replaced the Crusader in the late 1990s by a Seddon Atkinson tractor unit with a 40 tonne plant trailer and a specialist tank bridge transporter. Many have seen use in the heavy haulage industry due to their incredibly strong chassis.

The military specification vehicles were usually equipped with 15-speed Fuller gearboxes and an 8 tonne capstan winch.

Commander Tank Transporter

The Commander was introduced as a tank transporter in 1978.^[4] Designed in the late 1970s, they replaced the Thornycroft Antars in the British Army beginning in 1983 with delivery of total of 125 units.^[5] The 6×4 units could carry a load of 65 tonnes and were used to transport Challenger II tanks. Used during the Gulf War, they were retired in 2002 and replaced by the Oshkosh M1070F HET.

The Commander is powered by the 26.7L Rolls-Royce/Perkins CV12 TCE twin turbocharged diesel engine that produces approximately 625 hp (466 kW) and is coupled to an Allison automatic transmission.^[5] The Scammell Commander CV12 engine is very similar to the ones used in the Challenger 1 and 2 main battle tanks but with an increased power output of around 1,200bhp 895kW. Designed to tow loads up to 65 tonnes, the Commander tows a special semi-trailer onto which tanks can be tail-loaded using a hydraulic 20 tonne capacity winch. A prominent bonnet houses the vehicle's Perkins (Rolls-Royce) CV 12 TCE V12 and although the Commander is powered by the Perkins/Rolls-Royce engine, other types were also proposed - one of the prototypes used a Cummins KTA 600 diesel. The cab has provision for up to three or four passengers and there is space for two bunks behind the front seats. Due to the front axle lock angle, the Commander is highly maneuverable and can negotiate a 'T' intersection with only 9.15 meters between the walls.

In 1988 the Scammell company went bankrupt, and the rights to the Commander were bought by Unipower Ltd, who opened a new plant in West Watford.

In 1990 during the operation Desert Storm 70 Scammell Commander heavy tank transporters were used to transport 40 types of various military cargo. Each of the vehicles was on the road 17 hours a day during a 4 month period and on average each vehicle traveled 270 km a day on the desert roads. Most of the 125 British Army Commanders were based in Belgium and Germany with only a few located in the United Kingdom.