Leyland Retriever

Can someone revive my memory please?

In about 1968 I tried to buy a wagon to replace my Dodge D308 6 wheel tipper.
I missed out and never got it, but the memory of that wagon lingers on, I only drove it for about 5 miles on a test drive.
Same cab as Dodge but “full” doors, the level of trim was very good
It had double drive and reduction hubs
diff lock
6 wheel tipper.
I loved it!

Albion riever with the long door LAD cab? :question: :question: …chris

could have been an albion revier or maybe a leyland bear but in 1968 it most likely the albion fitted with the leyland 400 maybe power plus engine ans 6 speed albion gearbox the leyland retrevier was a leyland with the egro cab fitted with the leyland 600 engine and either aec or thonicroft gearbox

ianto:
could have been an albion revier or maybe a leyland bear but in 1968 it most likely the albion fitted with the leyland 400 maybe power plus engine ans 6 speed albion gearbox the leyland retrevier was a leyland with the egro cab fitted with the leyland 600 engine and either aec or thonicroft gearbox

Could have been the Retriever,they had the 0.600 Leyland engine,my mate had one and the reg was WWJ 760G which was a 1968 reg LAD,way after the tilt cabs came out in 1965.
I stand to be corrected on this but I do remember my mate saying it was on top of the job and shrugged off a tilt cab Albion Reiver until the LAD Retreiver could retrieve no more :laughing: .

hi chris i most likely am wrong the egro cab retriever that i remember was a 1967 model reg no fej 391f

Chris Your spot on with that mate the Retriever did have a 600 engine and the inside of the cab was a little more refined ie padded around the bonnet and dash also had button for checking oil level on gauge so you didn’t have to lift the bonnet.E&F Beattie coal haulier from M/chester ran some during the late 60s
John

Stanfield:
Chris Your spot on with that mate the Retriever did have a 600 engine and the inside of the cab was a little more refined ie padded around the bonnet and dash also had button for checking oil level on gauge so you didn’t have to lift the bonnet.E&F Beattie coal haulier from M/chester ran some during the late 60s
John

Hi Ian and John,I thought I was right about the Retreiver,after I posted it got me thinking about getting it wrong but I could picture the motor in my mind with the LAD cab,bit plusher inside compared with the Albion as you say,complete with “G” reg,and with a Leyland 0.600 lump in a six-legger it performed “rayt well” according to my old pal and it was “a sad day when it were parked up” he said," I felt I were going through t’windscreen in that new - fangled tilting thing that they gen me". :laughing:

Ah, thanks for the memory jog.
It did have a 600 engine, and lots of nice padding in the cab.Very luxurious after what I was used to
It was for sale in Liverpool by a truck dealer, navy blue I think, original nice paint job, very clean body.
I wish I had got it.

They where very unusual, cant remember ever seeing another.
Anyone got a pic of one please?

Could it have been a six wheel Comet like the one below?

Luvly pic, but this was def. a Retriever, you know when something sticks with you all your life?
Despite all the Scanias, Volvos an Lord knows what else, the abiding memory of that retriever haunts me !

I think it was the first civilised wagon I ever sat in !

Remember my Dads mate was from Ormskirk area and had a Leyland Comet 4 wheeler with a bonnet,[ rather like the Hell drivers Dodges] that made an impression on me also.

An early Retreiver


flatman001:
Could it have been a six wheel Comet like the one below?

I’m not sure about the engine in that Evers tipper John but the cab is identical to the Retreiver.The Leyland Comets were the only ones to have the doors above the steps same as the LAD Dodges,all the Albions had the low doors,and the Badgers, Beavers and Octopussies were the same-(like a bloody zoo).All very confusing but at least with the low doors there was more room to shove tins of oil,spare rope etc,just had to be careful it all didn’t fall out when the door was opened :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: I can only surmise that the Retreiver was a 3-axled version of the Octopus which later - if you were lucky - had the 0.680 Power Plus engine like the Beaver tractor unit.

Chris Webb:

flatman001:
Could it have been a six wheel Comet like the one below?

I’m not sure about the engine in that Evers tipper John but the cab is identical to the Retreiver.The Leyland Comets were the only ones to have the doors above the steps same as the LAD Dodges,all the Albions had the low doors,and the Badgers, Beavers and Octopussies were the same-(like a bloody zoo).All very confusing but at least with the low doors there was more room to shove tins of oil,spare rope etc,just had to be careful it all didn’t fall out when the door was opened :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: I can only surmise that the Retreiver was a 3-axled version of the Octopus which later - if you were lucky - had the 0.680 Power Plus engine like the Beaver tractor unit.

Hiya Chris yea thats a strange beast ! a Comet with the full doors and Albion DD axles! must have been a cancelled export order maybe? there were always funny motors escaping from the “Leyland Zoo” from time to time.Cheers Dennis.

Hi Dennis,yes I have to say it’s new one on me,and unless the caption is wrong it must be,as you say a cancelled export order.
I would have called it a Retreiver at first glance,not a Comet,but there you go who are we to say… :laughing:

flatman001:
An early Retreiver


That’s interesting John,looks identical to Evers and is a Retreiver - also has a Leicestershire reg as well “UT” so I wonder where it started it’s life?
A.E.Evans at Barking had a Dominion code when I first started with them - i think it was DOM 0285 on the dial :laughing:

The Super Comet 20 and later called Bear were standard build short wheelbase for Tipper/Mixer work and were advertised fairly often in CM around 1969-71 for around 3700 quid,they must have been going head to head with Albion Reivers though. Things were far more interesting then,at the back end of 72 I got a drivers mate job on an Albion 6 wheeler which was one of a batch of H Plate LAD cabbed Clydesdales which had a Chassis extension and York Third Axle(remember them) fitted.

S W Brisbane of Knighton had a short wheelbase LAD cabbed Leyland Retriever which was a cancelled mixer order,they ran it from new 1965 as a tipper with a 600 engine,it grossed at 20 ton,and the payload was just over 12 ton. They had a brand new Leyland Retriever with the Ergo cab in late 1967 on an F plate which grossed at 22 ton.
Both are in this pic among other Albion LAD cabbed lorries and various Ergo cabbed Leylands.

Where I worked in Kirkby in the early / mid eighties, we had a Retriever with Powell Duffryn Dinosaur skip loader equipment, reg PFW466G.
I remember it having a Leyland 600 engine, AEC gearbox (identical to that in our AEC Marshal Tipper reg PEH521L), and interestingly, an ergo cab.
It was normally on long-term hire to Liverpool City Council.
In about '85 or '86, we looked at changing it for a new Constructor Six. The bloke from Woodwards at Formby who came to measure up to re-mount the skip loader said it was unusual to see a retriever with an ergo cab.
About the same time, the council stopped using dinosaur bins, so the new truck was never ordered, and the retriever was parked up at the top of the yard, where it stayed for six or seven years before going for scrap.

Here’s a Leyland Retreiver cattle wagon belonging to M E Saunders of Sparkbridge near Ulverston and a Leyland Comet of John Stable.An Arthur Ingram photo.

Dennis of Bewick may remember these two,I certainly remember Saunders.

I remember them running Leylands Chris but those two are a bit old for me. I worked for a while alongside a Leyland Reiver of theirs at Backbarrow moving a woodyard from one side of the river to the other. Never thought to take any pictures back then though. They are still going strong.