A pair rusting away on Lanzarote
DISPATCHER:
This may have been posted before on the Southampton thread ■■
Tailking of Southampton , Pitters had a big fleet of Seddons would see them in the West Mids . regards Keith .
Seddon on test pictured on Buckstones Road Shaw which was a regular test route due to the numerous steep hills in the area
Exact same location today
Exact same location today
Seddon long-haulers, eh? OK, so what’s the low-down on these pics of a LHD Seddon from the '60s (by the look of the cab interior). It’s clearly sparse, with lots of bare metal; but it has a sleeper cab with a bunk, and what looks like a 9-speed Fuller gear stick! It also appears to have a split-windscreen which might date it back a bit. Any knowledge out there? Robert 
Well its definitely the same type of cab as those shown in the brochure pics except with the earlier split screen, either built for export or Continental runs being a left ■■■■■■ with a sleeper conversion. As it has no seats fitted the pictures were likely taken during conversion/build. Interesting all the same, I’ve never seen an exterior view of this Seddon, bed looks quite good though for the time! Franky.
robert1952:
Seddon long-haulers, eh? OK, so what’s the low-down on these pics of a LHD Seddon from the '60s (by the look of the cab interior). It’s clearly sparse, with lots of bare metal; but it has a sleeper cab with a bunk, and what looks like a 9-speed Fuller gear stick! It also appears to have a split-windscreen which might date it back a bit. Any knowledge out there? Robert
Those photos were posted by mushroomman on page 1 of this thread. Judging by the arrangement of the rear windows and the shape of the windscreen, it has the same type of cab as this one, also posted by mushroomman:
That may give some idea as to the age of it. Regarding its destination, I would look through CM’s archives for the Amsterdam and Brussels show reports, but the site is not showing pictures at the moment.
Do you know what is wrong with it?
[zb]
anorak:robert1952:
Seddon long-haulers, eh? OK, so what’s the low-down on these pics of a LHD Seddon from the '60s (by the look of the cab interior). It’s clearly sparse, with lots of bare metal; but it has a sleeper cab with a bunk, and what looks like a 9-speed Fuller gear stick! It also appears to have a split-windscreen which might date it back a bit. Any knowledge out there? RobertThose photos were posted by mushroomman on page 1 of this thread. Judging by the arrangement of the rear windows and the shape of the windscreen, it has the same type of cab as this one, also posted by mushroomman:
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That may give some idea as to the age of it. Regarding its destination, I would look through CM’s archives for the Amsterdam and Brussels show reports, but the site is not showing pictures at the moment.
Sorry about that! We appear to be going round in circles on this one. Robert 
It’s probably the interior of a Seddon SD4 tractor unit, sleeper cab left hand control version. In the late 1950s Seddon was attempting to make inroads into the European market, especially the Benelux countries and did have moderate success with its lighter models. The SD4 was a heavy duty tractor unit with a ■■■■■■■ engine and Eaton-Fuller gearbox. It was expensive and heavy for the late 1950s so not many were sold. Probably the most photographed SD4 was the Graham Adams one used for transporting Donald Campbell’s land-speed record breaking car.
Hiya the later Donald Campbel Seddon transporter still exists (the glass fibre cabbed one) it lives in Cheshire
and under cover. i know the chap who owns her. he has two other lorries on the circuit.
John
gingerfold:
It’s probably the interior of a Seddon SD4 tractor unit, sleeper cab left hand control version. In the late 1950s Seddon was attempting to make inroads into the European market, especially the Benelux countries and did have moderate success with its lighter models. The SD4 was a heavy duty tractor unit with a ■■■■■■■ engine and Eaton-Fuller gearbox. It was expensive and heavy for the late 1950s so not many were sold. Probably the most photographed SD4 was the Graham Adams one used for transporting Donald Campbell’s land-speed record breaking car.
Good information as ever, Mr. Gingerfold. I wonder if any of our contributors from that part of Europe have any more photos or information on those export Seddons?
PS Are you having trouble seeing pictures on the CM archive?
Stanfield:
Seddon Mk 5
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Can just remember them , they did Metal Box work out of Wyldes lane . regards Keith
It seems there were a few options with the new, in 1959, SD4 Tractor unit at 24 or 32 Ton GCW depending on the power plant used. The ■■■■■■■ HF6 gave 178bhp and could be matched to D Brown or Fuller boxes but it seems this Tractor was initially only produced for export, I presume the sleeper option went with it but the CM article from 1959 doesn’t mention the sleeper. Interesting stuff. Franky.
I have wondered if Seddon was the first British assembler to offer ■■■■■■■ engines as a ‘from new option’. I know that such as Wynns were using ■■■■■■■ for re-engining their heavy haulage Pacifics and Diamond T’s in the 1950s, but does anyone know for definite when Atkinson and ERF began fitting ■■■■■■■ engines as a factory fitted option?
Come off it Robert calling the interior a BIT SPARSE never, for them days that was positively luxury a real BUNK what a difference from the breadboard and a strip o foam, Eddie.
erfguy:
Come off it Robert calling the interior a BIT SPARSE never, for them days that was positively luxury a real BUNK what a difference from the breadboard and a strip o foam, Eddie.
I have to admit you have a point. Some lorries I drove only had a parcel shelf to sleep on, and they were newer than that seddi! Robert 
gingerfold:
I have wondered if Seddon was the first British assembler to offer ■■■■■■■ engines as a ‘from new option’. I know that such as Wynns were using ■■■■■■■ for re-engining their heavy haulage Pacifics and Diamond T’s in the 1950s, but does anyone know for definite when Atkinson and ERF began fitting ■■■■■■■ engines as a factory fitted option?
World Trucks No.1- ERF, by Pat Kennett, says this on page 28: “…in 1958 a… decision was taken to offer engines other than Gardners… The first ■■■■■■■ engined truck was a KV-cab 8 wheeler, which was delivered to Charles Butts of Northampton in 1958.”
I’ll have a look at the Atki book tomorrow. I might need reminding… 
Edit: Mr.Kennett’s Sed Ak text states that Atki first offered ■■■■■■■ in 1964- 180 and 205bhp versions. The book also has a picture of the 1964 Guardsman, with a 235bhp V8, which I would say was a VINE.
It seems likely therefore that ■■■■■■■ started to supply the premium loose engine market in about 1958, coinciding with the approximate time that they had visited the Gardner factory and seen how antiquated the Barton Hall assembly methods were. It was that visit that convinced the ■■■■■■■ executives that there was a market in the UK to be tapped in to.
gingerfold:
It seems likely therefore that ■■■■■■■ started to supply the premium loose engine market in about 1958, coinciding with the approximate time that they had visited the Gardner factory and seen how antiquated the Barton Hall assembly methods were. It was that visit that convinced the ■■■■■■■ executives that there was a market in the UK to be tapped in to.
The ERF book mentions difficulty in getting supplies of Gardner engines as one of the reasons for exploring other makes, so ■■■■■■■ would not have been short of encouragement from their potential customers.