mr big:
In 1969 i drove a Scammel Handyman with a Leyland 680 fitted under the bonnet,it had the exhaust coming out in front of the first axle and at night you could wind it up on the m6 and watch a blue flame coming out the pipe.I got followed by the old bill in a jag on the A66 and got done at kendel court 35 quid for traveling at 79mph over a distance of 3 tenths of a mile.
I remember the Scammel Handyman with the 680 fitted. Mine had a gate-change gearbox with a clutch-brake that I couldn’t get used to until another driver told me to use only two fingers to change and not my whole fist. Worked like magic after that.
I never found out what the top speed was but 65mph was normal for me, if you went any faster the engine would chuck out clouds of black smoke.
I was working for Speedfreight of Dargate at the time mainly tramping with a 40ft trailer all over the UK. I think the owner was called Reg Moore and the transport manager was John Snow.
The cab was very noisy and I had to fit some sound-deadening material to the doors and the engine cover in order to make it bearable. But she was a flying machine and ate up the miles with ease. I made good money because we were paid mileage in those days.