Dave the Renegade:
This Mercedes belonged to Llanelly Steel Co Ltd,who kept their three artics in the yard of the firm that I drove for in Kington Herefordshire.
Don;t forget – Clive Price drove this Merc on changeover with these two great drivers.
Regards – Hywel —
Is that the Clive Price who runs the Scania’s now?
Hi Altitude – Yes you’ve got him in one. – Clive Price - Hay-on-Wye.
Clive drove with us- Price Llandovery hauling Cynghordy Bricks to the London area.
When he finished with us in 1972, - he starded his own business with a Guy 6w rigid tipper
hauling grain. - the scanias came after.
Clive was a good lorry driver and businessman .- regards – Hywel.--
Hi Hywel
Not been down that way for years, Dave has put pic’s of Clives Scanias on his thread. I did a bit of grain years ago and would meet them at different mills, as the years go on I am always afraid to ask when an old name comes up, but is Clive still about.
altitude:
Hi Hywel
Not been down that way for years, Dave has put pic’s of Clives Scanias on his thread. I did a bit of grain years ago and would meet them at different mills, as the years go on I am always afraid to ask when an old name comes up, but is Clive still about.
Cheers
John.
Hi John, – I see his Scanias often but I haven’t seen Clive for 25 years, - he is retired now but he still in charge, unless his son Russell has overtaken him. We were hauling grain for him in the early 80s,with an F10 + Hoyner fold in sides and a Scammell 8w.
–Hywel–
altitude:
Hi Hywel
Not been down that way for years, Dave has put pic’s of Clives Scanias on his thread. I did a bit of grain years ago and would meet them at different mills, as the years go on I am always afraid to ask when an old name comes up, but is Clive still about.
Cheers
John.
Hi John, – I see his Scanias often but I haven’t seen Clive since the 85s - he is retired now but he still in charge, unless his son has overtaken him. We were hauling grain for him in the early 80s,with an F10 + Hoyner fold in sides and a Scammell 8w.
–Hywel–
Hi Hywel,
John Gwilliam from Clifford near Hay On Wye drove the same Merc on Llanelly Steel,he later drove for John Evans and recently retired after driving for J & B from Criclade,you may know him as well. Clive Price son Russell doe’s quite a bit of running the business as you said.
Cheers Dave.
We had them in the Northeast too, I’m sure Cawthorn Sinclair ran them and I know AW Ellis did as well as the flat fronts, don’t think we called them Bullnose up here, ‘Langnose’ maybe! Mind some called them ‘Ghormin Bedfads’ so they might not have had the respect other motors had. Headlights and brakes I remember were not so hot and one fitter told me they had a habit of shooting the injector through the rocker cover if they got blocked, never saw it myself and being the kind of wind up merchant he was I never quite believed it. Oh the double plate clutch caught some people out too, it didn’t take much to burn them out. One driver had a snazzy way of changing the two speed switch with his knee for a quick change. Comfortable motors though and quieter than our home grown machines. I drove one of the later square cabbed 1418’s, blimey, had to push my hands against the windscreen to help it up the hills, still it was an old girl. Franky.
Didn’t Simpson’s Malt from up Scotch have a fleet of those bonneted Mercs in the 70’s pulling tippers? I don’t remember any North East hauliers running them, but there were a few run the flat fronted ones- Elddis, Stillers, Waughs and Clarks spring to mind. My first artic was an “R” reg 1418, must have been one of the last and I can vouch for what the others said about the performance and brakes. This one had the exhauster connected to the trailer brakes and if you used the exhaust brake in the wet with an m/t trailer the trailer wheels would lock up.The parking brake was a strange affair as well, a mechanical thing shaped like an umbrella handle which you pulled up and twisted to apply. You couldn’t stop the things if you were running solo and yet they used to go through the MOT evry year no probs. Later I drove a 1924, same cab, same brakes same, performance but with a back to front 6 speed box just make it more interesting, the 1418s I seem to remember had a 5 speed box with a 2 speed axle. Those old Mercs were pretty unburstable, they were only geared to do about 55mph but I once saw 75 coming down Brighouse bank on the M62 with the rev counter through the red line and out the other side but it never flackered. The cabs were pretty roomy as well, Ithought than the 1626 type that replaced them.
len green ran a couple & one normal control merc which i prefered-12 volt electrics so u had to change bulbse every tr change whent well but not so good stopping-alanprefered erf anyday
It’s funny you sat they had a “Noddy car” look to them- The J.W.Q. drivers used to joke that the Merc was “Daddy”, the VW campervan was “Mummy” and the VW beetle was “Baby” !
Wheel Nut:
I have never been a fan of bonneted trucks but do have a soft spot for these old bulbous Mercs. They have a noddy car look to them and seem as though they are smiling.
One of my first dealings with one was in my first few weeks of tankering. I had to meet a German driver from Rinnen on Hull docks and show him the way to ICI Wilton. I had an F7 and he sat behind me up the A19 towards Thirsk, when we got onto the dual carriageway, he flashed me to stop and told me that I could drive faster as he could easily keep up. I told him I was driving fast and he dissed my little F7 that I was so proud of
I was supposed to show him the ropes in Wilton but he was my teacher that day and we tipped both tanks back to back as he had enough equipment in his boxes to join them together. 15 years later I was cleaning in Rinnen in Maxdorf and saw this old bullnose being used as a yard shunter. I would love to think it was the same one.
Hi there Chaps I’ve been trawling through my holiday pics and through my archive and here’s some more “Bullnose” pics. I’ve come to the conclusion that "Bullnose " was definately a nickname for these bonneted Mercs. I know there was an old car called a Bullnose Morris but I couldn’t imagine Mercedes calling one of their lorries a “Bullnose” !? I wonder if it was just a nickname given to them by J.W.Q. drivers ■■
The 1st on was taken in Crete in 2005, she was looking a bit tired but i think it still went; the next two were taken at Corfu airport in 1994 and were used to ferry passengers from the planes to the terminal; the fourth one was taken through a coach window in Egypt and looks fairly new.
Simpson’s Malt used to have quite a few bull nosed Mercs our George worked for them for a good few years and they did some fair old mileage in them Berwick to Inverness and back to Edinburgh for a days work before the A9 was done.
Willie Harrison ( of stock car racing fame No2 ) also ran one or two if I recall he was also the local Mercedes dealer at the time his yard was at Canklow Rotherham
I see them still daily on the TF1in Tenerife a builders merchants and a couple of 4 wheelers from a bannana plantation company. Ill see if i can get some photos they are fully restored too.
We had one when i left school with the same PUV reg ex poulters at Sampsons it used to be parked at the back of the depot and was used for spares for the LPS1418s we had. I seem to remember the BBC made a play for today in the late 70s where a bloke who was a driv3er got lilled and his son kept going to the depot and sleeping in the cab and it was that vehicle at the back of the yard they used we used to call it the long nosed merc.
mrken:
We had one when i left school with the same PUV reg ex poulters at Sampsons it used to be parked at the back of the depot and was used for spares for the LPS1418s we had. I seem to remember the BBC made a play for today in the late 70s where a bloke who was a driv3er got lilled and his son kept going to the depot and sleeping in the cab and it was that vehicle at the back of the yard they used we used to call it the long nosed merc.
Hello Mrken, I can remember that play and seeing that old Merc. in Sampsons yard ( was it Tollgate rd.? ) I also recall one of the songs played, “No more Heros” by the Stranglers. Regards, Haddy.
len green ran a couple & one normal control merc which i prefered-12 volt electrics so u had to change bulbse every tr change whent well but not so good stopping-alan
prefered erf anyday
and he dissed my little F7 that I was so proud of 
