Ford 16-cylinder aeroplane parts transporters

[valkyrie]

WHITSUNTIDE Monday,26th May,2014.

Happy Whitsuntide
FORD-E & L Twin V8 Aeroplane Parts Transporters.
FORD-E & L 16-Cylinder Aeroplane Parts Tansporters.

Ford-E & L Sleeper COE Twin V8-Petrol-engined 6x4-4 Tractive Unit-Articulated Boxvan-bodied Aeroplane Parts Transporter Heavy Motor Trucks of
the United States of America Government,were built to transport Consolidated Liberator B24 Four-Engined Heavy Bomber Aeroplane parts and other aeroplane components from factories to assembly factories - mainly at Ford Motor Company’s huge Willow Run Factory,Michigan,during the 1942-1945 period of World War Two. A fleet of 100 of these very impressive 77-feet long,7 1/2 feet wide and 10 feet high Ford-E & L tractive unit-boxvan articulated motor trucks were built,and were involved in some long distance haulage journies between Buffalo,New York,Fort Worth,Texas,Tulsa,Oklahoma,Londonville,Ohio,Willow Run,Michigan and San Diego,California,United States of America.
These lorries had three-man crews:Two drivers and,because of the risk of enemy action such as sabotage,an armed guard.These motor trucks were built in 1942 and 1943 by E & L Transport,of Dearborn,Michigan,using Ford motor vehicle components,and both the tractive units and the semi-trailers were designed by E & L Transport,but the semi-trailers were built by Mechanical Handling Systems,of Detroit.
E & L = Ellenstein & Lawson Transport was,and still is,a major Ford motor vehicle transporter,and it appears as if Thorco Dual Motors - Thornton
Axle Company had a hand in the development of these motor trucks - a Thorco Dual Motors badge is on the front of one of the early examples of the aeroplane parts transporter.But the official name and manufacturer of these motor vehicles is Ford-E & L.

A prototype could well have had a widened version of the standard Ford COE motor truck cab of the period,and this could be the prototype,that other companies,besides Thorco Dual Motors,could have been involved:-
Ford-E & L,or Ford-Grico,Ford-Merry-Neville,or Ford-Spangler,or Ford-Thorco Sleeper COE Ford Twin V8 petrol-gasoline-engined 6x4 Tractive Unit-Articulated Aeroplane Parts Transporter Motor Truck.Widened cab.USA W 010136.Prototype probably:-

There were two versions of the tractive unit:The first version had a streamlined cab,while the second version had a square style cab…they were both good looking,but …oh my! the streamlined version is beautiful,sublime and awesome! It’s twin radiators grille was re-designed to allow more air in to the engines bay.
Specifications included two synchronized Ford-Mercury 239 CID SV V8-cylinder 95 bhp - 95 BHP = 190 BHP Petrol-Gasoline Engines,mounted side by side,each driving a 4-speed gearbox,synchronized ,with a single gearstick,the front driving axle was powered by one engine while the rearmost
driving axle was powered by the other engine.

Like I said,the first version had a streamlined cab,and this fabulous Ford-E & L 6x4-4 Tractive Unit-Articulated Aeroplane Parts Transporter is beautiful,sublime and awesome! :-FORD-E & L COE Twin Ford V8-engined 6x4-4 Articulated Aeroplane Parts Transporter,U.S.A. W.0101361.No.5. 1.:-

FORD-E & L COE Twin Ford V8-engined 6x4 Tractive Unit,Square Cab,Engines accessability - the engnes and gearboxes were mounted on a subframe
and could be rolled out for serviceing:-

FORD-E & L COE Twin Ford V8-engined 6x4-4 Articulated Aeroplane Transporter,Interior of body:-

FORD-E & L COE Twin Ford V8-engined 6x4-4 Articulated Aeroplane Parts Transporter,U.S.A. W.0101361.No.5,taking part in a War Bonds Rally-Parade,Detroit,Tuesday,16th June,1942:-

FORD-E & L COE Twin Ford V8-engined 6x4 Tractive Unit,USA W 0101406, 50,with a preserved Consolidated Liberator Four-engined Heavy Bomber Aeroplane,the parts of many the fleet of Ford-E & L outfits once transported:-

FORD-E & L Streamlined COE Twin Ford V8-engined 6x4 Tractive Unit,USA W 0101406, 50.Preserved. Fabulous,beautiful,awesome and sublime.1. :-

VALKYRIE

[3300john]

Hiya…do you know, i thought you was going to say it was in the UK doing some kind of tour round the truck shows.
now i’am like some bratt of a kid who,s days been spoiled…oh well i 'll get over it.
John

[trev_h]

VALKYRIE:
Fabulous,beautiful,awesome and sublime.1. :-

VALKYRIE

Cramped, ugly and petrol powered… Yuk !

[stever]

Fantastic! Wonder what the “gas” consumption was like?
Never seen five stud wheels before.

[jmc_jnr]

Awesome! Thanks for the pictures and history Valkyrie, you seem a very knowledgable chap .P erhaps this thread could be expanded to include other monsters, eg. when they shifted the “Spruce Goose”. Jim.

[bewick]

Trev_H:

VALKYRIE:
Fabulous,beautiful,awesome and sublime.1. :-

VALKYRIE

Cramped, ugly and petrol powered… Yuk !

A Big J Trev ■■? but when Petrol/Gas was 2 cents a gallon it wouldn’t really matter Give me a ring when your empty Trev. Dennis.

[retired_old_fart]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a horrible abortion of a vehicle in all my years.

But that’s only my opinion.

[carryfast]

Twin V8 petrol engines with less than 200 hp when they could have put this in it with more than double the power.

youtube.com/watch?v=adEy5j4XiJk

[gingerfold]

Retired Old ■■■■:
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a horrible abortion of a vehicle in all my years.

But that’s only my opinion.

Seconded. What a monstrosity,… then again beauty is in the eye of the beholder,… so it is said…

[gingerfold]

Carryfast:
Twin V8 petrol engines with less than 200 hp when they could have put this in it with more than double the power.

youtube.com/watch?v=adEy5j4XiJk

In the late 1930s / 1940s the twin-synchronised engine concept was trialled by several manufacturers and third party engineers. Such an AEC unit ended up powering a dyke pumping station in Holland, and was in situ until quite recent times.

[windrush]

Ford and Bedford had a go with twin engines in fairly recent years as well. Have to admit that Ford isn’t the prettiest truck I have seen, but then I guess it wasn’t designed to be! There were several American trucks with two engines, wasn’t one called a Spangler?

Pete.

[3300john]

gingerfold:

Carryfast:
Twin V8 petrol engines with less than 200 hp when they could have put this in it with more than double the power.

youtube.com/watch?v=adEy5j4XiJk

In the late 1930s / 1940s the twin-synchronised engine concept was trialled by several manufacturers and third party engineers. Such an AEC unit ended up powering a dyke pumping station in Holland, and was in situ until quite recent times.

Hiya did,nt they use a twin AEC engine in a ww 2 tank… on the show circut John Sanderson has a double Foden two stroke used in
ww 2 boats…one of those was used in the 1970 round great Brittain boat race.
John

[carryfast]

3300John:

gingerfold:

Carryfast:
Twin V8 petrol engines with less than 200 hp when they could have put this in it with more than double the power.

youtube.com/watch?v=adEy5j4XiJk

In the late 1930s / 1940s the twin-synchronised engine concept was trialled by several manufacturers and third party engineers. Such an AEC unit ended up powering a dyke pumping station in Holland, and was in situ until quite recent times.

Hiya did,nt they use a twin AEC engine in a ww 2 tank…

It was good for getting into bother.
But no good for running away from it like the 400 hp + Detroit Sherman although having said that a Sherman needed to be.

youtube.com/watch?v=PfTDDhNmRN4 2.45-4.19

[gingerfold]

3300John:

gingerfold:

Carryfast:
Twin V8 petrol engines with less than 200 hp when they could have put this in it with more than double the power.

youtube.com/watch?v=adEy5j4XiJk

In the late 1930s / 1940s the twin-synchronised engine concept was trialled by several manufacturers and third party engineers. Such an AEC unit ended up powering a dyke pumping station in Holland, and was in situ until quite recent times.

Hiya did,nt they use a twin AEC engine in a ww 2 tank… on the show circut John Sanderson has a double Foden two stroke used in
ww 2 boats…one of those was used in the 1970 round great Brittain boat race.
John

Yes I believe they did, twin 9.6 litre diesels, but they were individually driven to the tracks I believe. AEC diesels were also used on the Mulberry harbours for the Normandy invasion in 1944. These drove pumps and generators. I have AEC’s “Contribution to Victory” publication, so I will look it up.

[tonyj105]

gingerfold:

3300John:

gingerfold:

Carryfast:
Twin V8 petrol engines with less than 200 hp when they could have put this in it with more than double the power.

youtube.com/watch?v=adEy5j4XiJk

In the late 1930s / 1940s the twin-synchronised engine concept was trialled by several manufacturers and third party engineers. Such an AEC unit ended up powering a dyke pumping station in Holland, and was in situ until quite recent times.

Hiya did,nt they use a twin AEC engine in a ww 2 tank… on the show circut John Sanderson has a double Foden two stroke used in
ww 2 boats…one of those was used in the 1970 round great Brittain boat race.
John

Yes I believe they did, twin 9.6 litre diesels, but they were individually driven to the tracks I believe. AEC diesels were also used on the Mulberry harbours for the Normandy invasion in 1944. These drove pumps and generators. I have AEC’s “Contribution to Victory” publication, so I will look it up.

the mk2 matilda tank had 2 AEC bus engines and the Churchill had a bedford ‘twin six’ engine , which was basically 2 bedford 6 cylinder engines put together on a common crank to produce 350hp

[carryfast]

gingerfold:

3300John:

gingerfold:

Carryfast:
Twin V8 petrol engines with less than 200 hp when they could have put this in it with more than double the power.

youtube.com/watch?v=adEy5j4XiJk

In the late 1930s / 1940s the twin-synchronised engine concept was trialled by several manufacturers and third party engineers. Such an AEC unit ended up powering a dyke pumping station in Holland, and was in situ until quite recent times.

Hiya did,nt they use a twin AEC engine in a ww 2 tank… on the show circut John Sanderson has a double Foden two stroke used in
ww 2 boats…one of those was used in the 1970 round great Brittain boat race.
John

Yes I believe they did, twin 9.6 litre diesels, but they were individually driven to the tracks

As shown in the video which I posted in the previous post they were linked to a common output shaft driving to a single transmission.But obviously provided an even worse output than the twin V8’s in the topic.

[valkyrie]

FORD-E & L COE Twin Ford V8-engined 6x4 Tractive Unit-Articulated Aeroplane Parts Transporters.
FORD-E & L COE 16-Cylinder-engined 6x4 Tractive Unit-Articulated Aeroplane Parts Transporters.

Thanks everybody for the superb response to this thread-topic

Tank Engines:-
Churchill Tank:-
Bedford Twin-Six 21,241 CC,Side Valve,Horizontally Opposed 12-Cylinder 350 BHP Petrol Engine at 2200 RPM.Dry plate clutch and Merritt Brown
4F1R Gearbox.

Matilda Tank Mk1 and 2:-
Two AEC Diesel-Oil Engines geared together with the output to a Wilson Preselector 6F1R Gearbox:-
AEC A183 Comet MkIII IDI 6.61-Litre 6-Cylinder 87-100 BHP Diesel-Oil Engine,Lefthand.
AEC A184 Comet MkIII IDI 6.61-Litre 6-Cylinder 87-100 BHP Diesel-Oil Engine,Righthand.
Combined power output:-174 - 200 BHP.

According to Alan Townsin,the actual cubic capacity was 6.754 litres “but AEC had become addicted to engine sizes in multiples of 1.1 litres
for publicity purposes”. The A183-A184 was derived NOT FROM London Transport AEC double decker omnibus engines,but from the A172 Regal single decker motorcoach and bus and A186 lorry and single decker motorcoach and bus engines.

Maltilda Tank Mk3 and 4:-
Two Leyland Diesel-Oil Engines:-
Leyland E148 DI 7.4-Litre 6-Cylinder 95 BHP Diesel-Oil Engine,Lefthand.
Leyland E149 DI 7.4-Litre 6-Cylinder 95 BHP Diesel-Oil Engine,Righthand.
Combined power output:-190 BHP.

The E148-E149 was derived from the Leyland L-Type 6.2-Litre Diesel-Oil Engine.The E148-E149 became the post war Leyland E181 Engine that powered buses,motorcoaches and certain lorries.

As well as battle tanks,both AEC and Leyland ought to have fitted these twin engine units in their lorry,bus and motorcoach ranges -they’d have gotten somewhere then!

Yes,besides Foden lorries,motorcoaches,buses,etc,Foden two stroke diesel engines also powered rail,marine and industrial applications.The Foden
FD12 consisted of two FD6 engines geared together.

Now back to the fascinating,fabulous,charismatic,sublime and beautiful Ford-E & L Streamlined Sleeper COE Twin Ford V8-engined 6x4 Tractive
Unit-Aeroplane Parts Transporters
I first became aware of these motor trucks in 1984,and when I first saw them I went WOW! - these delightfully unusual Ford-E & L motor trucks are certainly head turners and show stoppers for all the right reasons And I’m other people will say that these Ford-E & L’s are attractive
as well
As I said in my original post,these lorries had three -manned crews,but what I did not mention,was that the cab’s had three individual and comfortable seats,three abreast seating and virtually a FLAT FLOOR! - it just curved slightly upwards towards the front dash panel,and the cab’s were pressed steel and draught-proof. They put the average British heavy lorry cab of the time to shame Plus the fact that they had roll-out engines units and were reasonably powerful,they were fairly advanced in their time True,the original streamlined cabs may have been a bit cramped,and that is why they came out with the bigger and roomier square cab.
Bewick is absolutely right about the petrol:Petrol-gasoline was still the standard fuel for the majority of motor vehicles of all kinds in those days,
and it was cheap and plentiful.
As for petrol-gasoline engines,their still great engines.The allies won World War Two with the help of mainly petrol-fuelled motor transport

The preserved FORD-E & L COE Twin Ford V8-engined 6x4 Tractive Unit,USA W0101406. 50, is owned by Tom Warren,of Amarillo, Texas,USA,and one of the square-cabbed Ford-E & L tractive units has also thankfully survived,plus some of the special semi-trailers

VALKYRIE

[stever]

Didn’t Ford in the UK produce several prototype ‘D Series’ 6x4 units in the early '70’s? Two Ford 360 6 cylinder engines side by side, two gearboxes driving an axle each. Ran on one engine when empty, two when loaded. BRS certainly operated more than one, maybe Leicester Heavy Haulage as well. There are pictures on here somewhere. All to do with a possible increase to 38t which never happened at that time, after all.

[robert1952]

SteveR:
Didn’t Ford in the UK produce several prototype ‘D Series’ 6x4 units in the early '70’s? Two Ford 360 6 cylinder engines side by side, two gearboxes driving an axle each. Ran on one engine when empty, two when loaded. BRS certainly operated more than one, maybe Leicester Heavy Haulage as well. There are pictures on here somewhere. All to do with a possible increase to 38t which never happened at that time, after all.

Is this the one you mean? Robert