Hello all. I am currently restoring my 1964 Foden S21 Tractor unit that was new to BOC. However whilst picking away at some of the top paint and looking at it from different angles in the sun it appears to have the name “AJ.Freeman” on the cab. Does anyone know anything about this company? A quick Google search has shown that there is a company by this name that may have something to do with commercial vehicles but that is all i can find. It is possible that the lorry has, as some time, been used as a wrecker, as there was a large front bracket added and a large number of holes in the rear chassis that looked like they could have once held a crane/winch.
Hiya …theirs a chap called Freeman on the M42 …jct10 /A446 roundabout called Freeman who was a
Foden man at one time.his lorries was a very light grey with 2 green stripes running just below the
windscreen. he was on the brewers gains from Burton in the 70,s when i was on for AT RIchardsons.
I,ve just google earthed the spot and it apears Freemans is still on that land.
the place is called dunton wharf. the yard is full of what looks like milk tankers.
i can,t make out the initails before the word Freeman. hope this helps.
theirs a chap just up the road,from Freemans called Peter Archer (fork truck delivery,s) who is a all
Foden dancing and singing chap who may well help you in more ways than one.
John
Thanks thats great! I may try and scrape a bit of the old paint off the front of the cab then and see if i can find any traces of green! I’ve just been trying to find that Peter Archer on the net but not much luck. You dont know a rough address/company name etc for him do you? Or even rough directions that i could use to find him on google maps?
Cheers. Just got hold of a Paul Archer there who has said that Freemans are still going, under the name WR Freeman - that was all he knew. So thats my next port of call!
This is turning into a right task. Just phoned that number for freeman and the number is no longer in use :s Looking at the company though theres a chance it could be the right one. They seem to have at least 1 foden now and theyve been going for a long time - so at least its a good start! Just need to try and get in touch with them now!
Item name: A J Freeman Engineers
Street address: Forge Wood Industrial Estate, Gatwick Road
Postcode: RH10 9PG
Town or Suburb: Crawley (West Sussex)
Country or region: West Sussex
GPS coordinates:
Telephone(s): 01293 544 006
Fax: 01293 544 012
Website:
Email:
Short description:
A J Freeman Engineers from Crawley, business type: Road Haulage And Transport Services
Item name: A J Freeman Engineers
Street address: Forge Wood Industrial Estate, Gatwick Road
Postcode: RH10 9PG
Town or Suburb: Crawley (West Sussex)
Country or region: West Sussex
GPS coordinates:
Telephone(s): 01293 544 006
Fax: 01293 544 012
Website:
Email:
Short description:
A J Freeman Engineers from Crawley, business type: Road Haulage And Transport Services
Hiya…who the hell started this thread off■■? well i,ve looked and looked but now i,ve found a corgi model.
its a Scammell with AJ Freeman on the lettering. the lorry is red wheels dark blue wings with pale
blue cab and ballast box, the site is called west coast heavy haulage models. this chap whose painted the
lorry must know something about Freemans to have done this livery…see how we do mr turner
it states the model has been made speciley as a 40th present to the chaps brother and the family.
good luck john
let us know how you go on.
3300John:
Hiya…who the hell started this thread off■■? well i,ve looked and looked but now i,ve found a corgi model.
its a Scammell with AJ Freeman on the lettering. the lorry is red wheels dark blue wings with pale
blue cab and ballast box, the site is called west coast heavy haulage models. this chap whose painted the
lorry must know something about Freemans to have done this livery…see how we do mr turner
it states the model has been made speciley as a 40th present to the chaps brother and the family.
good luck john
let us know how you go on.
3300John:
Hiya…who the hell started this thread off■■? well i,ve looked and looked but now i,ve found a corgi model.
its a Scammell with AJ Freeman on the lettering. the lorry is red wheels dark blue wings with pale
blue cab and ballast box, the site is called west coast heavy haulage models. this chap whose painted the
lorry must know something about Freemans to have done this livery…see how we do mr turner
it states the model has been made speciley as a 40th present to the chaps brother and the family.
good luck john
let us know how you go on.
j_turner023:
Hello all. I am currently restoring my 1964 Foden S21 Tractor unit that was new to BOC. However whilst picking away at some of the top paint and looking at it from different angles in the sun it appears to have the name “AJ.Freeman” on the cab. Does anyone know anything about this company? A quick Google search has shown that there is a company by this name that may have something to do with commercial vehicles but that is all i can find. It is possible that the lorry has, as some time, been used as a wrecker, as there was a large front bracket added and a large number of holes in the rear chassis that looked like they could have once held a crane/winch.
Any input greatly appreciated!
…be interesting to know which BOC site the Foden was based at (ironic the model having a possibly ficticious Sheffield address yet BOC having a long established operation at Brinsworth)I’m probably barking up the wrong tree as usual, well barking anyway!
Again, thanks all! It really is turning into a bit of a job this isnt it! Ive got one of the old Foden sales guys on the case now and he has a couple of leads regarding a company in the North East, so will see what he comes up with.
Unfortunately i have no idea which BOC site it was from. DVLA have no records of it, the Foden records only show the build spec for the run and BOC’s “archives” only go back to the early 90’s. In fact if it wasnt for the fact that it still has all the BOC signs inside the cab then i probably wouldnt have had any idea where it was from originally.
All i do know is i brought it from Nottingham way.
Anyway, I’ll keep you all updated as and when i get any more infor good or bad.
Ah yes - The registration is FGF601C. It didnt cross my mind to attach photos sorry, so here we go. They arnt quite up to date as we have now pretty much finished the brakes/air system as well. Mainly just the electrics and cab work to be done now. Also because you cant tell from the photos its had a new diff (old one was one solid lump!) new shoes & chambers, new pump tops (fired up and ran like new on the button), new transmission handbrake, gearbox out inspected cleaned and rebuilt, new exhaust, new fuel tank and filters, and many other things I cant remember off the top of my head!
Hiya nice one jon…i know who you are now after seeing the 8 legger.looks like you,ve abit more to do
with the unit. still no number plate, have you got to apply for a new one,■■ that,ll be on the foden register
i would think if you have the chassis number…keep on sanding.
John
Its FGF601C. Luckily its cab plate was still there so I’ve managed to get its original number back on it from the DVLA! The majority of the white paint came off witht he power washer. Unfortunately the remains are really thick and very well stuck to the layers below it, so a lot of sanding will be in order. Just need to be careful not to go down throught to the fibre glass. Although we do litrally everything (apart from the MOT’s) ourselves it is tempting to let a mate of mine do the prep and paintwork on the cab - just because i know that that is definately not my strong point!
Looked promising at the start too!
