I co edit the UK motor based website www.aronline.co.uk and am currently working on a new book with working title “Leyland T45 - The Complete Story”
Some truly big names from yesteryear are on board including Ogle designs Dr Tom Karen, some top ex Leyland design & marketing men & notable hauliers.
I am desperately looking for anecdotes, driver experiences and spec info (especially for TL12) for any Leyland product from Roadrunner to Roadtrain. In fact, anything T45.
Any help thats used or printed well get a mention in a really good quality book telling a story thats been criminally untold in full. Please contact me via the email address below:
We got this T45 Brand new , 1988 F 66 JJR Powered by the RR 300 T, It performed very well It was double shifted the first 6 months from day one, A few teething troubles but nothing to cause any great problems we ran it 7 years & John Arthur Ltd bought it & ran it on distance work for a few years, One of the best motors we ever had, Regards Larry & Nigel.
I’m delighted to hear that somebody is finally undertaking the task of recording this important &, until now, sadly neglected period of UK Commercial Vehicle history. I don’t think it is widely realised just how big a project the T45 range was, not only the products themselves, but also the factories, testing grounds & engine test facility were either new or significantly redeveloped.
T45 laid the foundations of what is ‘Leyland Trucks Ltd’ today, albeit now North American owned. The facility at Leyland is widely regarded as one of the most efficient of it’s kind in operation today & has won numerous awards such as the Institution of Mechanical Engineers ‘MX’ (manufacturing excellence) awards.
My dad ran four Constructor sixes on tipper work, all TL11a 24:21s. The first was on a ‘Y’ plate, then ‘B’, ‘C’ & finally ‘F’. Mechanically all were reliable work-horses, low tare weight & as good if not better than anything available from any other manufacturer for our type of work.
I for one will be looking forward to buying a copy of the book. Andrew Stone.
Maybe publishing some of the ongoing arguments in the best ERGO topic would be as good a place to start the story of the T45 and it’s development as any.
We ran a lot of roadtrains on Brs Oxford depot this was one of my best trucks I worked on and drove .I still talk to the two drivers who had her from new and I found her again in rush green motors a few years ago . The picture is taken in Brs Northampton Tony had just taken her through the truck wash which was based there at the time .
This is the Atlet roadtrain as found about 7 years ago in Rush green , i rang Tony as I was stood next to it , he was so happy it was not scrapped , it was rough though !
JAKEY:
This is the Atlet roadtrain as found about 7 years ago in Rush green , i rang Tony as I was stood next to it , he was so happy it was not scrapped , it was rough though !
Now come on Steve, you must have been tempted to get your wallet out & buy it to restore (I know you have a job lifting your wallet, but Rush Green have a forklift so they would have helped )
The British Commercial Vehicles Museum Trust Archives, King Street, Leyland will provide all the technical information and spec. sheets etc. you require for your project. Good luck. I will help with photos from the Spillers Milling fleet if you need any.
I used to overnight a lot at Southwaite on the M6 back in the 80’s, Browns T 45 Road Trains used to keep me awake most of the night. I could hear the drive axle whine from miles down the road.
I also dorve a T 45 for Exxel Logistics out of Didcot on the Tesco contract, for a truck that was designed to run in the 80’s it was some what behind what the rest of Europe had to offer at the time. This probably isn’t what you want for your book, but from my point of view thats how I felt about them, as did many others.
On another note I remember seeing a TV doco in the late 80’s about the design team working on the project.
I had a T45 Constructor 8 tipper it would still hold its own today nearly 25 years on! no speed limiter, analogue tacho, crack on freight up & toe down
Jelliot:
I used to overnight a lot at Southwaite on the M6 back in the 80’s, Browns T 45 Road Trains used to keep me awake most of the night. I could hear the drive axle whine from miles down the road.
I also dorve a T 45 for Exxel Logistics out of Didcot on the Tesco contract, for a truck that was designed to run in the 80’s it was some what behind what the rest of Europe had to offer at the time. This probably isn’t what you want for your book, but from my point of view thats how I felt about them, as did many others.
On another note I remember seeing a TV doco in the late 80’s about the design team working on the project.
Jeff…
I agree with you Jeff, the ride wasn’t that great, no synchromesh box, not a very smooth relaxing drive, & definately an acquired taste when compared to what Volvo/Scania etc had to offer! But having said that, personally I did actually enjoy driving them, they were a good work-horse, I wish they had made the cab interior a bit nicer, it was very drab, OK for a fleet wagon on day or shift work, but they could have up-dated it a bit & made it more driver friendly on the high-datum cab that was clearly made to target the long distance market! Regards Chris
Jelliot:
I used to overnight a lot at Southwaite on the M6 back in the 80’s, Browns T 45 Road Trains used to keep me awake most of the night. I could hear the drive axle whine from miles down the road.
I also dorve a T 45 for Exxel Logistics out of Didcot on the Tesco contract, for a truck that was designed to run in the 80’s it was some what behind what the rest of Europe had to offer at the time. This probably isn’t what you want for your book, but from my point of view thats how I felt about them, as did many others.
On another note I remember seeing a TV doco in the late 80’s about the design team working on the project.
Jeff…
At last someone else remembers this docu, i can still remember a driver who was on who complained that the gearbox was “too slow” and he kept beating it ■■? and 1 of the design team rabbiting on about sausage shaped markings that were inside and outside the cab
The sausage thing was one of things the design team seemed to be most proud of, if they had payed more attention to the rest of the vehicle it might have sold better. It was never going to be a big seller out side the UK as Leyland no longer had the European back up and service they previously had.
I’m not sure of the politics at the time of the T45’s in the Leyland heavy veicle world, but they, like the rest of the Leyland empire seemed to be a path of self distruction. Back in the 50’s and 60’s they had the world at their feet, but for some reason they seemed to let it all go. There were dealers all over the world, some of the first M/E trucks were Leyland, Mirand Co form Iran used to run petrol engined Morris trucks to Germany back in the 60’s. At one time Leyland were on every continent and had entrants into every kind of motor race. Was it that they were just arrogant and didn’t see the change coming, to little to late, or was it stuff higher up in the government. I would have been proud to of driven through Europe in a truck made in Britain, but they didn’t have the goods at the time.
Jelliot:
The sausage thing was one of things the design team seemed to be most proud of, if they had payed more attention to the rest of the vehicle it might have sold better. It was never going to be a big seller out side the UK as Leyland no longer had the European back up and service they previously had.
I’m not sure of the politics at the time of the T45’s in the Leyland heavy veicle world, but they, like the rest of the Leyland empire seemed to be a path of self distruction. Back in the 50’s and 60’s they had the world at their feet, but for some reason they seemed to let it all go. There were dealers all over the world, some of the first M/E trucks were Leyland, Mirand Co form Iran used to run petrol engined Morris trucks to Germany back in the 60’s. At one time Leyland were on every continent and had entrants into every kind of motor race. Was it that they were just arrogant and didn’t see the change coming, to little to late, or was it stuff higher up in the government. I would have been proud to of driven through Europe in a truck made in Britain, but they didn’t have the goods at the time.
Jeff…
I think they let themselves down with the build quality.Also the use of cheap plastics for the interior and the very basic design whereas their competitors were offering a much higher standard of quality.The drivetrain of Spicer box and Leyland axle was way off mark too ,a Fuller 9/13 speed option or the ZF 16 speed synchro would have given more choice coupled to a Rockwell back axle.I always got the impression everything coming from Leyland was half hearted ,the factory and facilities were in place, maybe a bit of headhunting in scandinavia to point them in the right direction may have been the order of the day
Rotherham engineering steels fleet no43 off utube steelworks memories
(I know you have a job lifting your wallet, but Rush Green have a forklift so they would have helped 
