Here is my first Mini of which I was the second owner circa 1963/4 how I wish I had kept the registration number. A couple of years later we were up at Oban on holiday when the Ben Cruachan dam and power station was under construction, no Elf n Safety restrictions in those days so we zoomed up the dam access road to the almost completed dam as my photos show. Great little car good to look at and fun to drive.
Cheers Leyland 600.
Oh alright then - this was my second Mini (1275 GT) with run flat Dunlop Denovos and I blew the head gasket thraping it of course âŚ
Gardner 120:
Oily - yes it was a Clubman registered in March 1974 and yes, from Longbridge - it was always B L motors for a Cov kid - I was an apprentice at the Jag, my grandad and Mum worked at Standard Triumph, uncle at Massey Ferguson and Dad at the Dunlop - all gone now apart from a bit of Dunlop - I also worked at Motor Panels for 10 years - plenty of cabs out of there.I see your trusty wagon had a Cov plate too RW
Progressive Deliveries were off Fletchampstead Highway(A45) heading north left into Tile Hill Lane first left was the yard and HQ of Progressive, the guvânor Billy âTraderâ Horn and his two sons, so yes the Cov. RW plate, I also had a wagon and drag which was VC and the Mercury was DU.
Minis at Cowley, well in the early days they left the factory with the carpets in the boot because they leaked badly in rainy driving conditions, but hey a cure was found, and it wasnât to stop the water coming in but to let it out by fitting rubber grommet plugs in the floorpan. anyway the BMC story is here youtube.com/watch?v=VTCfJKNE2hg this one a bit tongue in cheek with a content of real and acting.
Oily
Thanks to cattle wagon man, Leyland600, Buzzer and Gardner 120 for the pics 
now an 1949 Austin K8 Mini Mover this is actually in Canada with thanks to James Tworow, note the twin pipes 
Oily
cattle wagon man:
" A trip down Memory Lane" , âŚor , in this case ,âŚaRoad Run at Easter Weekend.Tom Maughan, from Great Asby , â â â â â â â , at the wheel of his restored Ford Thames Trader , the type of vehicle he first
drove many years ago .Cheers , cattle wagon man.
Great photo Roy.
Talking of Fletchamstead Highway etc Oily, my Nan & Grandad lived on Tile Hill Lane, just opposite the Standard factory/social club (short walk for my old Grandad every day) - he worked there 1941 - 1979.
Anyway, all day and all night, lorries with bodies on would grind up and down Tile Hill Lane - bodies came from Speke I think and the tractor unit (with 1 axle trailer) looked like this beauty here (but British Leyland blue) - there was one on âLife on Marsâ the other night - anyone know what model it is?
I donât think they went all the way to Liverpool though - just shuttled local I think
Gardner 120:
Talking of Fletchamstead Highway etc Oily, my Nan & Grandad lived on Tile Hill Lane, just opposite the Standard factory/social club (short walk for my old Grandad every day) - he worked there 1941 - 1979.Anyway, all day and all night, lorries with bodies on would grind up and down Tile Hill Lane - bodies came from Speke I think and the tractor unit (with 1 axle trailer) looked like this beauty here (but British Leyland blue) - there was one on âLife on Marsâ the other night - anyone know what model it is?
I donât think they went all the way to Liverpool though - just shuttled local I think
We called it a Leyland Tiddler when it was introduced but I donât suppose that was itâs proper name! Could it have been âTerrierâ?
Leyland 90 was its proper title, it used the split case rear axle from the BMC FG range and a modified LAD cab. The Terrier came later, part of the Leyland Redline range, the early models were fitted with Nitrogen activated brakes which were âinterestingâ to say the least! 
Pete.
I knew Iâd heard the Terrier name somewhere.
Interesting braking concept, Pete. How did it work and where did the nitrogen come from?
download/file.php?id=106384&t=1
The ONLY driving test I have ever taken was on one of those Austins, it had a small van body on it, late 1950âs. And 
it was a cold frosty February morning, patchy ice on the roads, passed my test, running back to the depot (I was a van lad at Harrisons Dewsbury at the time), hit a bit of ice and ran the van into a wallâŚ15 minutes after passing my test. That fellas, is getting experience the hard way.
Retired Old â â â â :
I knew Iâd heard the Terrier name somewhere.
Interesting braking concept, Pete. How did it work and where did the nitrogen come from?
Well the early BMC Terrier had a large plastic tank at the rear of the cab, similar to a cooling system header tank, and this contained the brake fluid. This was pumped around the braking system by an engine driven pump, like a power steering pump, and mounted below the cab behind the front bumper were two cylinders filled with Nitrogen which provided the assistance. We had a large cylinder of Nitrogen in the workshop to recharge them when needed. I believe that one cylinder worked one side brakes and vice-versa, the problem was that they could easily go out of balance if one cylinder had less pressure than the other! I didnât do much work on them so cannot recall the actual means of operation (it was 40+ years ago!) and I was actually booked into Cowley for a training course on them but jacked in the job and went to work for Bedford dealer instead. The later âsquare frontedâ Terrierâs had a conventional vacuum/hydraulic system so there must have been problems, I did wonder about the safety aspect of the cylinderâs in a front end crash? 
Pete.
Thanks to harry, Gardner 120, Stanfield and kevmac47 for the pics, yes steam such an uncomplicated source of unlimited power, so diligently kept alive by stalwarts such as Fred (RIP).
Oily
windrush:
Leyland 90 was its proper title, it used the split case rear axle from the BMC FG range and a modified LAD cab. The Terrier came later, part of the Leyland Redline range, the early models were fitted with Nitrogen activated brakes which were âinterestingâ to say the least!Pete.
Leyland 90 thanks to Ronnie Cameron.
Oily
At the other end of the Leyland weight scale, thanks to Canadian Pacific.
Oily
I meant to post this last night, but forgot.
Ref the Ford Trader pics, who was driving the Trader tipper carrying a tractor on the M4 near J32 on Sunday, eastbound, about 4.30pm?
Cheers fellas - Leyland 90 - they were only pulling a single axle trailer with maybe 4 bodies on so no real weight and I can hear them now, over 40 years on, grinding up and down Tile Hill Lane
My uncle was an apprentice there 1957 to 1962 and having bought an old Standard Companion van, set about âborrowingâ the engine and transmission (a la Johnny Cash âone piece at a timeâ) I think he ended up with a Herald 12/50 engine, Spitfire gearbox and its high lift cam - he actually bought the block - Iâd have to ask about the exact details but suffice to say it was quite a hot van (in more ways than one).
My old man (his brother in law) borrowed it once and spotting a gap in traffic, gunned it - said it squealed rubber and drew a lot of looks from nearby shoppers
Gardner 120:
Cheers fellas - Leyland 90 - they were only pulling a single axle trailer with maybe 4 bodies on so no real weight and I can hear them now, over 40 years on, grinding up and down Tile Hill LaneMy uncle was an apprentice there 1957 to 1962 and having bought an old Standard Companion van, set about âborrowingâ the engine and transmission (a la Johnny Cash âone piece at a timeâ) I think he ended up with a Herald 12/50 engine, Spitfire gearbox and its high lift cam - he actually bought the block - Iâd have to ask about the exact details but suffice to say it was quite a hot van (in more ways than one).
My old man (his brother in law) borrowed it once and spotting a gap in traffic, gunned it - said it squealed rubber and drew a lot of looks from nearby shoppers
A bit the same at Cowley, I had a neighbour a few doors away, he even had a price list and no part seemed unobtainable, he was collar and tie and a trusted employee, but eventually he got caught, not by management but snitched on by a so called mate 
perhaps one to many involved in the supply chain. One or two bitsa kit cars about then. Complete cars also used to go missing only to be eventually traced and the perpetrators punished.
Oily