I was in Scania Southampton a couple of weeks ago and saw this old 81 stood there, though somebody might like the pictures.
In my early years i spent alot of time in one of those with my stepdad pulling Ferrymaster trailers around … 
looks realy great!
Me and my dad are in the middle of restoring a 81 a lot of job but great fun:-)
Reg Danne
Smashing little lorry had one for four years made some serious money could Not fault it regards rowlanD
Great looking little truck.
Is that a factory sleeper or an after market job?
Looks a nice little tool. I wonder if it’s ex Peter Bowker from Bridgnorth,they ran a few of those 81 sleepers I believe.
I have to say - and Harry Gill will say the same 
that I found them grossly underpowered at 32t. They were,however,very manouverable with a good turning circle,good heater,radio and mirrors -oh and cab light.I seem to remember that there was a bit of delay before the brakes came off when releasing parking brake,I used the trailer brake mostly when stood in traffic.
Chris Hudson had quite a few 81 sleepers.
tonyj105:
Chris Hudson had quite a few 81 sleepers.
This is a shot of the last two new 81’s we got at Bewick Transport in late 1981,they were long wheelbase chassis and Unity Coachbuilders in Bolton did a very nice sleeper conversion on them.We also had a couple of the standard wheelbase 81 sleepers in the fleet as well as a number of non sleeper versions.Bewick.
80 or 81 were a great little bosses motor,they were underpowered if you were used to driving a 111 but they had good soundproofing,syncro box with splitter ,good all around vision,i know i didn’t want my erf back,you could even wind the windows up with a handle,what luxury.
I dont think thats one of Hudsons wrong reg his were all on essex regs IIRC would still look nice restored.Loved restoring the two I done so rare as a sleeper most were unity conversions
theres a woman on here who is related to the bowkers so if she see’s this we will see !!
Is it for Sale?
could it be amongst this linup ■■
curnock:
could it be amongst this linup ■■
Where’s “H” ? 
harry bet you would like this when it was new ah ah regards rowly
Glass Glover Distribution ran loads of 81s on the Littlewoods contract in the late 70s and early 80s.Harry would have loved it!!
They ran 4-wheelers as drawbar outfits as well,including one with auto box - now they were hard work. 
And one finished up as a shunter.
They were disposed of when the 82s came - they weren’t much better either.
Bewick:
tonyj105:
Chris Hudson had quite a few 81 sleepers.This is a shot of the last two new 81’s we got at Bewick Transport in late 1981,they were long wheelbase chassis and Unity Coachbuilders in Bolton did a very nice sleeper conversion on them.We also had a couple of the standard wheelbase 81 sleepers in the fleet as well as a number of non sleeper versions.Bewick.
This is a shot of one of the LWB 81’s just back in the depot from Unity Coachbuilders in 1981.
I must admit they do look a nice tractor unit with the sleeper Dennis,as I said the only complaint I had was they were so underpowered. I used to look for summat else in t’yard when on trunk.
What size engines did they have ?
Reason i ask is im pretty certain the one my stepdad drove pulling ferrymaster trailers was 38T gross … it was the slowest thing ive ever been in but i liked it . I could be wrong but i do remember pulling Tri axles with it .
This truck was the subject of a similar thread a while ago.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=71975&
I did ask Peter Bowker about it but he can’t remember if it was one of his…bear in mind he is 82 years old, and had so many vehicles pass through the fleet over the years…
A couple of our older drivers seem to think it was, so I’ve PM’d Ford5000 on here, as he’s an ex PGB driver and may be able to remember.
The other person to ask is Ray Hingley, he’s bound to know whose it was, but seeing as I’m off work sick at the minute that’ll have to wait a while I’m afraid.
Sorry to be of no help…