Here is one of a Holt Lane Atki. This is what lorries looked like back in the '60’s.
Here is a picture of my ‘Poorly Atki’ taken this weekend.
The timber framed cab was starting to rattle a bit so it was time to add a bit of reinforcement, namely some steel.
Whilst doing this, it was decided to renew the perished window rubbers to stop the windows falling out. Thanks to my good friend, Kev Battersby for doing this.
KV, are those the air powered wipers on your motor? I just wondered!
Mal:
KV, are those the air powered wipers on your motor? I just wondered!
They most certainly are!
Pity the bloke who tested the Atki last didn’t know how to operate them.
He used the footbrake to pump all the air off (usual part of test). He then started the engine and started to check interior controls which of course included the wipers.
He turned the knob and the wipers didn’t move. He said “That’s a fail”
“What pressure you got on the guage” I asked
“30psi” was his reply.
“Wait until it gets to 60 and see what happens”
You can guess what happened at 60 psi.
Anyway, he saw the funny side and was kind enough at the end of the test to present me with another 12 months of happy motoring! He even said it was a pleasure to test. It was either test the Atki or a Ford Cargo horse box in the next lane - his colleague drew the short straw!
A picture of Bowkers 1967 Atkinson on a recent trip to a truck show in Sweden. (Photo taken on the ferry)
The vehicles on the back are a 1920’s Thornycroft and a 1930’s Leyland Beaver. (There is also an MG car in the back of the Leyland Beaver which can’t be seen on the photo)
The Atki was driven by my friend and hopefully if I talk to him nicely, he might find a place for me next year!
You’re a long way down the queue Andrew - there’s me and Tom Riding in front of you (oh, and Malcolm…)
marky:
You’re a long way down the queue Andrew - there’s me and Tom Riding in front of you (oh, and Malcolm…)
Wondered how long it would take you to get on here, Barry. (That’s his proper name really!)
I have already spoken to TC and he needs somebody with a class 1 licence to help out with the driving, so I think that rules you out. (Unless of course you pull your finger out and get that licence!)
Anyway, a little bit ‘off topic’ here is a picture for marky (aka Barry) as I know he is President of the Leyland Marathon Appreciation Society.
See you at the JBO, my Scouse friend 
Nice Marathon, whats in it, TL12?
Mal:
Nice Marathon, whats in it, TL12?
Not quite sure Mal? Most probably as the photo was taken at the AEC rally a few years ago. To enter the AEC rally, a wagon must be 'AEC ’ related - which the TL12 was.
Reckon so KV. I had a Buffalo with the L12 in for a while, that was a slogger, about 200bhp no blower and a straight six box. The head gasket was prettyt well gone, it blew out the header tank one day at the top of Corley bank and took the skin off me left arm, I got a false one put on at Nuneaton hospital!
I think it was an updated version of the AEC AV760 engine, which was a very good engine. (The AV760 was about the same size - 12 litres)
The design of the Marathon was conceived at Southall as a natural successor to the Mandator, following on from the failed ‘american’ style tractor concept vehicle of 1969 which had the doomed AV800 V8 engine, propriatory steel cab, a forward-set front axle and Hendrickson double-drive rear end. That’s why it wasn’t uncommon to see operators running them badged as AECs out of loyalty to the marque after it’s demise in 1979.
The vehicle depicted in the photograph is a first-phase Marathon with a TL12 and Fuller RTO9509A gearbox installed. Sorry, don’t know the identity of the rear axle.
The nearest comparison (in terms of the AEC lineage) would be David Hopkins’ Mandator, which has an AV760 (254bhp version) and an identical Fuller gearbox instead of the AEC six-speed standard offering.
The run-out Marathon 2’s which were produced in parallel with the first C40-cabbed T45 Roadtrains (which weren’t called Roadtrains at that time). Marathons at Guy Motors, Wolverhampton factory - T45s at Leyland Vehicles new £30m production facility at Leyland. They shared the same drivetrains - TL12 engine, Spicer SST 10-speed gearbox, Leyland rear-axle. The last Marathon 2’s and first T45s ran back to back for Texaco for factory observation before T45 production began in 1979.
Some excellent fotos KV thanks for sharing them with us
Haven’t posted any pics on this subject for a while so here is another one.
This is the Atkinson Borderer that replaced the 1959 Mk1 Atkinson in John Huddlestons fleet. (See earlier picture)
that picture of the atki viewliner of east lancs roadways
my boss is now the proud owner of that motor and he loves it too bits
it now lives in kent if any one wants any info or a pic of the atki i,ll see what i can do
innit:
that picture of the atki viewliner of east lancs roadways
my boss is now the proud owner of that motor and he loves it too bits
it now lives in kent if any one wants any info or a pic of the atki i,ll see what i can do
I believe it has changed hands a couple of times since that picture was taken.
The photo was taken in 1999 when it was owned by Chris Gardner from Oswaltwistle, Lancs. He sold it shortly after he defected down south!
Lovely motor though.
He’s a jammy git Innit! 
Ah - you mean our good friend ‘Ethel’. Here’s a couple of pictures I found while having a quick look around…
Pictured not long after being purchased from the original owners (RTITB) coupled to a Task stepframe tilt in Bowker’s Hollin Bridge Street HQ.
Pictured at the Bowker 80th anniversary gathering at the British Commercial Vehicle Museum in King Street, Leyland - September 1999.
innit:
that picture of the atki viewliner of east lancs roadways
my boss is now the proud owner of that motor and he loves it too bits
it now lives in kent if any one wants any info or a pic of the atki i,ll see what i can do
So you work for B&P then?
I got an email telling me Ethel was in the hands of their Fleet Manager - good news.
I believe that there has been some work done on the cab already - Ethels’ future is looking bright…
killsville:
Here is one of a Holt Lane Atki. This is what lorries looked like back in the '60’s.
Killsville,
This is a Mk1 which has been tampered with! Mk 2 mirrors?
Funny thing is I cant see the marks on the doors where the old ones came from.
I did a similar thing in the '60’s before the Mk 2s (and their mirrors) appeared. I took the existing single arm door mounted mirrors, turned them upside down and screwed them under the screen. It worked, just about, but the driver side one was very near to being obscured by the door post.
This was at Midlands Storage of West Hallam, Derbys… I remember the first Mk2 arrived with the Mk 1 style door mirrors. So in my small way, I lorded it over Dave Barker, the lucky recipient. This first Mk2 also had a semi auto box and we all got very excited thinking it was standard and we were all about to get the same. Sadly, it was the only one, the rest had the David Brown 6 speed.
The Viewline was my first truck with power steering and I never could get used to the steering wheel the size of a Moggy Minor’s. Well remember freezing at night, useless heater and heat loss through all that glass, and frying in sunshine, all that glass!
Great pictures in this thread, which I have only just discovered, many fond memories of harder but happier times on the road.
Salut, David