BigLorryBlog

The pick up (ute) is a Morris Oxford not a Minor. Many years ago my father had a similar Oxford (woody) estate car, built like a tank and used about the same amount of fuel as a tank.

The Morris is larger than a Minor, I hadnt seen one before.
Also my colleague Swishy (from the Kenworth S Model Appreciation Society) has pointed out to me that the Kenworth is NOT an SAR but a 1962 fully imported model S925, the first of the marque to be imported into Australia.
Cheers Pete

lovely shots from an excellent show.i particularly liked the foden,in the uk we called them mickey mouses.

That's a great set of photos, Pete! And what do you mean, "Never mind the Foden", Brian? What a great looking truck, an immaculate S.21 Mickey mouse, and if it has the Foden 2-stroke motor in it, it will sound better than any other truck on the road, even better than TS3 Commers or trucks with GM/Detroit 2-strokes. I know, I used to drive an S.21 2-stroke.

I've been trying to make out what is strange about that Morris Oxford. I know them well, in the 50s those side-valve Oxfords (cars, not utes!) made up most of the taxi fleet in Auckland and the motors used to last for about 100,000 miles without being touched, which was uncommon in those days for a cheap family car. Just worked it out, the windscreen was a 2-piece with a chrome strip around it and down the centre, it looks strange with just rubber around it.

I didnt say, " Never mind the Foden" , it is a beautifully kept truck. Has a 6LX Gardner, the two strokes never really caught on over here.

I know you would never say something like that, Pete; it was Brian who said it - see above the Diamond Reo photo.

When I was working in the UK in the 60s, I used to stand on a street corner near the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery. T & L had a huge fleet of Foden sugar tankers, mostly with Gardner engines, but the haulage company who carried their packed sugar (Silver Roadways, I think) had a fleet of Fodens with the 2-strokes in, and I would stand there for ages just to hear those 2-stroke Fodens taking off from the lights working up through their 12-speed gearboxes. Ah, them were the days!

There was a refernce to the 2 stoke Fodens in a book on Roadtrains put out by Jack Maddock. Will try to find more details. The fellow who ran the Foden agency down here (Bert Davies ) was a absolute Gardner man and i dont think he would sell anything else. I enjoy driving a Jimmy but find them hard work in city traffic, you hand is never off that gear lever.

Showing your age guys.............

Well, I have got a few miles on the clock, but its all genuine.

Nothing wrong with being old, Rod. There's an old saying in the Ulysses Motorcycle Club: "Never regret growing old, it's a privilege denied to many".

Nothing wrong with Gardner engines either; the Fodens just sounded better (and I know the Gardner nuts will argue about that too). The first heavy vehicles I drove, at the age of about 9, were Daimler buses fitted with 5LW engines, and they went for ever although not very fast.

Hi Pete,the old KW is an S model,undoubtably what Kenworth Australia styled the SAR on about 10 years later,all the ones imported to OZ had 6V71 and later 8V71`s in them

Kenworth was first introduced into Australia by the Cameron family in 1962. They were carriers who were transporting fresh fruit to Sydney but were unhappy with the big trucks such as Leyland,AEC and International that were available at the time. The Camerons visited the USA in the late 50s and came away impressed with they saw. After unsuccessful efforts to get IH to import something more powerful than the R190, they decided to import the Kenworths themselves. A cabover would have been ideal but the K series was not then available in RH drive so the short bonneted S series was next best. The Kenworths were well regarded and had 318hp available from the 8V71 engine, far above anything else on the market (even Atkinson) in those days.