Rod Simmonds in New Zealand is clearly out to give me repetitive strain injury - he's just sent me 41 pictures - my poor old resizing mouse finger! Anyway he says: "MATE, IAN ROUNDTREE been digging thru many pictures, his and others, enjoy Atki Pete. I didn't know they had cameras in your day Vic!!!" Cheeky young whippersnapper... Which makes me wonder..can you have a cheekly OLD whippersnappper...? (Discuss using both sides of the paper...)
Anyroadup thanks for the pix Ian and Rod and here they are in no particular order (and in the end I did my own 'editing' of the 41!) The first couple should please Pete Lynch..they appear to be shots of the Aussie Atki Assembly line...?
Now here's a right old selection...
Ian or someone obviously had a connection at Mobil... What year(s) are we talking about here? And what were the models?
Ditto another Big A Mobil tanker - love the flat roof, presumably for frying your breakfast on when the sun got up?
Artic towing a drawbar tank trailer?
The novelty of 'colour' photography in those days eh? Since when did anyone take a black & white picture anymore?
And just for a bit of variety an old ERF Now click through here for an absolute SHED LOAD of stuff!"
Another couple of tankers...
More Mobil...were they locally-built tank trailers I wonder... Or exported in from the UK?
Getting bang up to date now!
I love this one - the driver obviously popped home for his tea and parked his rig in the road!
What's the body on this?
Bet he was popular with his neighbours...
Now here's a funny looking thing - almost as if he braked too hard and the cab shifted forward! What's this Pete?
Now with the body down..and what's that car in the background?
Colour shot of a bulker now...
Not sure what they're doing here--but whatever it is it needs two cranes...
Is this an eight-legger or just my imagination?
Another one of those weird low-slung tippers...
It may say Goodyear but this Atki has obviously seen better days!
'Fresh out of the box...' Not even a fifth wheel on it.
The height of luxury... But when?
And that's your lot... Must be mid 60s as that looks like a mini driving past! OK so lots to tell me about them - AtkiPete and RayJay must be in seventh heaven! And do thank Ian for me Rod (And some feeling is coming back into my hand now...!)
Great photos Rod, they seem to be mainly Kiwi ones, not sure about the assembly line shots. Vic may have driven some of those Mobil trucks shown or remember them. The strange 8 wheel tipper was something the Kiwis did to suit class two roads or suchlike. Over here it was the opposite, the longer the truck was the more you could carry.
For a Scotch pie, I reckon the two cranes are there because, like it used to be here, the tank trailers did not have landing legs. (Have a look at the first Mobil tanker photo.)
So a crane or two would come in handy when dropping a trailer. Beats the effluent out of turning those B****y handles on the winding gear!
Alex
Wow Im impressed Atkinson every wheres..Warm feelings to see the assembly line and all thoses glass cabs being as I sit in one from time to time.
Still why the world didnt use the skippy cabs when they where so much more flexible and repairable to the others offered, I have to think that they where selling well and Atkinson didnt have the drive to see how limiting the offerings where as the other makers moved on. Mack Foden etc where using resin as International did in the range ah well it would have just delayed the closing down of the operation any way as Atkinson here was bound to the fate of International which I will say here had good product but bigger issues
Take care eaters of the pie
Night shift boy
Ray Jay
The lower, angular cab as shown in the first tanker photo and others is the Taylor Hull cab, designed and made in New Zealand, and the more upright cab with the flat roof is the RP (Reinforced Plastics) cab, designed and made in Australia just around the corner from Atki Pete's house. Both of these cabs were built to replace the English Preston cab, which fell to pieces after a few months on the Aussie and Kiwi roads of the time.
I drove identical ones to the Mobil ones shown, but these photos are from the Wellington depot and I was based in Auckland so probably haven't driven the actual ones in the photos. The earlier Mobil ones had Cummins 250 engines and 6-speed ZF constant-mesh gearboxes, a few of the later ones had Cummins 335 engines and 13-speed Roadranger boxes. The tank semitrailers were all designed and built in New Zealand.
Cheers, Vic
Remarkable selection of photos Gents. Thanks for digging them out and sending them off to Brian. As Richard Stanier has commented before, it's gems like this that make BLB so compelling. And as for the logger Brian, surely it's a 6x4 tractor with a close-coupled semi trailer?
The logger is only a 6x4 prime mover Martin. I had never seen this setup before but there is a drawing of how it works on page 32 of Atkinson Down Under.
Have just received an email back from Dave Webster, who worked for Atkinson in New Zealand and then Australia. He recalls most of the vehicles shown.
The assembly shed is Clayton
Pic 100059 is the Downer truck with the axles behind the cab I built this in Wellington and once the body was fitted had to play around for a day to get each axle load exactly equal. This was because the truck had to travel about a mile on a class 3 road. The photo was taken on the Turangi Hydro tunnel job and Lake Taupo is in the back ground.. The fuel and hydraulic tanks are mounted under the front guards….
Photo 1000058 is Geoff Perfects truck after the cab and Gearbox mods
100077 and 100078 are outside the IH factory Dandenong…
100042/45/46 were taken at Mobil Ngaio gorge Wellington Believe it or not 100045 shows the lube bay and the workshop where we maintained Mobil’s fleet for the Wellington area which encompassed the Southern part of the North Island
100034 looks as though it was taken from outside the Monash hotel.( Melbourne ) The Mobil sign in the right corner was where the contractors paint shop was. All the new and repaired trucks were painted there. The truck is carrying a C 6 Euclid dozer supplied by Blackwood Hodge and their office was on the left where the photo ends. Behind the no entry sign is GE diesels who were across the road from the Atkinson plant
100027 I think is Attwood and Reid’s 6 wheeler stock truck I believe they became known as Hawke’s bay farmers This photo looks like it was taken from outside the Johnsonville shop and the truck being on the opposite side of the road
100026 I think the guy in the photo is Robert Earl who was an apprentice with me and went on to be Geoff Perfects right hand man
100020/19/18/17 all taken from J’Ville workshop Again trucks being on the opposite side of the road as they would have come up the Gorge and taken the J’Ville off ramp.
100016/11/04 taken at Ngaio gorge
100080 looks a lot like Springvale rd Glen Waverley…( Melbourne).
What a fantastic selection of photos - thanks to those who scanned and posted!
Pleasantly surprised in the interior shot near the end, to see a U.K.-type Mk.2 steering wheel and centre badge - I hadn't seen one of those on a Down Under motor before!
I think the car you asked about is a Austin Westminster 105 late 50s.
Paul F
Some great old photos you have here ..My father owned a skippy cab for many years. ( Got a good 25 years service out of her ) ..Starting its life towing for Frigmobile then being fitted with a holmes wrecker before being retired.
Great site aswell never heard of it before..
David.
Australia.
Great pics of NZ Atkinsons. I spent a part of my child hood sitting in the passengers seat (or on the engine cover, or on the air cleaner depending on how many passengers there were!)of an Advance Transport Atkinson based in NZ.
I have a great colour photo and some black & whites and can send some background. This is my first blog so how do I post or who do I send an image to? Also would like to contact Dave Webster if he has any additional info about the Advance Transport Atki fleet