"Hi Brian," says Ed Burrows, "Delighted to oblige with a brochure (which I've had since the late '50s) on Rotinoff Atlantic and Super Atlantics. You could have a lot more, but it would cost you more pies than Melton Mowbray's entire annual output! Wonderful photos. Not totally convinced about the tyres on Mr. Weedon's though. Ahh, Rotinoff... If only the market had had an appetite for more than 35. If Rotinoff had been American instead on a down at heel Brit, where would KW and the like be today? Ed."
Now click throug here for more...
Here's the spec page for the Super Atlantic...
And the 'regular' Atlantic. SUPERB STUFF ED AND MULTIPLE THANKS FOR AN OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION!!!
The Rotinoff catalogue
Thank you Ed for posting the images of the Rotinoff brochure!! This company does deserve more exposure than it has been getting.
I know there is a book that has been written on the subject of Rotinoff vehicles full of incredibly rare and unpublished photos. Unfortunately, it has been stuck at the publishers' - probably subject of too limited interest to warrant publication. I can put genuinely interested parties in touch with the author who lives in Birmingham.
The vehicle building operation was only one of a number of Rotinoff operations. Alexandre Rotinoff and his company held a number of patents including one for concrete pile driving machine. A short footage exists of Queen Mary visiting the building site of the Guildford Cathedral and starting a pile driver for the cathedral foundations, accompanied by Mr. Rotinoff, on April 5th, 1937.
And the office block on 125 Pall Mall quoted as Rotinoff's Offices is the grand building that everyone will recognize - the one with the green dome on top of Haymarket, just round the corner from Trafalgar Square, to be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/etage9/2981940870/
Hope this is of some use.
Cheers from Poland.
Andrzej
The Rotinoff has always inspired great interest and enthusiasm amongst truck devotees but I am not sure that Mr George Rotinoff can be referred to as a 'down at heel Brit.' As far as I recall he was born in Tbilisi and when in the UK had offices in Pall Mall which suggests that he was neither British nor impoverished. Also a great deal of mystique has been afforded this marque concerning its durability, etc. but I believe that David Brown supplied the gearbox to the first two examples ever built and that the rest had Rotinoff boxes which were less than reliable in service. Certainly this was the weak link in the chain on the Aussie Viscounts. Come on Paul Hancox. More details please!
Martin has mentioned the two Viscounts built as cattle carrying road trains for the Vestey Meat Co. in Western Australia but there was also a 'Pacific' which was a dump truck and although it was designed, there seems some doubt whether it was ever built.
My father and uncle (Fred and Oswald Mountney) worked for Rotinoff in the 50's and I can recall being taken to the depot at Poyle to see completed vehicles and to London Docks to watch vehicles being loaded on to a ship for export. I should be grateful if you could put me in touch with the author of the book about Rotinoff vehicles.
Fred Mountney
Does the name Mountney have any connection with Lomount Engineering one wonders?
Many thanks all ROTINOFF comments. I will happily put genuinely interested parties in touch with Paul Hancox who has written a book on Rotinoff. He will be delighted to hear from you. It will be fantastic if new information could be added to his 'manuscript'. Please send your communications to me on:
info#ttitrans.eu
Where "#" of course stands for "at"
and I will tell you how to get in touch with Paul.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
All the best from a Polish anorak
Hi Andrzej - I think you may have previously corresponded with my father Brian Arthur Chapman who had worked at Rotinoffs in the 1950s and who had been helping Paul Hancox gather together material for the book that Paul was writing. Please give my regards to Paul next time you are in contact with him. Christine