HAPPINESS IS A HAND-ME-DOWN
They’ve long been a salesman’s dream while the pitch was always the same: “Only one previous careful owner – regularly maintained – never raced or rallied – low mileage.” While the ace in the hole was that they were cheap and just generally a fraction of the price paid when they were bought new. True their specification could be a little strange but that didn’t put off thousands of end users who have snapped up such Government hand-me-downs over the last 100 years.
After the First World War, it was actually the manufacturer of Leyland who spotted such an opening when they bought back 3,000 so called RAF type Leylands. In the early 1920s, a factory at Kingston-on-Thames was utilised to recondition and convert these for civilian use while they were even re-sold with a two-year guarantee.
Following the Second World War, a huge amount of military hardware came up for sale albeit with no guarantees. Some had originally been made in the USA as part of the War effort but it was written into the deal that none of these vehicles would make the trip back to America after the conflict ended as the authorities there were concerned about the effect it may have on home market sales of new vehicles.
But their loss was to be Peter Noble’s gain as he has a lifetime of memories of so many of these Forces’ Favourites.
Classy Diamond
There were more than 6,000 Diamond T 980 / 981 6x4 box tractors shipped across (often in parts) in the early ‘40s but Peter recalls it was the one later used by Ansa Motors at Neville’s Cross near Durham City that made such a lasting impression.
