ATKINSON – THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT

It’s hard to understand how a well-respected make of diesel lorries could rise from the ashes of an industry that was dominated by steam propulsion – as Atkinson Lorries (1933) Limited did – only to flounder so dramatically in the face of competition from Foreign manufacturers, who just a couple of decades earlier, couldn’t even compete with British-made Diesel Lorries in their own Home Markets. Check out the Atkinson Time Line - this dramatic change of fortune might have taken place in as little as ten to fifteen years. Which poses the question; ‘How Come’?

Now obviously, as enthusiasts, we would all much rather remember the good times. There’s nothing wrong in that. After all, what is done is done and we cant go back in time and change anything, can we? However much, with the benefit of hindsight, we might wish we could. But as present day custodians of vehicle engineering history, in one form or another, should we not also try to understand the background to events that took place in our Industry in order to try to make sense of what happened? And if possible, why?

I fully accept that many enthusiasts would prefer to shy away from “The Politics” (as some tend to view anything beyond the actual vehicle specifications), but surely by only seeing our favourite brands of vehicle through Rose-Tinted glasses, we’re skewing history? In much the same why that present-day TV producers paint a much ‘softer’ image of social conventions (or lack of them) when recreating dramas set in the 1950s