Lewis firstly had a passion for collecting vintage tractors, but as time went-on his interest in acquiring and restoring lorries grew. He purchased a couple of lorries with the view to restoring them and soon he had well and truly been bitten by the lorry collecting bug.
One of his first acquisitions back in 1994, was a 1957 AEC Mercury tanker, TLD 869, which had been new to Shell Petroleum and was still in the livery of BP Oil. This had latterly been used as a bowser at Trewern Quarry, near Welshpool from where Lewis acquired it. A second AEC, a 1961 Mammoth Major Mk.V eight-wheeled dropside tipper, 733 CMJ, that had been new to Roger Constant was also acquired. This was fitted with an AV590 diesel and had last been on-the-road in May 1979. However, no work was carried-out on the AECs which were later sold-on, the Mammoth Major going to John Vohman from Berkshire, who has since restored it.
