Up Close and Personal with the Classic 100 tonne Scammell

Ritchie Bros UK is selling the first 100-tonne truck ever built, baring the famous Scammell name on its online Marketplace platform where you can 'make an offer' to purchase it.

In something a little bit left of field for this blog, we were invited along to a secret location in the Midlands to see this historic, one of a kind unit. 

The truck’s owner Dean Hudson was on hand to give us a tour around the amazing piece of British heavy haulage history, which had originally gone into service as far back as 1929.

Dean’s late father purchased the truck from a dealership in 1976, and with the help of his young son restored it to the condition we see today, Dean recalled the tale of how he spent many hours polishing the chrome and paintwork to showroom condition.

Dean’s father then loaned the truck to the British Commercial Vehicle Museum Leyland, Lancashire where it was an exhibit for a period of 30 years, but in 2018 he decided to take it out and spent time getting her back to tip top condition once more.

The Scammell which was affectionately nicknamed the “Leaping Lena” due to the fact that under heavy load its front wheels would bounce off the road, was designated the registration number KD 9168 and it’s a very famous truck with heavy transport enthusiasts in the UK.

Originally powered by an 80hp Rolls Royce petrol engine, which was later upgraded to 86hp, however, it was considered uneconomical and somewhat underpowered for the work it faced, so in 1932 it was retro fitted with a 6-cylinder 102hp Gardner 6LW diesel engine, a legendary powerpack that forged a long-term association between Scammell and Gardner.

The truck typically required 3 men to run it, especially during the start up procedure, which during winter periods required them to start a fire underneath the engine to pre heat it prior to starting.

Venturing into the cab one quickly realised that driving this truck would have been hardcore work, no power steering and very little in the way of creature comforts as we know them today, a padded seat would have been considered the ultimate in luxury back in those days.

Although this was not something I would normally look out for, I found the whole thing very fascinating and Dean’s knowledge and passion for the truck was incredible, it was an honour and a privilege to visit this unique truck, and to spend time with the team from Ritchie Bros UK who were there to inspect it before the auction.

So, without further ado, lets take a walkaround of the Scammell with Dean in my video below.

Here is the link if you want to make an offer -  http://eu.ironplanet.com/for-sale/Truck-Tractors-Scammell-KD9168-T%2FA-Sleeper-Truck-Tractor-United-Kingdom/6016540