History
Scammell started as a late-Victorian period wheelwright and coach-building business, G Scammell & Nephew Ltd in Spitalfields, London. George Scammell, the founder, was joined by his nephew Richard and Richard's sons Alfred and James. By the early 1900s, the firm had become financially stable, providing maintenance to customers of Foden steam wagons. One such customer, Edward Rudd, had imported a Knox Automobile tractor from the United States, and impressed with its low weight/high hauling power had asked Scammell if they could make a similar model of their own.
However, the outbreak of World War I in 1914 stopped the project and presented itself as a turning point in road transport history. Mechanical transport was seen to work, proving its vast potential beyond doubt to forward-thinking companies such as Scammell. George Scammell's great nephew, Lt. Col. Alfred Scammell, was injured and invalided out of the army, and he was able to apply the practical experience he had gained during the war and began developing the articulated six wheeler. Percy G Hugh, chief designer, conceived the idea and at the 1920 Commercial Motor Show, 50 orders were taken for the new design. The vehicle's very low axle weight allowed it to carry 7.5 tonnes (7.4 long tons; 8.3 short tons) payload legally at 12 miles per hour (19 km/h), rather than being limited to 5 mph. [1] [2]
Scammell Lorries
Scammell started production of the 7.5-ton articulated vehicle in 1920. Needing to move to new premises, Scammell & Nephew floated a new company, Scammell Lorries Ltd in July 1922, with Lt. Col. Scammell as managing director. The new firm built a new factory at Tolpits Lane, Watford, [3] next to Watford West railway station on the branch line from Watford Junction to Croxley Green. The original company remained in business in Fashion Street, Spitalfields refurbishing and bodybuilding until taken over in 1965 by York Trailer Co.
In 1929, Scammell designed and manufactured the "100 Tonner" low loader. Only two were produced; the first was delivered to Marston Road Services, Liverpool, for the transportation of steam engines to Liverpool docks. Scammell were also looking for new markets, and diversified into four- and six-wheel rigid (nonarticulated) designs. The 'Rigid Six-wheeler' found some success and, with its balloon tyres, at last permitted sustained high-speed, long-distance road operation.
In 1934, Scammell produced the three-wheeled Mechanical Horse, designed by Oliver North to replace horses in rail, postal and other delivery applications. This featured automatic carriage coupling and the single front wheel could be steered through 360 degrees. It was sold in three- and six-ton versions. The three-tonner was powered by a 1,125-cc side-valve petrol engine and the six-tonner by a 2,043-cc engine. Karrier had introduced a similar vehicle, the Cob, four years earlier.
From 1937, a Citroën Traction Avant powered version was made under licence in France, by Chenard-Walcker-FAR, known as the Pony Mécanique. This continued in production, in various versions, until 1970.
In the late 1940s, the Mechanical Horse was superseded by the Scammell Scarab, with similar features, but a much less angular cab and now with a 2,090-cc, side-valve petrol engine in both models and a diesel version with a Perkins engine.
The company mainly concentrated on articulated and rigid eight-wheeler lorries, from the 1920s. One vehicle not in those lines that became well-known was the 6×4 Pioneer. This was an off-highway, heavy haulage tractor, first produced in 1927. It showed outstanding cross-country performance due to the design that included the patent beam bogie rear axle, with 2 feet (1 m) of vertical movement for each of the rear wheels. This design was the work of Oliver Danson North. The Pioneer proved popular in the oil field and forestry (logging) markets, and formed the basis of the British Army's World War II R100 30-ton tank transporter. With the outbreak of war, development of new vehicles stopped and production concentrated on military Pioneers for use as artillery tractors, recovery and transporter vehicles.
In 2024, British-based On Scene Magazine featured an interview with Dave Crouch of UK firm Crouch Recovery, who, despite the advances elsewhere, still highly praises anything which carries a Scammell badge. So much so that they have amassed a large collection of older recovery vehicles and later model classics that are restored for posterity, and in many cases could still go to work if required. [4]
Leyland Group subsidiary
Post war, foreign competition and rationalisation of the UK manufacturers led to Scammell coming under Leyland Motors in 1955. This provided access to ready-made components within the Leyland group, allowing the replacement of the "lightweight" range with the:
- Highwayman: bonneted 4x2
- Routeman: forward control 8-wheeler
- Handyman: forward control 4x2
Both the tractor units could be configured up to 50 tons (50.8 Tonnes or 55 short tons), and complemented by the full range of Scammell trailers made at the Moor Park works, allowed the company to continue production in specialist and military markets.
In the 1960s, Scammell contracted Giovanni Michelotti to design its cabs, resulting in a series of glass-reinforced plastic "spring"-like designs. The first to be redesigned was the Routeman, followed by the Handyman. In 1967, the 'Scarab' was replaced by the 'Townsman', which also had a GRP body. The factory also designed the 6x4 Contractor equipped with a Cummins 335 engine, Lipe clutch and Fuller semi-automatic gearbox, that went into production in 1964. Offered with a choice of Leyland 24 tonne or Scammell 30 and 40 tonne bogies, the Contractor was popular in the UK for 240+ ton GTW operation, overseas heavy haul, and with the military for tank transport. [3]
In 1964, Scammell assembled 38 BUT RETB/1 trolleybuses for use in Wellington, New Zealand.
Scammell launched the three-axle 6x4 Crusader at London's 1968 Earl's Court Commercial Vehicle Show. The truck was designed for high-speed long-distance transport, typically to cover 250,000 miles a year. The truck included a 'repair by replacement' philosophy to cut downtime and the consequences of unscheduled maintenance. The drive line included a 9.3-litre GM Detroit Diesel 8V71N two-stroke diesel engine, rated at 273 bhp. This drove through a Fuller RoadRanger 16-speed constant-mesh gear box, to an Albion double-drive and two-spring bogie, using double reduction and cross lockable drive axles. The final reduction took place in the hubs to give better ground clearance under the differential housings. Scammell used the same rear bogie on its highly successful 24-ton Double Drive Routeman 8x4 tipper chassis, launched at the same exhibition. As most contemporary 32-ton and maximum capacity trucks in the UK had engine power ratings of between 150 and 220 bhp, the Crusader's 273 bhp attracted immediate attention, much of it unfavourable from deeply conservative operators.
With active encouragement from Walter Batstone, then transport engineering boss at British Road Services, Scammell quickly developed a two-axle model, powered initially by a Rolls-Royce Eagle six-cylinder diesel engine, rated at 220 or 280 bhp, depending on customers' preferences. This new model appeared at the November 1969 Scottish Motor Show at Kelvin Hall.
Scammell went on to develop a heavy haulage model, the Samson, basically a four-axle 8x4 Crusader. It sold in limited numbers in a specialised market sector. [5]
The 1970s started with a reorganisation of the Leyland Group, with heavy haul after the closure of the old Thornycroft works in 1972 concentrated on the newly named Scammell Motors site at Watford. The Thornycroft 6x4 Nubian heavy dumptruck was the first transfer inwards, regularly adapted for the military, followed by the lighter LD55 6x4 dumptruck. [3]
In the late 1970s, the Contractor Mk2 was developed, together with the Scammell Commander tank transporter for the British Army. Fitted with the Rolls-Royce CV12TCE 26-litre, 48-valve dual-turbocharged 625 hp intercooled V12 diesel engine, semi-automatic gearbox and Scammell 40-ton bogie, it was plated at 100 ton+ GTW. Because it was intended as part of the strategy to defend West Germany's eastern Iron Curtain border against tank attack, it was designed to achieve the same acceleration and braking performances as a contemporary commercial 32 tractor. [3] Both tractors were brought into production within the newly built "moving line" construction shop, which gave Scammell a modern state-of-the-art factory. The Commander fleet came into operation in 1983. [3]
In the late 1970s, Leyland Group decided to develop two new tractors: the overseas bonneted Landtrain; the UK forward control Roadtrain. Scammell was contracted to develop the Landtrain, which used the same cab and bonnet as the Commander replacement, the S24. [6] Equipped with Cummins NT 350 or 400 engine, the S24 could be specified from 40 tonnes GVW to more than 200 tonnes GTW. Scammell also gained the contract to develop and build the eight-wheeled version of the Roadtrain called the Constructor 8 model. This also allowed Scammell to develop and produce the complementary S26 range of heavy-haul 4x2, 6x2 and 6x4 tractors, which was a parts-bin build from the Roadtrain and 24 components. [3]
Closure
In 1986, Scammell tendered for the British Army hooklift DROPS tender, using the newly developed 8x6 variant of the S24. This was equipped with a Rolls-Royce 350 engine, ZF automatic gearbox and Kirkstall axles. However, shortly after winning the contract to supply 1,522 such vehicles, Leyland group was bought by DAF of the Netherlands. DAF elected to build the S26 DROPS at the Leyland plant in Lancashire, and to close the Watford factory. [3]
DAF closed the plant in July 1988. [7] It sold the site for redevelopment, and further sold the rights to manufacture (but not the rights to the name nor the premises) of the S24, Nubian, Crusader, and Commander to Alvis Unipower. They opened a new plant in West Watford, offering ongoing support and spare parts for Scammell vehicles. [3]
The Tolpits Lane site was redeveloped into a housing estate, the Vale Industrial Estate, and a business park. Tenants include the Camelot Group. [3]
