The Leyland Octopus (Commercial Vehicles Archive Series)

Product Information

Leyland Motor Corporation forms after Leyland Motors absorbs Standard-Triumph International and Associated Commercial Vehicles during the preceding years. Mr. A. H. Jolliffe, the North Western Deputy Licensing Authority, granted the change of base in respect of these two vehicles but asked that Walker's should submit a list of all the trailers which they intended to use for low-loader work.

The power unit is the Leyland L12 series developing 220bhp – in essence it’s the same prime mover fitted to the Marathon tractor unit, albeit without a turbocharger. This engine was originally an AEC design called the AV760 – AV denoting automotive vertical and 760 its size in cubic inches. Engine factoids… From the very first meeting with Tony a few years ago, I just knew there was a relationship to be formed, but I also knew it would have to be one based on trust. Our first meeting of minds is one I shall never forget – to survive in transport, especially demolition and tipping work, requires a hard-nosed attitude to business and life. The Roadtrain was available in day- and sleeper-cabbed form, in high and low datum versions—this refers to the cab height—high datum versions were intended as long haul vehicles with higher mounted cabs and more internal space. 6x2 versions were built in high cab form only on a chassis that was basically that of the ageing Scammell trunker. The Constructor's chassis was entirely Routeman behind the cab, albeit with altered suspension and with the front chassis rails splayed wider apart to fit the new C40 cab. [14]

Atkinson L1586 "Bow-Front"

Foden 14-Ton Tanker ‘Regent’; made 1955 through 1957, when it was replaced by the Leyland Octopus Tanker ‘Esso’. Rover cars and their subsidiary car, aero-engine and armoured fighting vehicle manufacturer Alvis Car and Engineering Company A management buyout made the bus division independent for a short period before it was sold to Volvo, who integrated Leyland models into their range before gradually replacing them with Volvos as they aged.

Parent company British Leyland is renamed the Rover Group; the new company begins divesting its non-car manufacturing-related businesses. Leyland Motors produced a film in 1977 entitled The Quality Connection showing the importance of quality control. It featured well known actors including Frank Windsor, George A Cooper, David Suchet, Michael Robbins, Madeline Smith and Trevor Bannister. [19] See also [ edit ]

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The G-series cab was built in Bathgate and was available with several different names, such as Terrier, Clydesdale, and Reiver. After this cab was replaced the tooling was shipped to Turkey, where BMC's Turkish subsidiary built it as the "BMC Yavuz" and then as the "Fatih" (with Cummins engines) from 1986 until 1996. with the Comet received a new cab - called the "Vista Vue" cab, it was developed by Albion for a variety of their models. Dodge UK also used it for their 300 model, consequently this cabin shape is often referred to as the "LAD" design

Instrumentation includes front and rear reservoir air gauges and a combined oil pressure and water temperature gauge as well as a useful rev counter. Our test vehicle came equipped with a tachograph. The Leyland Constructor was a 6x4, three axle wagon with gross weight up to 24 tonnes used as a tipper or on short haul distribution duties. Without doubt the Octopus is a motorway vehicle. It cruised happily at 96.5km (60mph) on M6 and rarely dropped below 641cm/h (40mph) even on the more hilly sections. Fuel consumption was better on this section of the test than for some of the A roads. This was probably due to the higher axle ratio employed. Although a lower ratio of perhaps 6.4 to 1 would probably improve the figures over A roads, motorway consumption would suffer. A further indication of the possible need for a lower axle ratio came when the Octopus failed to start on a 1 in 5 gradient although it had performance to spare on the motorway. Grab handles are fitted for the driver and passenger, but to enter the driving seat it is necessary to reach for the steering wheel. RHD DAF CF in New Zealand. Same cab as Foden Alpha, same chassis as Kenworth T401, same drivetrain as Kenworth T410. Paccar MX13 engine, Eaton-Fuller Road Ranger gearbox and Meritor diffs.a new group holding company was incorporated to own Leyland Motors Limited, ACV and new acquisitions [6]