We find an AEC Matador that has sat abandoned in a scrap yard for nearly 40 years without moving. Our job is to answer the question "Will It Start ?" www.lordmuckshop.com
If you want to watch the latest Matador content go to Patreon.com/lordmuck and join in. With your support we can film and continue to bring you monthly updates and videos.
In WWII my Dad had a lot of dealings with these trucks as he was in the REME in N Africa Desert Rats, He thought they were superb machines far faster than their American equivalents, so they had to stop for a brew and wait for them to catch up every few hours. One problem they had was the air filters quickly became useless because of the fine sand, so what he would do was to run the air intake to a large biscuit tin under the drivers seat - which for some reason tended to stay pretty clean - so when the dusty air slowed in the tin the sand tended to fall out of it and the tin had to be emptied periodically. Not perfect but it worked. He was "mentioned in dispatches" as his many innovations kept his unit in service for over twice the time of any other similar unit between refits.
@@LordMuck fossy4321 When the suspension leaf springs broke as a lot of the desert consisted of boulders they would bind greatcoats together and jam them above the axles, anything to keep them moving. As they chased the Germans across N Africa they acquired more and more "German" lorries as the Germans had to just bulldoze them off the road even for minor faults to continue the retreat, most of these lorries were American manufacture apparently! He tells of 1 Matador pulling 10 duds into the workshop for repair.
@@fossy4321 - the Wehrmacht had lots of 4x2 Made in Germany Ford trucks during the war, plus anything they could beg, borrow, or steal along the way. Your Dad and his mates, plus all the other Depression Era farm kids in the Royal Army and US Army, were prototypical "gearheads" who were accomplished at making machines work out of necessity even before the war. These ingenious kids thinking outside the box played no small role in the Allied victory.
Good Lord that brought back memories. A certain teenager and his girlfriend was on the last bus out of Wakefield bus station on a wet Saturday night. It broke down on Leeds Road on it's way to Lofthouse Gate terminus. Much to the annoyance of the girlfriend, I waited to see it get hooked up to a Matador (could have been this very one) All ended well we have been married for many many happy years.
Got my HGV 3 licence in a Matador when serving in the RAF in Cyprus. Serceant was the examiner, test route, back streets of Limassol in high summer, no power steering, no air con, sweated buckets. Back in early 70's used them to haul trailers of Bloodhound missiles from RAF Akrotiri to the missile site at Episkopi; never used in anger though!
Abandon vehicles, especially trucks, being rescued is one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Back when things were built to be maintained and passed on. And then to be actually useful again makes it all worth while. 👍🇺🇸 thanks for taking us along fellers.
My dad used to service these, when he was with the REME in the British army. Apparently, the winch had to be reeled in by pulling another vehicle, typically another AEC Matador with its brakes off. If no other truck was available, a the winch could be rewound by attaching it to an immovable object and pulling the Matador by reeling in the winch; handbrake off, obvious. On one day my dad was attached to an army base to service their Matadors. He decided to attach the winch of the Matador he'd just serviced to an immovable object (the army hut containing the office of the base's Commanding Officer). Oops! My dad forgot to release the handbrake... Instead of the Matador being very slowly towards the base CO's office, yup, you guessed it, the CO's office was slowly winched towards the Matador. The CO of the base my dad was visiting wasn't too impressed as he saw his office wall being ripped from the building, to find himself looking out into open space. Well, not completely empty space, there was one of those REME engineers running towards his Matador across the parade ground!
I think it's great that you all are keeping these amazing pieces of British history alive. They're definitely not making any more of 'em! All the best from Pittsburgh USA.
My first job back in 78 was at a coal yard and the old guy that owned it had a Thames trader recovery truck in bright yellow that was very much like this. it looked beat up and had no floor. the old guy in his 80s told me to sit in it and he would tow it up the yard and to drop the clutch and straight away press it back down as he said she would start straight away. he was right we only went about 10 feet and she was running. it ran like a new engine and ticked over so smooth. brilliant days back then.
I was in the T.A. in the early 80's and drove one of these back to UK from Denmark. Lovely to see one running again. Thank you for your excellent work.
Brilliant! Takes me back to the '60's/70's watching this and the trucks I remember as a kid, AEC, Albion, Foden, ERF, Scammell. Some kids liked football and revered the top players but the big trucks of the day were my "heroes". 👍😀
In the 60s l used to drive a AEC Mercury, on a private road, hitching up 4 trailers and cleaning them, for one pound... I was only 14. Loved it.... 😊😊😊🇫🇷
More years ago than I care to remember (at least 62) I worked for the Western Australian Forestry Dept and they had an AEC Monarch which was a lovely piece of kit. I seem to remember that she had a Gardiner diesel motor and it was as sweet as a button...she was a rigid body, tray top and most of her jobs involved carting a CAT D4 7U around the hills and forestry tracks in the Dwellingup district. I drove her many times and felt like a king when doing so...mind you, I was all of 16 years old back then.
Just seen this video, I’ve driven that Truck when I was a Vehicle Examiner for the West Yorkshire PTE, It was based at Todmorden depot and was nicknamed the Desert Rat, it had two Rats painted on the front panel, just between the sidelights/ indicators, one either side, I remember the Coach Painter at the depot doing them. She was ok to drive but, as with all of those Trucks the steering lock was horrible! When I saw it on RU-vid I thought “ Hell! That looks familiar, then I saw the R2 on the door, “ great to see the old girl again and glad see “Fired up”👍
Thank you for that, I'm trying to piece together as much of its history as possible, you'll be glad to know its gone to a good home and restoration will start shortly and it got the nick name 'Raty'. I'd love to hear any more stories from you
Unusual to see the name desert rat doing my National service in the seventh armoured division which is the desert rats 1956 stationed in Germany we had 20 Leland hippos ,mobile Spare parts for centurion tank and gun barrels for the seventh armoured tank division desert rats
Thanks , something might interest you is I had a fleet of 9AC marshals all add 505 engines I built the lot out of scrap trucks never bought anything new .I have my own workshops .that’s why like what watching your videos .it reminds me ? I was driving an AC Marshall it had a paint job at well tankers Birmingham having a cup of tea in Franklin when I came out someone was taking photos he said what a lovely looking old truck am I taking it to a show I said no I take it to Bristol and it’s going to start work and will be doing so for the next six years until it’s wore out and it will be cut up and re-mounted on another chassis cab Good luck with all your enterprises
Good old girl...That engine was used in everything from trucks to buses to mobile cranes. Very underpowered for the cranes and would overheat and crack the heads between the valve ports...Other than that...A damn good motor. Brilliant vid lads.
Funny story….. My son, had a Matador almost identical to this one, stored in a nearby field…….I took one of my mates up to see it….we both sat in the cab, enjoying the view from up there…then , I had the bright idea of starting it up….much to our surprise it did, immediately …..we let it idle for a short time.but…and there’s always a but…. No way could I find a switch off button…se she just kept on going… I tried stalling it by putting it in gear…she just wanted to pull off… after half an hour or so we had to leave it running, until my pretty angry son turned up… he stopped her immediately… I didn’t know that a toe under to lift the accelerator was the way they were switched off…never touched one since…this reminded me of that….Thanks !
I worked at Windmill Lane for 7 years, completing an apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering and serving 3 years as a maintenance electrician. I went on a trip from Uxbridge technical college during the early 1970s to Northolt RAF Aerodrome. It was mid-winter and we were being shown the standby electrical generator sets for the runway lighting. In one hut was a set coupled to a competitors Diesel engine. Next to it was a paraffin heater to heat the hut so the engine would start. In the next hut was a generator coupled to an AEC Diesel engine. There was NO HEATER visible. “Will this engine start?” I asked ….. The RAF man showing us around smiled and pressed the green start button. The temperature was very low, it was bloody cold! The engine ROARED into life! I felt so damn proud that AEC Diesel engines did not need assistance to start in very low temperatures! I later passed my PSV test at LT Chiswick works and drove Routemaster buses for four years with the only faults having to occasionally change injectors! AEC engines were Good because their combustion chambers were enhanced by RICARDO performance technology. The greatest shame is that AEC doesn’t exist any longer, gone but definitely NOT FORGOTTEN 😇
My father started as an apprentice at windmill lane in the 1940s and worked there until the factory closed. I know he was devastated when that happened. He looked upon the days before the takeover by British Leyland as the golden era. Where the company was more like a family than an employer. People were proud to work for AEC but not so much for BL. when he left he went to work for London transport who as we all know had very close ties with ACE.
@@daveberry2177 I was called 'Cosmik Pete' for nearly 50 years . Then I started to think , now I'm getting old am I now 'Normal Pete' ? Nah , I'm cosmic Pete . Phew !
Hi. I started my apprenticeship with West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive Huddersfield in 1979 and they had a Guy Big J 6 recovery truck, but im sure ive seen this vehicle about while i was working there. Ive worked on a few AEC engines, but mainly Gardners and Leylands
That was bloody amazing that old girl starting and running so sweet after standing all that time. Just goes to show how well made those engines were. Plus two dam good engineers who know their stuff! Love that video , and I hope the next one you do is a classic tractor. But whatever you choose , I'll be watching . Take care and keep them coming.
Memories.memories, back in the late 70s early 80s my ole man converted 2 if not 3 Matadors into timber winches. He knew em inside out. sadly no longer with us but would have loved to see these vids
Seeing that old AEC brought fond memories back for me, my Dad taught me to drive an 8 wheel AEC Mandator when I went with him to Shotton Steel Works or The Patent Shaft. I was only 9, sitting on his knee hanging on to what seemed like a massive steering wheel while we 'whizzed' along at about 10mph, but even flat out it would only do 29 or 30 mph, so it was never going to break any records, but for a young lad it was priceless. Keep up your brilliant work LM, I love it all.
Now now children pay nicely! What an amazing motor the Matador has, it sounds really sweet. I would like to see a Doe Triple D in a video but anything will do.
It's an AEC of course it will start, I had one that I put batteries on, a neighbour called whilst I was fitting the batteries and was full of "no chance that wouldn't start", didn't turn over once before it burst into life and left him speechless.
Wow 😮 what a hands 🙌 on video, just great to see & another vehicle saved to start a new life !!!👍👍👍These are the top videos of why lord muck is so out in front of the other fudged attempts at a channel . I had very high hopes it would start as it was good old British engineering at its best, so simple,but reliable, well made & not endless amounts of Plastic components like nowadays 🤮🤮Just the video I would of loved to have shown my dad (RIP) 😪😥ex REME Corp mechanic who repaired & kept running such vehicles scammells, although not possible, I would of loved to live the back era with him, when he was a young man 👨 apologies for the last few lines but it makes me feel better,as I miss him so much😥. I would like to see a classic tractor 🚜 but always happy to go with what others would like to see!!!! Thanks 😊
This was a great video to make and we had a blast doing it. If you are new to the channel, please click on to my video library and see some of the other stuff myself and the others have been doing. More Matador videos here: ru-vid.com/group/PLHh-g2SA-SUeTPh0RK-0AfyChp8XQ17jp
Brilliant video mucker I would like to see around a modern tractor love the old stuff but would be good to see some of the modern stuff and how technology has progressed over the years would love to meet you all one day would be epic keep up the good work and stay safe mate
Used a Matador timber truck in 1987 to clear storm damage. Reg no CYD. Never did repair starter as used to tow start in arround 6 feet. Ran all day without problem and had front wheels well off the ground on numerous occasions ! Bomb proof Gardner engine.
That's what I love about RU-vid. There I was, minding my own business, when this channel pops up, and what a gem it is. Brilliant job getting that old AEC to start and it's a big thumbs-up and a sub from me. Cheers lads and well done.
Not long discovered your channel. I grew up in West Wales on an 11acre small holding. I now live about 45mins away from where I grew up but in the middle of a town. Watching you get to grips with random tractors, land-rovers etc brings back a lot of memories from my childhood. I'm only 33, but my dad had loads of series 2 landrovers, we had a massey Ferguson digger, yellow, 3cyl perkins (I believe) with a back actor. But my favourite was the Zetor 5748, UCJ 593S was the numberplate. I even find myself running through the cold start procedure in my head from time to time. I watch your videos at night, in bed, with a snack after work on my xbox, so to comment I have to use my phone. I'm a taxi driver now so this is a hark back. Keep going, love the setup and your whole style of engagement with your audience 👏👏👏👌🤘👍
Good evening your Lordship, that AEC Matadors engine makes a really beautiful noise and a noise that I could listen to all day and it also started exceedingly well after being sat for 40 years and I cannot wait to see no 37 all restored and purring away with its beautifully sounding engine and until next time your lordship lock after you and yours and TaRa for a bit.
1982 I was driving western Scottish buses I managed to reverse into a ditch at a farm Rd end ishut the Rd for 5 hrs the NCB lorry drivers had to reverse 2mls but the Matador came to the rescue pulled me out like reliant robin
In the1970's & 80's old Matadors (ex British military, usually with a patch over the circular cut out in the roof)) were a fairly common sight throughout Libya, both on farms and in the oilfields in the deep Sahara. As Kenworths and other Detroit Diesel powered American trucks became more popular as the oilfields expanded and prospered , the Matadors fell by the wayside , but were still to be regularly spotted ,standing forlornly and derelict (but never rusty )outside remote villages and oilfield installations, until well into the new Millenium, along with the occasional Thornycroft and sundry other early post WW2 vehicles : , I imagine the civil war since 2011 has sounded the death knell for many of those hardy sterling survivors ..
Bloody brilliant video Mucker you and Matt will have to do stand up because you are so funny together!! I had no doubt it would go with you two. Fenland Rob
Great to see that the old truck needs saved,, old warhorse hope shows are back on for people to see and enjoy them ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️from Northern Ireland brilliant
Sad to think how many old motor's were scrapped because people thought that the engine was totally seized. I suppose it's all about knowing what to do and unfortunately money,time and effort excellent video keeping an oldie living once again...
Brilliant; finally subscribed after watching from the shadows, I don’t think some off these ball bag haters realise the effort it takes to restore these old vehicles to working condition, your doing a cracking job fella keep it up! There is plenty off scrap needing attention up here in Cumbria if you run out down there!
I new it would start after what you've already said about those engines but what a surprise, it started and ran better than something that's only been sat for a few months 👌 Built to last and over engineered as was common in those days. Classic I'd go for.
You proved me wrong LM. I’ve been with ya through every ‘will it start’ video, but when I saw the swamp thing moss growing on the dash, I was sure that block was seized up solid! Not only did it start, but it ticked like a finely tuned watch! Great video as always
That matador engine was incredible, sounded so good on the second start! 37 looks like a great series to come, looking forward to it. Definitely a classic tractor for question of the week!
holy crap I know that truck, I was an apprentice with wypte metro in the 70s, that was left over from trolley line maintanace, in the 50s early 60s, in my time there it was based at long royed bridge Huddersfield, and occasionaly used to tow in buses. it was a monster to drive, so very rarely moved but always started first kick.
I don’t know what it is, but something about these type of videos where it’s almost half grown with nature and how most of them start just makes it awesome
Can you imagine driving up and down the country with that engine shouting at you for hours! Best Will it Start I've ever seen. It's a Routemaster bus engine, bullet proof.
Amazing how easy that went after all those years, such a well made engine. Definitely a classic tractor please - something from the 80s preferably! Thanks for another great video.
U two get on like myself and a friend when we are doing something banter back and forth 😂😂 has to be vintage can't get enough of the beautifully simple machines being brought back to life
AEC Matador! So ridiculously cool and AWD to boot! I always wanted to get one of these and fit it up with a Leyland L60 tank engine or maybe a more conventional but equally lovely sounding Leyland 510 engine and go and enjoy it! If I have a lottery win I'll do just that!
Absolutely delighted to find your channel,,, funny story a farmer here in Ireland asked me to "fix up" his old tractor a 1947 Nuffield 3 cylinder only problem it was scattered all over a field covered in cow shite but I put it together and got it going 😁 he drove it into the shed and never used it again 🤣 really enjoying your videos thank you 👍
Catching up on your videos again mate. Been flat out this summer haha. Really enjoying as usual. That truck is a beauty, always loved the way they look.
MAGIC!!! That old girl wants to be saved. Nice job lads. I have a 1961 Ford 841 diesel tractor that gets regular use. She's dependable alright. Anything classic if you can please.
I'm amazed that those injector orifices aren't gummed up. Simply an amazing feat and as said, a "Gem" of a piece of machinery. You guys have definitely earned my subscription. By the way, I'm fortunate enough to own a 67 Mustang Fastback, if that's what you're referring to on your shirt where I see the Ford Mustang emblem with the number "67" printed over it . It's pretty rare here in the States nowadays as guys are constantly knocking on my door to see if I want to sell it, I can imagine the rarity of even a coupe there in Britain. Keep up the good work in trying to mobilize automotive history.
l attended a breakdown in Darlington the broken down wagon had 10 ton of wet concrete on , l had to reverse the the truck and the loaded concrete truck about 50 yards through a building site to where the foreman wanted the load dropped off it was not in a straight line the two vehicles were connected via a heavy tow bar , the reverse gear was very low geared but no power steering so it was a case of standing up and heaving on the wheel to manovere but l was young and fit then, then had to handball the 10 ton of wet concrete off. During this process l stalled the wagon the starter did not work in fact there was no electrics on the matador no battery either it was kept on a hill in the yard to start it it was rolled down the hill about 5 yards in gear out with the clutch and away it went. l managed to find a man working a four wheeled crane next door in a scrap yard who gave me a pull with a chain and away it went l remember it well what a wagon it was still got a photograph of it somewhere,happy days
I was so impressed by this that you earned my subscription… when you guys actually got her not only started but running like you did I literally said….WHAAAAT?
