I drove one in the late '60s. It was a heavy awkward wagon to drive. The steering was heavy, it was all double de-clutch. By the end of the day, I was well and truly knackered. Lorrie drivers today don't know how well off they are.
My old man drove a chieftain and then a comet for 12 years, starting when he was 18. This amazing footage shows just how fucking hardy you had to be. Thank you so much for this .
My first HGV job was driving a Reiver just like this in 1967 carting stone from a quarry in Bury to the new M62 motorway. After a year I had arms like Popeye. When the motorway got too far away, I ended up at Irlam Steelworks humping hot slag. The Albion never let me down except for punctures. Happy days...
happy times as a kid sat on bonnet with feet against the windscreen in a leyland comet rmc mixer long gearchange with a big red ball on the end. the splitter was another large lever on the back of the cab. and my younger than me mate moans that his 16 plate daf wont change gear properly..softy boy🤣
When my Dad began driving Tippers back in the late 1960's - if you wanted a heater it was "an extra" LOL. He said he drove an Albion which I cant recall (before my time) and later a 4 wheeler Bedford which I had many rides in (back in the days when quarries allowed a child passenger!)
Wow , i learn something new everyday, never thought Albion fitted AEC engines and Eaton boxes in their wagons ,. Guy Motors of Falling,s Park Wolverhampton did fit the AEC AV 505 as an option on their lighter Big J6 6x4 tipper mixer chassis. Gloucestershire Based Sand &Gravel Merchant Roger Cullimores had a large fleet of LAD Cab Albion Reivers as tippers similar to your friends but on a slightly longer wheelbase. He also ran s fleet of Guy J6 Concrete Mixers with the AEC AV 505, i think fiited with Ritemixers the drum driven by a separate Fordson donkey engine. Albion did buy in six cylinder Leyland Napier 350,s and cut them down to a four cylinder to power their unique Claymore and Clansman models with this engine mounted under the chassis, like a Sentinel or MAN-Bussing.
Albion Elbow!! ,hardly surprising after clocking up a ten twelve day hauling gravel or coal in a Reiver, the driver could barely crawl let alone walk home . Those old Scottish bruisers are pretty good off road and perfect for muck away ,Albions compact hub reduction drive axle is nigh bomb proof.Only let down is the engine, Reivers were horribly underpowered , 97 well thrashed Preston Ponies is all you got. So hill climbing fully loaded is first gear, throttle flat to the floor and good ear plugs.
Some of the features of the LAD Vista Vue cab, absolutely NO leg room, steering is by Armstrong and the heater is what flows out from around the engine cover into the cab. Pray you never crack the header joint or pipe as you then also get asphyxiating fumes in the cab too.
Pleased to see a driver who can double clutch cleanly. Never saw the gear stick in that position on a Reiver/ Clydesdale before, has the gearbox been changed. Thanks for posting.
@@johnnymurphy9296 thanks for reply . I remember now that Reiver chassis for cement mixers could be had with AEC Mercury engines, but yours is the first I've seen. The 400 Leyland engine was'nt enough for 24 tons gross even with the Albion 9 speed box which was just a splitter/overdrive on the 4 higher gears. They were tough durable light lorries but hellish noisy things to drive and impossible to sleep across the cab with gear lever up over the high engine cover.
Was that sprayed with a spray can? Looks good. Wow it's weird knowing there's a 505 there. I used to catch Swift buses with that engine and you can really hear it as though your under there with it. They had decent power for their size. Driver looked like he was giving his all.
Amazing video man what kind of truck is that exactly? I love the sound and if you can, can you please do an extremely long video of you driving one of these because I love that noise that sounds amazing. Stay safe have a great one.
Oh wow a bruiser of a wagon , the so called LAD Vista Vue Cab did not win any brownie points regarding comfort and ergonomics . Cooped up in that tiny tin can with a raucous overworked Leyland Napier 400 diesel cooking your left hip, stirring a six speed. crash box would reduce any synchro softened driver to a gibbering wreck needing serious therapy Your Wagon is a pure all Albion Reiver, so she must have Albion,s own engine,iis the engine Albion,s own ,or as i said before, a Leyland Napier 400.
@@Mr_b_yorkshire_farmer dear mr the lany man. Sir,in 1994 when i was 27 after 4 years and 4 months of 2 trips to england from aberdeen every week i drove a 1985 b reg constructor for 9 months local because i was tired and wanted more sex. A cement mixer for leiths ( scotland). 8 speed crash. I never realised fully at the time i was driving one of these. Silly boy. I had to go back to distance cos although i was on £4.36 and for the first time real time and half you got used to bringing home 350 + long distance even though it was bloody tough. Fatigue mostly. You guys know the score. Id love a ride in this thing some day at your convenience. Cool?
Thought I would give you my Nerdy knowledge on this, Read comments. It's on a short mixer chassis, tipper body which look like weaker 4LN tipping ram, not stronger 5LN used on muckaway, was added, the only other chassis that was this short back in the day in tipper form was super rare 18 tonne gvw AEC ergo tippers of late 60s that found tipper bodies fitted probably from cancelled fleet orders AEC,s were totally unsuitablefor muckaway due to poor ground clearance and low hanging rear suspension. Full door LAD Albions 6x4 tippers from mid 60s on were 5 speed with optional 6 speed overdrive 20 ton gvw that could be added to box. They had red gear knob, with optional floor handle splitter box lever to split 1st through 4th gears, from 72 ish onwards they had air splitter on gear knob, for first through fourth. With Leyland 400,s This truck has AEC 505 with AEC 6 speed gear box, straight stick with black knob, Albion stick was curved. In another video Owner says it's a 10 speed Eaton wrong, it has Albion hub reduction back axles, not Eaton/ rockwell style axles that were used in Leyland lad Road comet, if they were Eaton 2 spd they would have red toggle type switch on gear stick shaft,The reason Albions were so popular as tippers was due to there super light unladen weight. These AEC engined LAD cabbed Albions for solely speced for Mixer fleets towards the end of there life, the ergo cab Albion came out in 1965. The Ergo cabbed Albions were always Leyland 400 engines. They had an odd ratchet hand brake, with an air option, nothing to do with the dead man on steering column. There were other specs that went to the colonies back in the day as kit forms, but they are a hole different story.
Thank you for your very informative comment. As I only drive the wagon I do not no all the details but I can assure you the transmission is a Eaton ten speed. There was no mention of the axles that clearly are Albion axles. It was originally a mixer I believe so that is possible why you are confused with the spec off this wagon. Cheers for your comment.
@@Mr_b_yorkshire_farmer I am not confused, someone must have added the 10spd, in the video it looks like the original AEC 6 speed, they came with, don't see splitter/ range switch. First one of these I saw was on site in1974 of A5 in Hendon when M1 was been extended to the now staples corner. A maroon one on an L/ M plate tipper, can't remember was it a short mixer chassis.
@@checker3694 the owner is in here and he will soon put us straight. As I am lead to believe there was a few with this transition. The axle is geared so low it’s not even worth putting the transmission into the low. Thank you for you comment
Good video! Highlights what a nasty cab that era of LAD was. Looks worse set up in there than the Dodge /Eaton that Dad had in the early 60s. I seem to rember local RMC plant had this style of cab new in 1970 (J reg) on some kind of poverty spec deal.
Ýeah didn't the gear lever go over the engine cowling both K plates at my place had 401 s fitted bloody noisy wouldn't mind a go myself Richard batteries Used to over charge eyes use to water
This is a nice video and really like how the engine sounds.It looks as if this was filmed in Huddersfield When I was at Harrogate after the Transpennine Run in 2018,I was looking at this vehicle parked up when a man stood by it said he and his friend had some spare lunch bags and whether I would like to have one.(There was a bag a crisps, an apple and pop inside.) I accepted his offer and thought it was a really nice gesture of him.The man had an Irish accent.I was wondering if he was the owner of the Albion tipper or just a friend of the owner?
@@Mr_b_yorkshire_farmer never seen a LAD cabbed Albion with a straight gear lever. They always had curved lever from centre rear of can.... and regularly a sore elbow when engaging 3rd gear. That looks like a Leyland Comet which had a straight lever. Otherwise its an alteration.
