Harvey Frost car trailers.
There comes a time in most old-car owners' lives, if they run a vintage or classic car for a period of years, that the need to tow a car on a trailer arises. This may be as a result of buying a "barn find" old wreck needing restoration, or perhaps just recovering a car back home that had "failed to proceed" whilst out on a meander. Assuming there is a suitable tow-car available, decisions then follow as to whether a two- or four-wheeled trailer is best suited to the job in hand, and whether a trailer with a tilting load bed, or a static bed plus removable ramps, is required. Just such decisions would also have had to be made back in the 1960s and 1970s. In the UK at least, it would be quite likely that whichever trailer was chosen - either purchased outright or hired - that it would have a Harvey Frost manufacturer's plate attached to it.
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The following two examples of Harvey Frost (HF) trailers feature in a 1972 garage equipment catalogue, and are typical of the types and styles of trailer that would have been commonplace back then.
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A Triumph Spitfire and a "Pickaback" trailer.
The first HF trailer is the "Pickaback" Car Recovery Transporter, on which is secured an example of Triumph Spitfire Mk2. This takes me back as I owned a couple of similar (Mk3) Spitfires in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and both were familiar with the concept of being transported upon a car trailer, as a result of various mechanical maladies. The Mk2 shown below sports a factory hardtop, a pair of dashing sports rear-view wing mirrors, and a set of wire wheels. An uncle of mine wrote-off a Mk2 just like it, albeit painted in BRG, in the '60s.
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The "Pickaback" trailer, a single-axle model, could carry a load of 1.5 tons.
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A Cresta PB demonstrates the HF "Quick-Load" trailer.
The second HF trailer to appear within this particular catalogue is the "Quick-Load", ably demonstrated in action with a Vauxhall Cresta PB squeezed onto its length. A two-tone paint scheme adorns this particular PB's lines, as do a matching pair of Tex wing mirrors. Carrying capacity for the trailer shown was 2.25 tons, and twin-axles and drop-down rear ramps were standard fitment. Having towed a few old wrecks in my time, I'd go for a twin-axle trailer every time as the weight of the load is spread over twice as many wheels, and stability-wise I've always found them preferable to a two-wheeler.
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Elsewhere on OCC.
Old trailer information can be found in several places across Old Classic Car (OCC). This page, also within this section of the site, describes the amazing "Eagle Breakdown Trailer" from the 1920s - I've never seen anything quite like it before. If you're interested in all types of old trailer, large and small, then the Vintage and classic car trailers section is worth a look too.
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