A tired-looking Morris-Commercial Leader.
There were no notes on the back of this old photo, so it was out with the magnifying glass. Fortunately the badging on this lorry's radiator is clearly visible - "Morris-Commercial", with the "Leader" script attached to the core itself. Less clear is the signwriting on the driver's door - the owner's first name is legible (James), as is the legend "Grain Merchant", and three letters - STR...
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The Morris' registration begins with OS, this series was allocated in the Wigtownshire area of S.W. Scotland from 1904, right through until 1955. One of the main towns in that area is Stranraer. Therefore what we have here is a photo of a Morris-Commercial lorry driver, quite possibly James himself, a grain merchant in the Stranraer area of Scotland, sometime in the 1930's.
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A close look at the lorry shows a very hard-worked vehicle, note a serious lack of tread on the offside front tyre, and tatty paintwork to that corner's front wing. Is it just the angle of the photograph, or does it look like the offside kingpin is seriously worn too? The driver looks like he's had a hard day's work, did he lose a front tooth loading sacks of grain perhaps?
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Return to Page 11 in the vintage car motoring gallery.
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Another vintage Morris lorry can be seen on the Morris R-Type lorry photo page. Many lorries and vans, after serving businesses in their early years, saw out their days with family motorists. This page features photos from 1953 of a pre-war Morris Commercial being used on a family's holiday in Kent.
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