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See Homepage. This page: A vintage Thornycroft commercial vehicle in the livery of an Ironmonger in Shoreditch.
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A 1920s Thornycroft wagon.

Although scruffy, this old photograph of a Thornycroft wagon has some fascinating detail to it. I've tried to find photos of a matching lorry to identify this one, but as yet I've not succeeded. I think it could either be a Thornycroft BT, or possibly the lighter-weight A1 series, although none of the other vintage photos I've found show a Thornycroft with this style of open-sided cab, running on solid rubber tyres.
A Thornycroft lorry, possibly a BT
It took some time poring over this 1920s photo with a magnifying glass to spot the tiny lorry maker's name, down near the driver's right foot. Other interesting things in the cab area include the brass & rubber hooter up near the driver's head, and the gravity fuel tank mounted on top of the scuttle, beneath the windscreen. Thornycrofts of this era only had brakes to the rear wheels only, note the exterior-mounted handbrake that also operates on the back wheels. The scan below shows this quite well.
The cab area of this Thornycroft lorry

Signwriting on this particular lorry.

A variety of different company and operator names are included in the signwritten areas. My guess is that the driver sat in the cab was Charles A. Wells, of 10 Union Court, Old Broad Street, London, and he was obviously in the ironmongery business. The name of Clark, Hunt & Co. Limited appears on the removable canvas tilt fitted to the back body, so perhaps Mr Wells was doing contract work for that firm at the time of the photo? Mr Wells' address is repeated in tiny script on the lorry's rear body, below the large text "IRON MERCHANTS". In even tinier script is the name of the coachbuilder who built the rear body, but I can only make out part of it: "??J.M.?? Bendall, Motor Body Builders, Crossway, Kingsland."
A close study of the Thornycroft's chassis also reveals various specifics regarding the weight and payload capacity of this particular vehicle. Hopefully this data will help someone to accurately identify the model of lorry shown:
U.W. 2 Tons 6 Cwts
F.A.W. 1 Ton 10 Cwt
I cannot make out the third piece of information, shown below.
Side view of the lorry's chassis
Return to Old Vehicle Photos Page 8.
More vintage and classic lorry information at oldclassiccar.
Information relating to old lorries is spread across the site, for instance in the following locations: Lorry enthusiasts can find a few more period shots of Thornycroft lorries in action at Newhall Dairies on this page, and a free classifieds section relating to vintage and classic lorries here. An interesting view of a 1933 Thornycroft, with local Sao Paulo coachbuilt bodywork, can be see in this photo. A free screensaver featuring preserved commercial vehicles can be found here, and the story of my own lorry rebuild is being recounted in the Dodge restoration pages.

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