1. Arran Diesel.
The majority of British vehicle manufacturers from the 1920s and 1930s have long since gone up in smoke, disappeared into history perhaps through take-over, financial collapse, or change of direction instigated by those in charge. Arran is just one of many lorry manufacturers that cropped up in the years prior to WW2, and continued for just a few short years before vanishing once more, never to re-surface. The Arrans featured here are from the archives of the former coachbuilding company Creaseys Motor Bodies, established in 1908.
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Arran Motors Ltd was situated in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, and was one of the early proponents of diesel engines (model name: Dieselet) in medium-sized commercial vehicles (at a time when many were still wedded to petrol, and in some cases, steam power). Entering business in 1934, just three years later the firm was taken over and the final Arran was produced in that same year, 1937.
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The Arran shown below is registered DBH 201, and was owned by F. Saunders (Contractors) of Amersham. The registration series was introduced in September 1936 in Buckinghamshire, which fits in nicely with both the lorry's operator, and the years of Arran production. Note how the unladen weight of the lorry, and it's maximum permitted speed (30 mph), has been signwritten onto the rear chassis.
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The lorry has a very stylish cab, fitted with a dropside rear body that incorporates a load area that extends over the cab - presumably for carrying bales of straw.
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Evidently this is a forward-control lorry, Arran also produced a number of bonneted types. Do any Arrans survive?
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2. An Arran with dropside bodywork.
Another fabulous photo from the Creasey archives next. Here, a brand new forward-control Arran is shown with its newly-fitted, all-steel, dropside body. The cab is a very simple design, with a single non-opening pane of glass acting as the windscreen for the lorry's driver. The plated lamps and attractively-shaped radiator surround help this Arran stand out from the thousands of Albions, Fodens, ERFs and Commers that it would inevitably have encounted on the roads of Britain during its working life. What a cracker. I wonder who it served with throughout its life, and whether it survived the war. My thanks to Stephen Creasey for permitting me to share some of his images on my site.
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Return to Page 18 in the photographic archive, or visit the main index of images here.
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