Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[clan chieftain]

It had to be the 3 wheeled Scammell that the Post Office had in the 50s and 60s. When we had them in for repair we had to road test them with the trailer on the back. What a fantastic turning circle they had. You could turn them on a station platform. The cab was very basic and the steering wheel was almost vertical. But great to drive. If I remember they were called Scarabs. Something obviously to do with Arab horses.....I think.
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The Clan Chieftain

[Ellis]

The strangest vehicle I have driven?

Three come to mind.

The first was a Nuffield Tractor, a 1959 specimen which I was asked to move by upland country roads from the farm of a retiring farming family to it's new owner in the September of 1972, a journey of 16 miles or so. What an experience!
I don't remember which model it was except that it was big, diesel and reddish orange in colour. The clutch was worn and foot effort by Schwarzenegger, the brakes ( rear wheels only) were non existent and a sticky hand throttle made it an experience to remember. No cab, roll bar and of course, it rained, heavily, two miles into the journey. Oh, and I nearly forgot - the steering WAS light but there was a good foot of free play in the steering wheel.

The second was a 1960 Commer Minibus which was bought by a friend and, against my better judgement, I agreed to drive the ten miles to his home after he bought it for £30 in January 1974. It hadn't moved for some years and I had the benefit! Completely bald, degraded tyres, time expired front springs and dampers and with front brakes only, forward control as it was, my friend had lots of doubts cast as to his lack of paternity when it finally wheezed home.
What on earth he wanted it for I could not fathom but he later revealed his cunning plan to turn it into a camper van. It didn't happen.

The last was a Leyland National single decker service bus with a Volvo engine upgrade. Another friend was/is the fleet maintenance manager of a bus and coach company and he encouraged me to have a drive. A clutchless manual, it drove like a dream and the power - Wow!
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[47Jag]

Larry,

A Scarab is a beetle. The Dung beetle is a Scarab.

Art

[Roger-hatchy]

I can remember the 'Scarab' mechanical horse.

When working next door to Kings Cross station BRS, Post Office, and British Rail used to collect and deliver from our premises.
It always amused me the way they could spin round in one outside our workshop, and cars had to do at least one shunt to turn round.

The weirdest I have driven was a Cat980 loding shovel, it bends in the middle.
No wheel steering, hydraulic rams bend the vehicle in two, and you sit central above the vehicle.
Very weird sensation as half the vehicle moves from side to side to steer

[Ironhead]

all the Mechanical Horses had gone by the time i started at NCL/British Rail,but there were still drivers there who spoke fondly of them

[Rick]

Driving (or rather steering) buzzy's roller was certainly an eye-opener, as is driving (big) Dodge...

RJ
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Rick - Admin
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[roverdriver]

I had a drive of this back in 1982.


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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[baconsdozen]

In the boatyard I worked at was a Ruston Bachyrus drag line.
It had been outside for years and I freed off the engine and got it running so it could be moved.
It was then pressed into service digging a dyke and it was all pretty much learn as you go along as apart from an old boy in the yard next door no one had the faintest idea how any of the controls worked.
Health and safety would have a field day now with all the pulleys gears and wires inches from your lugholes.
I remember some sort of mechanism underneath to lock the cab broke one day as I trundled across the yard and it stopped dead and the cab spun round with me inside it like some sort of deranged fairground ride.
I thing it was later sold and then scrapped,the number plates from memory were two letter (Rp or B i think) and a single numeral.
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Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[Bitumen Boy]

I can't compete with any of these, but still fondly recall a ride-on mower that I used to use on one of the first jobs I ever had. It had a hand throttle and a transmission that while unusual (well, I've never come across another, but they could be quite common for all I know) was absolutely perfect for the job. No gear lever, no clutch, just a sturdy but minimum pressure required rocker pedal on the right operating some sort of fluid drive - push the front down with toes for forwards and down a bit further for second or push the rear down with the heel for reverse. No fuss, no fatigue and so easy to manouvre and shunt around awkward corners it was like a dream, just a shame about the noise that drowned out Radio 4.

[Penman]

Hi
A couple of months ago, one of those self-propelled scissor lifts was at the college, for which I drive minibuses, unfortunately they wouldn't let me have a go when I tried to get to drive it.
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[welshrover]

my mums fiat punto, i pulled it out of the drive that was enough fo me of strange vehicles

[52classic]

Seddon Atkinson dustcart. Impulse buy at Merthyr Motor Auction, having gone there to buy a runabout for the missus.

17.5 tonne, Cummins diesel and an auto gearbox. Fun to drive but failed to impress my neighbours on my driveway!

[Penman]

hi
I've just remembered, I drove a West Yorks Volvo fire appliance for about 100yds once.
When I stopped it I forgot it was an automatic and pressed down, with my left foot, where the clutch should be.............

and set off the two tones.
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[ukdave2002]

A JCB 3C when a student i earned extra cash working on building site 's, that was in the 80's ,
you probably have to pass tests and things these days!

Dave

[Roger-hatchy]

You have to have a test to use a pallet truck these days,
The pump up type, not a fork truck.