Rainy Gaydon and the Truck Show

The British Motor Museum at Gaydon seems to be something of a second home for me at the moment, this being my fourth visit in a year. Just a fortnight after last time I was back again for a repeat of the Classic Truck Show, and in case you're wondering this was a deliberate decision so I could have plenty of time to look around the Collections Centre on my previous visit and wouldn't be rushing around this time trying to see everything in one day, knowing the size of the truck show.

The most apt numberplate of all?

Visitor and exhibitor numbers seemed to be down a little on last year, no doubt thanks to the weather - a typical British summer weekend of frequent and often heavy rain. From comments I heard it appears quite a few exhibitors had decided to go home on Saturday afternoon and not return on Sunday as several gaps were evident. The displays were more spread out, having been distinctly cramped last year, but many of the same vehicles were present. The event wasn't quite as dominated by Scania Streamlines this time, but the Volvo F88 seems to be the current 'in thing' and was the most numerous type in evidence.

A rare BMC JU looking a bit lonely and forlorn in the rain.

Widening of the entrance driveway meant the loss of display space on its verges, and the light commercial club stands at the top now seemed a bit isolated with nothing to connect them to the main display. A handful of lorries were placed on the hill adjacent to the driveway, an exposed and windswept location with no footpaths so it could only be accessed by walking or driving across wet grass, and this wasn't at all popular with those exhibitors who had been put there. Only on reaching the top of this hill did I realise there were a load more lorries in the camping area on the other side, and I wonder how many visitors completely missed these as they were invisible from the main arenas and there were no signs pointing towards them.

Much the same comments as last year apply to the variety of exhibits, with the Brits and Swedes dominating, the Dutch and Germans once again poorly represented and a complete absence of Ivecos. There were more Leyland T45s this time though, the solitary Roadtrain from last year being joined by two others and the welcome sight of a Leyland-DAF 45, and the number of Ford Cargos had doubled from one to two. One thing that has struck me about this show is the complete absence of any representation from the ubiquitous Eddie Stobart. Apart from a small collection of classics that are permanently displayed in the glasshouse at head office and never seem to move, Stobart appear to have little interest in their heritage and concentrate on staging their own events to show off their current fleet, so there was little to interest Stobart Spotters here.

How many visitors spotted this little gem hidden away at the back of the camping area?

The big firms were out in force once again, Knowles Transport leading the way with a ten-vehicle display. Among these were a couple of gems, including their latest completed restoration, the Foden Twin Load, basically an eight-wheel rigid flatbed with a fifth wheel at the rear coupled to a short artic trailer. I had seen a model of this on display and assumed it was a work of fiction as it was so bizarre, only to go outside and come face to face with the real one. Apparently around a dozen were built but I can't work out what the point was and what advantages they had over a normal wagon and drag. More unusual still was the famous Leyland Gas Turbine prototype, which I thought would be the star of the show for me and not much could top it for interest, but later on I discovered something even more remarkable.

Turbine-tastic!

Having recently written about Quest 80 and their disastrous range of buses and lorries on this blog, I was delighted to find such a vehicle in attendance here, so it became an instant favourite and I have been able to update my original article with a photo of it. The truck in question is the infamously short-lived tipper D166 FHA and in the flesh it is every bit as bizarre as it looked in the photos. The cab interior in particular was very behind the times for a 1980s product, with a huge four-spoke steering wheel, lots of exposed angular metal and not much else, like something out of the fifties, and looking at it I wasn't at all surprised it was such a failure.   

The oldest vehicle present (using the word in its loosest sense) was the heavily decayed chassis of what was apparently a 1914 Guy, which appeared on the back of a Seddon Atkinson flatbed, and somehow I don't think the restoration of this one will be finished in time for next year's show! Officially there is a twenty-year age limit as the event was promoted as featuring pre-1996 trucks, but this isn't strictly enforced and a good number of newer vehicles were in attendance, including some fairly new and still in service units, usually accompanying and/or transporting their owners' classic fleets but put on display themselves. Once again it was common practice for one vehicle to transport others, although in some cases (such as those that were part of McGovern Haulage's nine-vehicle display) they remained loaded while on the showground so those on the back were hard to see.
 

Lots of work to do before this sees the road again. It is 102 years old though.

As with last year, my principal reason for attending was to assist my friend Roy with his model display. His large collection of Midland Red buses are always an eye-catcher as something different from the tables full of truck models, as is his layout with many working features. Roy is a skilled electronic engineer and his trademark is fitting working lights to his models, all in 1/76 scale. His well-known fire scene, complete with flashing lights on the appliances, flame effects and a smoke generator, had a simple but effective new addition in the form of what appeared to be a jet of water coming from the firefighters' hose; this is actually just a spiral of metal inside a clear plastic tube that is driven round by a motor, but looks very convincing and attracted much comment. Also new was a working pedestrian crossing using a chip programmed by my father, and adults and children alike seemed to be unable to resist pressing the button and seeing what happened.

The model show is held in the conference centre on the upper floor at the back of the museum, and there were no signs directing visitors to it, so many didn't realise it was there and stumbled across it purely by accident when going to the cafe. I'm sure there were signs last year, and this is something Roy intended to address with the organisers after the event so hopefully things will improve next year. Display numbers here also appeared to be slightly lower than last year and a few familiar faces were notable by their absence, although it did clash with a number of other model shows this time round. One innovation was to turn off the lights in the room containing the remote-control trucks so their own array of working lights could be seen more clearly, and something else that caught my eye was a large-scale working model of a sand and gravel processing plant that was making its first public appearance for many years.

Knowles Transport on parade.

Overall, this was another enjoyable day at Gaydon, although perhaps not quite as good as last year's truck show. Repeat visits are never quite the same as the first time though, simply because you know what to expect and there are always a core of regular exhibits that turn up every year. The poor weather was unfortunate and doubtless kept some visitors away, but nonetheless it was a worthwhile day out - seeing the Quest 80 was worth the effort alone! As ever, the full album of photos are available on Flickr.