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Preserved 1934 Thornycroft Handy dropside lorry

Thornycroft was a United Kingdom-based vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977.

History

Thornycroft Steam Wagon of 1897 with tipper body to act as a dust-cart

Thornycroft steam wagon of 1905

John Isaac Thornycroft, the naval engineer, also formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its first steam van in 1896. This was exhibited at the Crystal Palace Show, and could carry a load of 1 ton. It was fitted with a Thornycroft marine launch-type boiler (Thornycroft announced a new boiler designed for their steam carriages in October 1897^[1]). The engine was a twin-cylinder compound engine arranged so that high-pressure steam could be admitted to the low-pressure cylinder to give extra power for hill-climbing.^[2] A modified version of the steam wagon with a 6-cubic-yard tipper body was developed for Chiswick council in 1896 and went into service as a very early self-propelled dust-cart. While the original 1896 wagon had front-wheel drive with rear-wheel steering, the tipper dust-cart had rear-wheel drive and front-wheel steering. The Thornycroft tipper was built by the Bristol Wagon and Carriage Company, though engined by Thornycroft.^[3]

Thornycroft's first petrol vehicle was built in 1902,^[4] and the company completed the move into internal combustion engine power in 1907.

First World War

Thornycroft's Basingstoke factory supplied nearly 5,000 motor vehicles for war purposes. They also provided "quite a large number of engines of various powers" to the Admiralty, the War Office and to other Government Departments at the beginning of the war and for the next two years. Thereafter they manufactured marine motors for the coastal motor-boats built at the Woolston, Southampton works. They also made the Thornycroft depth-charge thrower for anti-submarine warfare.^[5]

From 1931, Thornycroft used names for their vehicle range – descriptive and colourful ones. During World War II the company designed the Terrapin^[6] and other war-related vehicles.

In 1948, the company name was changed to Transport Equipment (Thornycroft) Ltd to prevent confusion with the shipbuilding Thornycroft company. The company was well known for providing fire-engine chassis, with multi-axle drive for uses such as airports. A limited number of 4x4 chassis were also provided to Worcester-based fire engine manufacturer, Carmichael for sale to civilian brigades in the 1950s.^{[citation needed]}

They were taken over in 1961 by AEC parent Associated Commercial Vehicles Ltd,^[7][8] and production was limited to Nubians, Big Bens and Antars, although the Thornycroft-designed six-speed constant mesh gearbox was used in AEC and later medium weight Leyland and Albion trucks. ACV was then taken over by Leyland in 1962. They already had a specialist vehicle unit in Scammell, another manufacturer of large haulage vehicles. Thornycroft's Basingstoke factory was closed in 1969^[9] and specialist vehicles transferred to Scammell at Watford.

Models

Bus and coach

• Beautyride


• Boudicea


• Cygnet (Single Deck)


• Daring (Double Deck)


• Lightning


• Nippy


• Patrician

Lorry

• "Type J" 40 hp, 1913


• "Type K" 30 hp, 1913


• 
  Hathi, 1924

four-wheel drive artillery tractor for the army

• A1 RSW / A3 RSW, an off-road capable rigid six-wheeler to an army specification, 1926^[10]
  


• QC / Dreadnought, 1930

12 ton rigid six-wheel chassis.^[11]

• Hardy


• Dandy


• Sturdy - 5/6 tonner


• Trusty - 8 ton forward control 4 wheeler


• Bullfinch


• Strenuous


• Mastiff


• Tartar 3-ton 6x4, both civilian & military versions and production (3,000 - 4,000) between 1938 and 1945.

(see Thornycroft Bison for an unusual variant)

• Taurus


• Iron Duke


• Amazon


• Stag


• Bulldog


• Jupiter - 6.5 ton


• Big Ben


• Nubian
  
  
  
  • 3-ton vehicle
  
  
  • Available as 4 x 4, 6 x 4, 6 x 6
  
  
  
  


• 
  Antar
  
  
  
  • 85-ton
  
  
  • 6 x 4 pipeline and tank transporter
  
  
  
  

See also

• 
  Terrapin - design only, built by Morris Commercial
  


• Nubian airport crash tender


• Thornycroft military vehicles


• Thornycroft Athletic F.C.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thornycroft vehicles.

External image

A Thornycroft Steam Wagon from around 1904

• 
  'Thornycroft of Basingstoke' - (Hampshire Cultural Trust) - extensive coverage of history and vehicles


• Thornycroft vehicle preservation group


• Thorneycroft Classic Motor History