Mammoths, Moguls & Matadors
Trucking|March 2017

AEC was Britain’s first transport vehicle manufacturer with a high-throughput assembly line, and later became a key arm of the Leyland Motors Group.

Ed Burrows
Mammoths, Moguls & Matadors

When AEC (the Associated Equipment Company) was established in 1912, it was not the intention of its parent group to enter the goods vehicle business. But two years later it began producing what finally accounted for around 10,000 of the 25,000 British manufactured trucks delivered to the army during World War One.

AEC did not become a stand-alone business until 1933. Prior to that, it operated as the bus and truck building side of an amalgamated group of London bus operators. What became ‘the AEC’ grew out of a venture initiated in 1908-09 by London General Omnibus to manufacture its own buses. The build-it-ourselves decision was a response to the mechanical unreliability plaguing the Wolseleys, Daimlers and buses of other makes it was running. The problem was so fundamental that, to guarantee dependable passenger services, at the time the in-house project was initiated, the bulk of London’s General Omnibus fleet remained horse-drawn.

Horsing about

In 1909, London General had the staggering total of 11,000 horses. Never mind today’s cries of ‘dirty diesel.’ Imagine the health risks – never mind watching your step crossing the road – of the daily tonnage of road apples dropped by thousands of horses clip-clopping along London’s streets.

In 1910, within two years of the motor bus project’s commencement, an initial batch had been built and the design refined to create the legendary B-type. This was followed by investment in what was probably among the world’s first moving track assembly lines. By 1913, some 2500 B-types were in service and London had said goodbye to its last horsedrawn bus.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 2017-Ausgabe von Trucking.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 2017-Ausgabe von Trucking.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS TRUCKINGAlle anzeigen
Economic Certainty
Trucking

Economic Certainty

DAF’s HVO-sipping lightweight FTP chassis goes all-out for payload and fuel frugality.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 2019
Gold For J Mould
Trucking

Gold For J Mould

The life of the eight-wheeler can be harsh. Trucking went to hear how one Reading operator switched to Renault after a long and tough market-wide evaluation.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 2019
Step In The Right Direction
Trucking

Step In The Right Direction

How switching to alternative liquid fuels can help operators put the brakes on HGV emissions.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
November 2019
Leading By Example
Trucking

Leading By Example

Flogas drives forward carbon reduction with new Bio-LNG powered truck duo.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 2019
Trucking

Dearborn To Dagenham

Ford used to be a mainstay of the UK light/medium truck market – and in the 1930s offered three-tonners powered by the legendary Flathead V8.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 2019
Cost of traffic to UK business approaches £1bn
Trucking

Cost of traffic to UK business approaches £1bn

Cost of traffic to UK business approaches £1bn

time-read
1 min  |
February 2018
Motward Marks Anniversary With Top-Spec Tribute Truck
Trucking

Motward Marks Anniversary With Top-Spec Tribute Truck

Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire based Motward has celebrated 40 years in business with the purchase of a new Volvo FH16-750 tractor unit, which has become a lasting tribute to the company’s much-loved boss, Jason Tolhurst.

time-read
1 min  |
March 2018
The New Hotel Entrance
Trucking

The New Hotel Entrance

Slippery slope for this driver after his initiative is rewarded with a dose of the white stuff

time-read
4 Minuten  |
March 2018
Trucker Of The Year 2018
Trucking

Trucker Of The Year 2018

In association with Staveley Head, Trucking magazine needs your nominations as we look to crown the country’s best truck driver!

time-read
1 min  |
April 2018
Cat-Astrophe!
Trucking

Cat-Astrophe!

Feline shenanigans with clandestine stowaway of the furry variety

time-read
4 Minuten  |
April 2018