Assorted AECs

One of the most eye-catching ‘group’ displays at the 2016 AEC Rally was the five-lorry lineup of AECs owned and restored by the Laughran family, all of which had made the trip over from Armagh in Northern Ireland to be at the show.

- David Reed

Cement and concrete are part of the family business, so perhaps it’s not surprising that a 1953 AEC Mammoth Major cement mixer formed the centerpiece of their display. Though this lorry is not an original ‘mixer’ (genuine/ original mixers from the early fifties must surely be pretty-much extinct by now) it is certainly representative of the type that was around at the time. The Mammoth Major did also start its life in the cement industry – albeit as a tipper – with the Chinnor Cement & Lime Company. After this it went to Castle Point Buses in Southend where it lost its tipper body and was converted into a recovery vehicle. From here it went to Seymour Clapcott in Dorset from where it was bought for preservation by Mike Higlett who put it back as a tipper – and in this form the AEC actually appeared in our February 2008 issue. It then ‘crossed the water’ to Ireland in 2010 for conversion into a fully-operational cement mixer.