Scammell Lorries

British commercial vehicle manufacturer

Scammell Lorries Limited was a British manufacturer of trucks, particularly specialist and military off highway vehicles, between 1921 and 1988. From 1955 Scammell was part of Leyland Motors.

Scammell started as a late Victorian period wheelwright and coach building business, G Scammell & Nephew Ltd in Spitalfields, London. George Scammell, the founder, was joined by his nephew Richard and Richard's sons Alfred and James. By the early 1900s, the firm had become financially stable, providing maintenance to customers of Foden steam wagons. One such customer, Edward Rudd, had imported a Knox Automobile tractor from the United States, and impressed with its low weight/high hauling power had asked Scammell if they could make a similar model of their own. However, the outbreak of World War I in 1914 stopped the project and presented itself as a turning point in road transport history. Mechanical transport was seen to work, proving its vast potential beyond doubt to forward thinking companies such as Scammell. George Scammell's great nephew, Lt. Col. Alfred Scammell, was injured and invalided out of the army, and he was able to apply the practical experience he had gained during the war and began developing the articulated six wheeler. Percy G Hugh, chief designer, conceived the idea and at the 1920 Commercial Motor Show, 50 orders were taken for the new design. The vehicle's very low axle weight allowed it to carry payload legally at , rather than being limited to 5 mph.

Scammell started production of the 7.5 ton articulated vehicle in 1920. Needing to move to new premises, Scammell & Nephew floated a new company, Scammell Lorries Ltd in July 1922, with Lt. Col. Scammell as managing director. The new firm built a new factory at Tolpits Lane, Watford, next to Watford West railway station on the branch line from Watford Junction to Croxley Green. The original company remained in business in Fashion Street, Spitalfields refurbishing and bodybuilding until taken over in 1965 by York Trailer Co. In 1929, Scammell designed and manufactured the "100 Tonner" low loader. Only two were produced; the first was delivered to Marston Road Services, Liverpool, for the transportation of steam engines to Liverpool docks. Scammell were also looking for new markets, and diversified into four and six wheel rigid (nonarticulated) designs. The 'Rigid Six wheeler' found some success and, with its balloon tyres, at last permitted sustained high speed, long distance road operation. In 1934, Scammell produced the three wheeled Mechanical Horse, designed by Oliver North to replace horses in rail, postal and other delivery applications. This featured automatic carriage coupling and the single front wheel could be steered through 360 degrees. It was sold in three and six ton versions. The three tonner was powered by a 1,125 cc side valve petrol engine and the six tonner by a 2,043 cc engine. Karrier had introduced a similar vehicle, the Cob, four years earlier. From 1937, a Citroën Traction Avant powered version was made under licence in France, by Chenard Walcker FAR, known as the Pony Mécanique. This continued in production, in various versions, until 1970. In the late 1940s, the Mechanical Horse was superseded by the Scammell Scarab, with similar features, but a much less angular cab and now with a 2,090 cc, side valve petrol engine in both models and a diesel version with a Perkins engine. The company mainly concentrated on articulated and rigid eight wheeler lorries, from the 1920s. One vehicle not in those lines that became well known was the 6×4 Pioneer. This was an off highway, heavy haulage tractor, first produced in 1927. It showed outstanding cross country performance due to the design that included the patent beam bogie rear axle, with 2 feet (1 m) of vertical movement for each of the rear wheels. This design was the work of Oliver Danson North. The Pioneer proved popular in the oil field and forestry (logging) markets, and formed the basis of the British Army's World War II R100 30 ton tank transporter. With the outbreak of war, development of new vehicles stopped and production concentrated on military Pioneers for use as artillery tractors, recovery and transporter vehicles. In 2024, British based On Scene Magazine featured an interview with Dave Crouch of UK firm Crouch Recovery, who, despite the advances elsewhere, still highly praises anything which carries a Scammell badge. So much so that they have amassed a large collection of older recovery vehicles and later model classics that are restored for posterity, and in many cases could still go to work if required.

The Handyman initially used a glass fibre cab designed by Scammell – for the Mark 2 and 3 versions a new Michelotti designed "cheesegrater" fibreglass cab as used on the 2nd and 3rd versions of the Routeman Rigid was fitted. Early versions were equipped with Scammell's own "gate change" gearbox but subsequent versions were fitted with AEC and David Brown gearboxes. Engines fitted included the Leyland 680, Gardner 150 and Rolls Royce 220.

The Trunker was a three axle version of the Handyman.

The Contractor was a 6x4 tractor used by various operators including the Australian Army as a tank transporter or as heavy haulage, usually engineering plant for the Royal Australian Engineers. The Australian military units were configured with 335HP Cummins diesel engines and pneumocyclic gearboxes. While one of the trials vehicles which served in the Vietnam War was branded with the Scammell name, most of the remaining units were branded Leyland. Two trailer specifications were used, a 24 wheel float with 16 wheel dolly trailer for transporting the Australian Centurion tank or US Patton tank in Vietnam. The other trailer was a 40 Ton 12 wheel Steco folding goose neck trailer for the engineering plant.

The Crusader was a 4×2 or 6×4 tractor that used a Motor Panels supplied steel cab, available in sleeper or day cab forms. It had the option of Detroit Diesel, Cummins, Rolls Royce or Leyland engines. The Crusader was used by the British Army as a 6×4 tow truck (with EKA underlift equipment) and as a 6x4 tractor unit normally used for towing 35–tonne plant trailers or 30–tonne tank bridge transport trailers. A recovery variant was also in use. The British Army replaced the Crusader in the late 1990s by a Seddon Atkinson tractor unit with a 40–tonne plant trailer and a specialist tank bridge transporter. Many have seen use in the heavy haulage industry due to their incredibly strong chassis. The special heavy haulage tractor was the Crusader based Samson 8×4 with tridem axles. The military specification vehicles were usually equipped with 15 speed Fuller gearboxes and an 8–tonne capstan winch.

The Commander was introduced as a tank transporter in 1978. Designed in the late 1970s, they replaced the Thornycroft Antars in the British Army beginning with the delivery of the first one on 30 March 1984 followed by others totaling 125 units. The 6×4 units could carry a load of 65 tonnes and were used to transport Challenger I tanks. Used during the Gulf War, they were retired in 2002 and replaced by the Oshkosh M1070F HET. The Commander is powered by the 26.7L Rolls Royce/Perkins CV12 TCE twin turbocharged diesel engine that produces approximately and is coupled to an Allison automatic transmission. The Scammell Commander CV12 engine is very similar to the ones used in the Challenger 1 and 2 main battle tanks but with an increased power output of around Designed to tow loads up to 65 tonnes, the Commander tows a special semi trailer onto which tanks can be tail loaded using a hydraulic 20–tonne capacity winch. A prominent bonnet houses the vehicle's Perkins (Rolls Royce) CV 12 TCE V12 and although the Commander is powered by the Perkins/Rolls Royce engine, other types were also proposed – one of the prototypes used a Cummins KTA 600 diesel. The cab has provision for up to three or four passengers and there is space for two bunks behind the front seats. Due to the front axle lock angle, the Commander is highly maneuverable and can negotiate a 'T' intersection with only 9.15 meters between the walls. In 1988 the Leyland group including Scammell company was bought by DAF, the rights to the Commander were sold Unipower Ltd, who opened a new plant in West Watford. In 1990 during the operation Desert Storm 70 Scammell Commander heavy tank transporters were used to transport 40 types of various military cargo. Each of the vehicles was on the road 17 hours a day during a 4 month period and on average each vehicle traveled 270 km a day on the desert roads. Most of the 125 British Army Commanders were based in Belgium and Germany, with only a few in the United Kingdom.