British Railways Delivery Truck London 1962

The Scammell Scarab is a British 3-wheeled tractor unit produced by the truck manufacturer

Scammell Scammell Lorries Limited was a British manufacturer of trucks, particularly specialist and military off-highway vehicles, between 1921 and 1988. History Scammell started as a late- Victorian period wheelwright and coach-building business, G Sc ...

between 1948 and 1967. These vehicles are often known as "Snub-nose Trucks" or "Snub-nose Lorries" because of the round hood in front of the cab.

Development and production history

The

Scarab was the successor to the

Scammell Mechanical Horse The concept of the Mechanical Horse tractor unit with an easily detached articulated trailer was conceived in the early 1930s by Napier & Son. It has one front wheel in the midline. The London and North Eastern Railway had approached Napier fo ...

and production began in 1948. Its name is commonly believed to be derived from the rounded bonnet that resembled the

elytra An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

(wing covers) of a

Scarab beetle The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

, but the name really comes from a more conventional source. It was a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsBritish Railways usage. The official Scammell Lorries advertisement film makes reference to this. It was extremely popular with British Railways and other companies which made deliveries within built-up areas. The Ministry of Defence also used the Scarab and trailers for predominantly internal transport on large military bases. In the late 1920s, railway companies were looking for a suitable vehicle to use on their town parcels delivery traffic, which was predominantly horse-drawn. The

London Midland & Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

experimented with various ideas and in late 1930 announced, jointly with Karrier Motors, a tractor unit for this purpose. The vehicle, the Karrier Cob, was powered by a twin-cylinder Jowett engine and utilised a mechanism to couple existing

horse trailer A horse trailer or horse van (also called a horse float in Australia and New Zealand or horsebox in the British Isles) is used to transport horses. There are many different designs, ranging in size from small units capable of holding two or thr ...

s to the tractor units. Meanwhile the London & North Eastern Railway had approached Napier, the quality car and aero-engine makers, for an answer to the same problem. They came up with some ideas, but did not wish to develop the concept and sold the project to Scammell Lorries of

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. Their designer, O. D. North, refined and further developed the concept of the three-wheel tractor unit which automatically coupled and un-coupled trailers and in 1934 announced the introduction of the Mechanical Horse. The Scammell Mechanical Horse, with its very 'square' wooden cab and steel chassis, remained largely unchanged until the late 1940s when the tractor section was redesigned, creating the Scammell Scarab, which featured the same successful automatic coupling from the original but now used the Scammell 2,090 cc side-valve engine in both the three- and six-ton versions. A diesel version was also introduced with a

Perkins Perkins is a surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon corruption of the kin of Pierre (from Pierre kin to Pierrekin to Perkins), introduced into England by the Norman Conquest. It is found throughout mid- and southern England. Another derivation com ...

engine. The Scarab's cab was more rounded and made from steel including roof and windscreen panels pressed from steel tools obtained from Bedford that made up the roof of the 'O' type lorry. With the engine being mounted lower and more centrally than in the Mechanical Horse, the Scarab was much more stable. The railways for which this style of vehicle was originally designed continued to be a primary customer, although there were many other users, the manoeuvrability proving popular for companies operating in city environments.

Scammell Townsman

Production of the Scarab ceased in 1967 and it was replaced with the

Scammell Townsman The concept of the Mechanical Horse tractor unit with an easily detached articulated trailer was conceived in the early 1930s by Napier & Son. It has one front wheel in the midline. The London and North Eastern Railway had approached Napier fo ...

that now featured a fibreglass cab. Like that fitted to the Trunker, Handyman and Routeman, it was designed by

Giovanni Michelotti Giovanni Michelotti (6 October 1921 – 23 January 1980) was one of the most prolific designers of sports cars in the 20th century. His notable contributions were for Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati and Triumph marques. He was also associated with t ...

. The Townsman utilised many developments in large vehicles including vacuum-assisted hydraulic brakes and although the same automatic coupling feature was used, this now used a vacuum-operated release mechanism rather than the hand lever found in earlier models. Despite numerous improvements, the Townsman was mainly sold to British Rail and the Royal Mail and production ended in 1968 as forthcoming construction and use regulations mandating dual-line brakes on articulated combinations could not be met. Formation of

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

also affected to ending of Scammell Townsman production.

Pony Mecanique

The Scammell or "FAR" was also made under licence by the French company Chenard-Walcker and used the Citroën

Traction Avant Traction may refer to: Engineering *Forces: ** Traction (engineering), adhesive friction or force ** Traction vector, in mechanics, the force per unit area on a surface, including normal and shear components * Traction motor, an electric motor ...

engine. Production of this version began in 1937; it was known in France as the ''Pony Mécanique''. This continued in production, in various versions, until 1970.

Scarab Four

A four-wheel version of the Scarab was produced, named "Scarab Four". It was based on the

Standard Atlas The Standard Atlas is a light van which was produced and sold under various names between 1958 and 1980, initially in Britain and Europe, and subsequently in India. Standard Atlas, Standard Atlas Major and Standard 15/20 (1958–1968) In 1958 ...

van chassis, later called the Leyland 20. This chassis was not well-adapted to the job and it was not a great success. The braking performance was much better than the three-wheel version but the independent front suspension gave a bouncy ride. Only a handful were sold in Britain but 60 were exported to South Africa and Macau. There are no known surviving examples of the Scarab Four in the UK.

Preservation

Scammell Lorries produced approximately 30,000 Mechanical Horses of all types; of these, about 30 original Mechanical Horses, 60 Scarabs, and 30 Townsman are known to survive together with three Karrier Cobs and two Jen Tugs. Examples may be seen at a number of museums and heritage railways. The Mechanical Horse Club (MHC) was established in 1983 to promote the preservation of Scammell three-wheelers. The MHC regularly have a display stand and several examples of the preserved vehicles within the commercial vehicles section at the annual

Great Dorset Steam Fair The Great Dorset Steam Fair (abbreviated GDSF, and since 2010 also known as The National Heritage Show) is an annual show featuring steam-powered vehicles and machinery. It now covers and runs for five days. This used to be from the Wednesday ...

. The restoration of a Scarab to working order was the subject of a programme in the third series of

Salvage Squad ''Salvage Squad'' is a British television programme, in which the "Salvage Squad" faced the challenge of restoring an item of classic machinery. The task was usually against a tight deadline, such as a public unveiling at a vehicle rally. In addi ...

. The final filming session took place at the Vintage Carriage Trust at Ingrow station, on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, on 22 November 2003, where it was handed back to its owner, Chris Waye, out-shopped in the standard British Railways road vehicle livery of carmine and

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, colloquially referred to as blood and custard.

In fiction

Madge, a character from ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'', is based on this vehicle.

References

External links

{{commons category (Some used as references)
The Mechanical Horse Club
key features:

** ttp://www.mechanical-horse-club.co.uk/Automatic%20coupling.htm Scammell Automatic Coupling Gearbr>Scammell Scarab at 3wheelers.comPictures of the "Scarab 4", the unsuccessful 4-wheel variant
Scarab Trucks Three-wheeled motor vehicles