Lot Ended
Description
From a deceased estate; current owner 40+ years; rare survivor; fully
restored and in super condition throughout; find another one!
Leyland Motors
has a long history beginning in 1896 when James Sumner and Henry Spurrier
together formed The Lancashire Steam Motor Company in the town of Leyland just
south of Preston. Their first vehicle was a steam-powered 1.5 ton capacity van
and by 1905 they had begun to make petrol-engined wagons.
By the late 1920s they were at the forefront of bus and truck design,
producing a whole menagerie of commercial vehicles named after animals – Lion,
Llama, Tiger, Beaver and Buffalo to name just a few. The 1930s continued the
development of this theme with heavy vehicles like the Hippo and the Rhino,
while a lightweight K Series Cub was also offered from 1931 - 1939, with an
unladen weight of just under 3 tons.
In 1968
Leyland Motors merged with British Motor Holdings to form BLMC and the rest, as
they say, is history…
Dating from 1932, this
Leyland Cub KG2 has been in the current ownership for well over 40 years. On
offer here from a deceased estate, it has no documents other than a V5C
(recording no previous keepers) and a DVLA letter from 1984 when the owner
succeeded in getting the tanker re-united with its original Bath-issue number
plate, GL 1792, so it had presumably been off the road for quite some time
before that date.
A Vintage car enthusiast with
quite a collection of interesting vehicles, the owner set about a full
restoration of the Cub which we are told by the family took many years to
complete. This included rebuilding the straight-six petrol engine which has a
capacity of 3,000cc, according to the V5C. Painted in the livery of the family
fuel business, it was then displayed at their large yard in Tenbury until the
business was wound down fairly recently.
As you
can see in the photos, this tanker looks mighty fine today – inside, outside and
underneath – and we are told that it is in good running order although it
currently has no battery fitted so we have made no attempt to start it for
ourselves.
We can find no record of any other
Leyland K Series trucks being sold at auction before, nor are
there any photos of similar vehicles online apart from a 1932 KG2 Tipper Truck
in the Beamish Museum in County Durham, so this must be a rare survivor and will
no doubt create a lot of interest on the commercial vehicle show
scene.
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970
309907 – [email protected]