Lot Ended
Description
Only 38,482 miles indicated; few owners, the second for 31 years;
rare model with Gardner diesel engine; flatbed body; 6 x 4 double drive;
9-speed gearbox; driven 25 miles to the sale
First registered
in Yorkshire in July 1971, this Foden S39 has had just four owners from new,
according to the V5C. Sadly there is no other paperwork with the vehicle so we
can’t tell you much more about it. The second owner kept the Foden for 31 years
(1981 – 2012) and it has clearly been well-looked-after and no doubt treated to
a degree of restoration at some point.
The
odometer shows 38,482 miles which can’t be warranted but there is no MOT history
online so it can’t have been used much in the last 20 years or so. The vendor
tells us that it always starts easily and runs very well and it was driven 25
miles to the sale on trade plates without drama.
A six-wheeler with a flatbed rear load area, we are told that it has
a 9-speed gearbox (rather than the 12-speed of the early models) and a Gardner
diesel engine and while the capacity is not stated on the V5C, the S39 typically
had a 10,450cc straight-six diesel producing 180bhp. Specifically designed for
construction sites, often as a tipper or mixer, the cab had a split windscreen
so that if something fell on it, in theory only one half would be
damaged.
We have done a fair bit of Googling to
find out more about this model but there is very little information online and
nothing at all about this particular lorry so it has presumably been out of the
public eye for many years.
According to the
howmanyleft website, only two 1971 Foden lorries are still UK registered today,
both on SORN (as this one is) so this is a rare old beast and will no doubt
prove a real talking point on the commercial vehicle show scene.
With any luck the next owner’s sleuthing skills
will be better than ours and we wish them luck in trying to piece together a bit
more history for this impressive machine.
Consigned
by James Dennison – 07970 309907 –
[email protected]