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JIM 445

20th December 2001
Page 35
Page 35, 20th December 2001 — JIM 445
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Keywords : Tom Osborne, Measham, Osborne

Our test vehicle was first registered on 11 March 1948 to the English Electric Company on Liverpool's East Lancs Road. Little is known of its life there, although a contemporary photograph shows there were at east 20 identical trucks. At some point its previously chest-high headlamps were lowered to comply with changed legislation. Then, in August 1963, Tom Osborne, a Hampshire

forestry equipment engineer, paid at

Measham auctions to become the second name in the logbook. This was actually something of a bargain, as the nonferrous content meant it had a potential scrap value of £500. Fortunately, unlike today, businessmen then tended to take a broader view than just turning a profit at any cost.

The Jensen served Osborne until it was pensioned off for £25 in the spring of 1966 to carry hay and straw on a nearby farm. But at the end of the summer Tom Osborne's wife insisted he go to the farmer and offer him his money back. The result was a happy farmer, who had had a summer's free trucking, and the homecoming of the Osborne's family friend.

JKC 445 sat in Osborne's yard for the next two decades until it was decided to restore it. Every Saturday for seven years Andy White, a foreman at the nearby HCB Angus fire engine works, restored the Jensen's cab and chassis to a very high standard, with the help of Chris Jordon. Every cab

panel, apart from the roof, was faithfully recreated, including the fibreglass grille. Meanwhile, Tom Osborne himself overhauled the driveline.

In 1992 the £10,000 restoration was completed in time for AC 445 to make a trip from London to Brighton. After the run the noisy top gear was cured by the replacement of the gearbox internals. The Jensen was then carefully mothbaled, and did not leave the yard again until this autumn, when CM was aboard for its first run of the new millennium.

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Locations: Liverpool, London

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