R. D. CATER SAMPLES A 1908 X-TYPE LEYLAND
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'Sweet as a Nut' After 57 Years
IN 1908, when Leyland products were L already making a name for themselves with the haulage companies of the day, Carter Paterson and Co. Ltd. purchased a number of X-type Leyland 3-tonners of that year. From then until 1932, one of these vehicles bearing the registration number LC6695 (running between various Carter Paterson depots and averaging between 55 and 75 miles daily) clocked up a mileage that is seldom seen on a 3-tonner even today-379,873.
An advertisement was placed by Leyland Motors in The Commercial Motor early in 1932 offering £100 for the oldest vehicle of their manufacture still
operating. Carter Paterson replied, saying that they were still operating a large number of X-types and Leyland should come and take their pick. LC6695 was chosen.
Subsequently, Leyland restored the X-type to its original condition. It now resides at the works and is taken out only on high days and holidays. Such a high day occurred recently when I was invited to have a short run with the vehicle.
My first impression of LC6695 was one of amazement, as I had expected to see a high vehicle similar to the RAF and Subsidy types. Instead, the X-type is a nicely proportioned, low-level Vehicle which belies its vintage, in terms of clumsiness. The restoration is first class and the credit for this goes to the Leyland apprentices.
The written specification of the machine includes words which have long since disappeared from technical descriptions" char-a-banc "; "thrust-block drives"
and " gate-principle " being among those that particularly catch the eye. Two items stand out as being slightly before their time: they are the double-reduction rear axle and the four-speed gearbox. Under the heading ignition, Simms-Bosch low-tension type was standard, but hightension magneto-and-accumulator ignition was provided for.
It is true to say that there is little completely new if you care to delve into the archives of the industry. The crankshaft-mounted fan certainly comes under this heading as this is the system used on the X-type; the radiator is mounted low between the main chassis-members and protected by the front cross-member. The wheels, the specification says, "are of the composite type which has proved to be the only design that will stand up to bad roads and rough usage; practically any make of tyre can be fitted Closer inspection of the vehicle shows that it has a separate engine and gearbox. The drive is taken through a cone-clutch and Cardan shaft to the four-speed box which is offset to the nearside of the frame. The gear-change mechanism puts many present-day arrangements to shame by the perfect manner in which it operates. It is both positive and accurate and, I am told, needed little attention when the restoration was being undertaken. When it is considered that it is a remote-control unit and 57 years old, this speaks highly of its designer.
The engine is of the four-cylinder type (there were two options-35 and 50 h.p.) with side valves situated at each side of the cylinders and operated by two camshafts. Inlet-valves are on the offside and exhaust valves on the nearside. The cylinders and heads are cast in one piece with access to the valves via a cap situated over each valve and held in position by two studs. The cylinder blocks are east in units of two and are flange and ' spigot-mounted on to the crankcase.
As is usual on vehicles of this era, all the pipework for the cooling system is in copper. The hot-spot induction comprises a jacket fitted around the exhaust manifold, perforated on the underside. Hot air collected here is piped through a 1-5 in.-diameter copper tube to the carburetter intake. The make of carburetter was optional, either a Claude Hobson or a Zenith unit being available.
Although hardly robust enough for the job it has to do—this was evident by the distortion that had occurred over the years—I particularly liked the method of fitting the magneto, which is very quickly detachable, Pressure lubrication on the dry-sump principle was used, with the oil tank mounted on the nearside of the dash panel. Timing is by gears. manufactured in vanadium and nickelsteels, and the crankshaft is of the same materials, The power output of the unit driven was 35 h.p.
A pressed nickel-steel frame (" tapered towards the ends to provide lightness," says the specification) was used. Even at that early stage in the industry it seems that the battle for low unladen-weight had already started_ Suspension is by conventional semi-elliptic leaf springs but the rear axle is located by a torque tube with the forward end carried in a spherical joint mounted in the crossmember immediately behind the gearbox. Braking took two forms: the earlier types, like the vehicle driven, had a water-cooled transmission-brake operated by the brake pedal and internal expanding shoes operating in drums on the rear wheels, controlled by the handbrake. Later models were fitted with two different size drums on the rear wheels, with the larger of the two operated by the pedal and the smaller by the lever. The transmission brake was lined with copper.
On the road the vehicle ran extremely well indeed. The ride given, even though unladen and on solid tyres, was very good. However, when we took the vehicle into a park where the roads were more in keeping with those upon which the vehicle must have often worked, the picture was very different, I could imagine the buffeting the crew must have taken during their 75-mile day, when most of the roads were laid in cobble sets, or not even laid at alt.
Although accurate and positive, the steering was heavy and needed a fair amount of " beef" behind it when turning a corner. I wondered what it must have been like when loaded and perhaps when the tontine grease-up had been missed. As I have said earlier, gear changing is a pleasure once you get used to the vehicle and, like all gate-change units, is extremely positive. The clutch went home with a bang if one was not careful, and when declutching to make a gear change the impression gained was -that something had broken because there was a loud " clonk " and the pedal immediately went soft. It was explained that this was the cone breaking out of the flywheel and was nothing to worry about.
Bowling along the lanes around Leyland at comfortable speeds of up to 20 m.p.h. the X-type engine and transmission were " as sweet as a nut ", with the exception of a heavy vibration period when approaching 20 m.p.h.
The route took in a 1 in 13 gradient which was about 100 yards long, and it was with some trepidation that I tackled this. Three quick downward changes were made and we scratched up to the top of the gradient with a bit in hand at abeut 3 m.p.h. On a present-day vehicle, this gradient would be hardly noticeable when running empty. For a few moments whilst climbing, I reflected on how long it would have taken to climb the section over The Cat and Fiddle from Macclesfield to Buxton, with the X-type fully laden.
With the rear wheel brakes controlled by the hand lever it was this that came in for the most use during the short trip and I must say that an extremely progressive stopper it proved to be. When used, the footbrake was jagged and rough, an action that must have caused some fun and games when road conditions were bad. The visibility from the driving seat was better than on any modern vehicle I have driven, as the pictures will show.
I was ,unable to check the fuel consumption during the run owing to the fittings on the fuel tank being out of standard with those on my test tank, but I was assured by the Leyland test driver who accompanied me that the vehicle does about 6 m.p.g. However, I put the Tapley meter on and made a few brake tests. From about 20 m.p.h. I managed to get 26 per cent on the handbrake and even 32 per cent on the transmission footbrake.
At the end of my day out with the X-type I had a much greater respect for some of the old chaps who pioneered motor haulage in the early 1900s. But even more impressive was the aggregate mileage of almost 380,000 covered during the vehicle's working life.