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Commercial vehicles attract enthusiasts as keen as any. When Derek Parnaby's fleet came under the hammer there was no shortage of buyers. Right: The first Scammell Showmans' Tractor, soon to be returned to its 1938 specification. Top left: the Showman's tractor, featured in The Commercial Motor in August 1938.
11 An unrivalled collection of heavy haulage equipment came under the hammer last month, when Derek Pamaby sold over 2125,000 worth of the most collectable kit in the country by auction at Whitworth Hall, County Durham.
Buyers came from all over Europe to bid for lots ranging from an 1897 Crossley Otto open crank — one of only two in existence, it fetched 21,650 — to the first Scammell Showman's tractor (dated 1929) and one of the last ex-Watford Scammells, an 526 fitted with a S24 bonnet and still under warranty. It sold for'R.45,000.
The auction field was like a time machine: there was a solid-tyred Scammell drawbar trailer; a twin-cylinder vertical steam engine complete with generator set, and a line-up of trucks to gladden the hearts of the enthusiasts who swarmed over them expounding knowledgably on every minute detail.
Ticking over like a sewing machine was Pamaby's favourite truck, a 1929 chaindrive Scammell Showmans' tractor. Its six-cylinder Gardner engine has not been touched in the 30 years he has owned it. The vehicle was originally purchased by Shell Mex in 1929 as a tractive unit. It was subsequently run by Scammell, where it was converted to a Showmans' tractor, complete with bodywork and a Mawdsley generator. Hoadleys fun-fair of Whitley Bay near Newcastle re-registered the vehicle.
Scammell Owners Club secretary Roger Austin paid 217,000 for the vehicle, which joins two other chain-driven examples in his collection. With the solid-tyred trailer and two other Scammell trucks bought at the auction, Austin's collection now totals over 20. He plans to restore the chain drive to its 1938 specification and has a . generator waiting for it.
The only Rotinoff Super Atlantic left in the UK was star of the auction for Dennis Bowman, fleet engineer of AJA Smith Transport of Clitheroe, Lancashire. "I have been trying to buy this truck for over five years," said Bowman, who snapped it up for 210,250.
George Rotinoff, of Russian descent, had his company headquarters at 125 Pall Mall. Only two models were produced, the Atlantic and the Super Atlantic, at the company's plant at Colnbrook, near Slough. The Super Atlantic was introduced in 1957 (CM August 1957). Most of the 33 vehicles Rotinoff built, including the example at the auction, were sold to foreign armies for use as tank transporters. When Rotinoff died on 2 May 1959 the truck business was sold off: "The vehicle was very advanced for its day with a synchro box, power steering, air conditioning and a top speed of 40mph," said Parnaby, who added perhaps the ultimate heavy haulage compliment: "It will out-pull any Scammell." AJA Smith has a quiet retirement planned for the Rotinoff. It will tour shows around the North West and will handle the "occasional recovery job" to keep in trim. Not too much trouble for a truck plated at 300 tonnes with an eightcylinder supercharged Rolls engine.
One real oddball at the auction was an HTT tractor, one of only four built by Heanor Heavy Haulage in pre-type approval days. They combined a Scammell chassis, a Volvo F88 bonnetted cab and a Scania 14-litre vee-eight engine. Using a Fuller gearbox and a Spicer splitter 54 gears were available. "I wouldn't say you could find them all," Parnaby recalled, "but they are all there." It sold for 26,850 — or 2126.85 per gear.
The sad end to the unique collection became inevitable earlier this year when Parnaby decided to concentrate on the coal washing machines his company makes and sub-contracted his heavy haulage work. Parnaby never found time to set up "some sort of museum" as hetad hoped but, while he is sad to see the trucks go, said it was "time to let someone else enjoy them".
El by Colin Sowrnan