ALTERED BEYOND RECOGNITION.
Page 25
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How some Vehicles
WHERE ARE a number of vehicles in 1 service at the present time which have passed out of the hands of one user into the hands of another user, and which, if they had been seen in their original guise, would certainly fail to be recognized. They may have been the victims of some untoward accident which necessitated structural alterations being Made, pat to rough use in the hands of the original owners, or adopted for an entirely different class of service Prom that for which they were originally designed. There were, for instance, many vehicles which, after having seen a term of military service during the late war, were turned over to civilian users, by whom they were altered or modified to suit definite requirements.
To take a fleeting glance at the pictures on this page, one would hardly think that the vehicles shown were one and the same, but, nevertheless, such 's the case. The vehicle in question is a 2-ton C.B.-type Daimler, which came back from France in the condition shown in the lower picture, and it was purchased by Thomas and Evans, Ltd., who, apart from being owners of Terry Stores, also run 'a motor engineering and electrical department at Porth, Rhondda,
The old body was useless for the purpose the company had in mind, so they designed and constructed a new van body, as shown in the upper picture, the roof being one Sundeala panel. The company have found that this material is very serviceable, particularly for roof construction_ It requires little support, and makes a perfectly watertight covering. The side panels of the body are of lead-coated sheet steel.
With regard to the work which was undertaken to render the chassis serviceable—for it will be seen in one of the iiiustrations that it is badly damaged and devoid of certain essential compo
nents—the machine was entirely dismantled, and, with the exception of the engine, all the units were reassembled after having been subjected to a through examination. The power unit itself was given a complete overhaul, and a new radiator and bonnet were fitted.
In a communication to us, the company point out that the vehicle has proved satisfactory in every way, and is one of the most, efficient units of which their fleet is composed. This must be considered a triumph for Daimler manufacture, apart from being a reliable index of the thorough and work manlike manner in which the users undertake mechanical overhauls, in so far as the main components are still in • active use.
As we have already said, there must • be many commercial vehicles in daily use which have changed their exterior appearance upon being passed on from one user to another, and we should be interested to receive details of the experiences of users in this directien. •