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Ahhhhh ! I think it would fit nicely between the Scammell and the Stollie in that big shed you've got mate ! Did you see the programme about restoring an old Matador timber tractor on sky tv the other night ! Very entertaining ! :-D

 

I don't think it would fit Andy :whistle: did you notice its in the same 'livery' as the scammell?

 

Probably best I didn't see the tv show! I have however lost my dvd with the salvage squad stolly restoration on it :cry: I've had it for years and now I've finally bought a stolly I lose the dvd :argh:

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  • 4 weeks later...

Re Southdowns other Mat.I wonder where Antarmike gets his info from,dreams I suspect.Southdowns original cabbed Matador was aquired by them in 1948 from a Norfolk farmer.Originally registered JNG 641 it was fitted with a crew cab and a gantry crane, this was later replaced by a Mann Egerton crane, NOT a Harvey Frost.The vehicle was sold in 1989 and restored as a breakdown and rallied, including the HCVS London to Brighton run.After some research, it was discovered that it was one of 450 flatbed tractors built for the RAF between 1939-1945, not postwar.As it was possibly the only surviving wartime example and fairly original, the decision was taken to return it to it's original wartime condition, in time for the 1994 D day anniversary and take it to France.

The crew cab, crane and remnants of the rear body were removed and a new rear body constructed.The cab WHICH WAS NOT BURNT was restored back to original and it was painted in 85 Group Second Tactical Airfoce RAF markings.The owner has since died of cancer and I take exception to him being branded an IDIOT and hope an appology is forthcoming.

See the picture below (if they come out!)

Edited by beleraphon
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Guest catweazle (Banned Member)

Hi beler.i am glad you have put the record straight here,i was sure this was the case,but due to a loss of many of my pics and documents (divorce no 2)i had no evidence,sorry to here the owner has died,i have never seen it since do you know what happened to it.Probably some idiot put a crane on it :rofl:Cheers CW.

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Guest catweazle (Banned Member)

The pictures have come on now,what a great job you made of it.I think i saw your collection at the Essex Mvt show,its obvious you have a huge amount of knowledge on Mats.To be honest i think your Mat and 25 pndr and all the associated kit is the best i have seen. Any chance of pics of yours.Look in the green sheet people if iam right this is the one.i know he is modest but you have to see the collection to appreciate it.Cheers CW.

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Just for a bit of interest thought i would put up the Mat i used to own with a good mate, due to the leg injuries i recieved in a road accident and my mates knee replacement we felt it unsafe for us to drive her lets face it lovely trucks but animals to drive we had her about 6 years and she now resides in Lincolnshire

mat5.jpg

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Re Southdowns other Mat.I wonder where Antarmike gets his info from,dreams I suspect.Southdowns original cabbed Matador was aquired by them in 1948 from a Norfolk farmer.Originally registered JNG 641 it was fitted with a crew cab and a gantry crane, this was later replaced by a Mann Egerton crane, NOT a Harvey Frost.The vehicle was sold in 1989 and restored as a breakdown and rallied, including the HCVS London to Brighton run.After some research, it was discovered that it was one of 450 flatbed tractors built for the RAF between 1939-1945, not postwar.As it was possibly the only surviving wartime example and fairly original, the decision was taken to return it to it's original wartime condition, in time for the 1994 D day anniversary and take it to France.

The crew cab, crane and remnants of the rear body were removed and a new rear body constructed.The cab WHICH WAS NOT BURNT was restored back to original and it was painted in 85 Group Second Tactical Airfoce RAF markings.The owner has since died of cancer and I take exception to him being branded an IDIOT and hope an appology is forthcoming.

See the picture below (if they come out!)

 

 

The information came from the guy who claimed he owned it. I showed him pictures of it and he said he had taken the cab off to coach build a body on it. I offered to buy the cab and he said he had burnt it. I assume that if someone claiming to be the owner tells you what he has done with it, that he is telling the truth. The conversation happened at crystal palace, at the start of the London brighton commercial vehicle run, where I had taken my Mat. I certainly wasn't dreaming. Ok I may have met a hoaxer, but until proven otherwise, I tend to take things at face value. Especially when he turned up with the other Southdown Mat (the Yellow Coachbuilt one) and it's owner. I had seen JNG and the coachbuilt Southdown Mat side by side the previuos year at the AEC Rally. At Crystal Palace only the Coachbuilt Mat turned up so I asked the pair of them wehere JNG was and was told that it was being rebuilt as a coachbuilt Mat and that the cab had been burnt.

 

If the person who told me that had done what he said he had done then he would have been an idiot.

And it is that gent (who I agree may not have actually been the owner) that I refer to as an idiot.

 

But if he was the owner and he told me he had burnt the cab when he hadn't he was definitely an idiot.

 

Why should I appologise to a dead person who told me he had burnt the cab, when he hadn't?

 

Oh and I used the term "Harvey Frost" generically in much the same way all ball point pens are Biro's and sticky backed plastic is always sellotape, unless you are watching Blue Peter.

Edited by antarmike
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Re Southdowns other Mat.I wonder where Antarmike gets his info from,dreams I suspect.Southdowns original cabbed Matador was aquired by them in 1948 from a Norfolk farmer.Originally registered JNG 641 it was fitted with a crew cab and a gantry crane, this was later replaced by a Mann Egerton crane, NOT a Harvey Frost.The vehicle was sold in 1989 and restored as a breakdown and rallied, including the HCVS London to Brighton run.After some research, it was discovered that it was one of 450 flatbed tractors built for the RAF between 1939-1945, not postwar.As it was possibly the only surviving wartime example and fairly original, the decision was taken to return it to it's original wartime condition, in time for the 1994 D day anniversary and take it to France.

The crew cab, crane and remnants of the rear body were removed and a new rear body constructed.The cab WHICH WAS NOT BURNT was restored back to original and it was painted in 85 Group Second Tactical Airfoce RAF markings.The owner has since died of cancer and I take exception to him being branded an IDIOT and hope an appology is forthcoming.

See the picture below (if they come out!)

 

 

Gents; slight change of tack I am presuming the restoration colour is replicating khaki Green No 3 it looks identical to some authentic unmolested, colour film I have of an RAF Amazon crane taken winter 43/43 However I have just airbrushed a model with the newly released white Ensign Model's KG no 3 which is made with the assistance of Mike Starmer, I also have Mike's excellent book which contains colour chips; neither the paint or chip of KG No 3 are anything like either the finish of the MAT or the crane in my film ??

Does anyone know anything about the colour portrayed in the restoration please

Regards TEd

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Just for a bit of interest thought i would put up the Mat i used to own with a good mate, due to the leg injuries i recieved in a road accident and my mates knee replacement we felt it unsafe for us to drive her lets face it lovely trucks but animals to drive we had her about 6 years and she now resides in Lincolnshire

 

Presumably you have seen post #21 in this section in the days when Penman used to own it.

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03-03-2008190746.jpg

Thought I'd repost RAF Flatbed so you can see wartime photo, and the rebuild side by side. There are obvious differences. Not solid gusset plate on wartime photo and strip steel barace on rebuild. Obviously there were differences in wartime versions. Seeing as the airtanks are different, because of the different year of build, it influences what lockers etc are under the body.

 

But the Later headlamps in the wrong position don't really look right to me. And the tyres have been put on with the chevrons facing the wrong way for wartime practice. But thats personal choice and it's good to see one out and about anyhow.

 

Note also differences in rear mudguard arrangement.

Edited by antarmike
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Not seen Dave Penfold for some time now Mike i heard is was not in the best of health a while ago. We purchased the Mat from John Huggins in Dover where she was being pushed from piller to post and getting damaged in the process i went in there one day saw a digger had whacked the side in and raised a fuss and came out the new owner of the truck strange how these things happen. Now that the photos are back i can see we run the risk of repeating some if not careful i take it different photos of vehicles already on the thread will be OK, here are two wartime shots i did not see a artillery tractor and a experimental armoured recovery built by the REME in the desert

cheers

Les

hmvf1.jpg

hmvf2.jpg

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Whilst on the subject of Dave Penfold here are some photos taken by him when he completed the restoation many years ago

 

Now owned by Brian Denson at Market Rasen. I drove it on a pub run a couple of years ago. It was horendous, compared to mine the brakes are non existant. The engine won't kill at the accelerator pedal as it should, the Clutch brake does appear to do anything, and it revs to fast to get a good gear change. Sorry I didn't like it... needs a whole lot of sorting out. And the Steering.... bludy ell.

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Now owned by Brian Denson at Market Rasen. I drove it on a pub run a couple of years ago. It was horendous, compared to mine the brakes are non existant. The engine won't kill at the accelerator pedal as it should, the Clutch brake does appear to do anything, and it revs to fast to get a good gear change. Sorry I didn't like it... needs a whole lot of sorting out. And the Steering.... bludy ell.

 

Obviously it has been meticulously restored, with a fine eye for detail, to "typical working condition" then......:-D:-D:-D

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