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leyland hippo gallery


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Agree with you on that lads, these folk seem to live under the impression that the longer you keep said item the more its worth, maybe a little if its looked after but in the case of old vehicles sadly not and the annoying thing for us is to watch a vehicle fall apart in front of our eyes knowing someone would make the effort. Then if they have a brainstorm and decide to move it on its fallen to pieces and will take large amounts of mony to bring it back to spec and they still think its worth a pot of gold, ah well some strange folks about eh!

Heres two photos i took back in the 1970s at the HCV run, this one was captured and i hope still around in as good condition now

cheers

Les

hmvf1.jpg

hmvf2.jpg

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Heres two photos i took back in the 1970s at the HCV run, this one was captured and i hope still around in as good condition now

cheers

Les

 

Cor ! that does look nice. Am I the only one to think old lorries look better in black and white. Two more brilliant photographs, thanks Les.

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Heres a MK2A put to good use in the 1950s by Quickbuild, so whos going to give us some info on Quickbuild

 

There was a local building company called Llewelyns in Eastbourne who had a subsidiary called Quickbuild Homes or similar, they used lorries with support frames like the ones shown for carrying the flat packed houses they put up,

May be it was them.

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There was a local building company called Llewelyns in Eastbourne who had a subsidiary called Quickbuild Homes or similar, they used lorries with support frames like the ones shown for carrying the flat packed houses they put up,

May be it was them.

 

 

Yes , it was, they produced them for thirty years from the mid sixties.

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Yes , it was, they produced them for thirty years from the mid sixties.

 

I remember what I believe were the first ones going up, and they are still there, the first houses on the left as you go into Eastbourne past the District General Hospital, They're sagging a bit in places now!

 

We dragged a Pioneer out of Llewelyns yard when they sold up, hadn't been started since they finished the Hospital, it ran ok first time!

There was a lot of other old lorries and cars there as well, the boss was a collector, that one was probably one of them so should have survived.

Edited by gritineye
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If I live to be 100 I'll NEVER understand folk like this,.........and they seem to be same in nearly every hobbie/walk of life,......from steam traction through aircraft/boats, to sewing machines, (don't ask),........don't even get me started on the Side axe collectors.........:argh:.

 

Fine, I can understand holding onto said item, for a while with view to restoration/using said item,......but there must come a time where the majority of us see that it's not gonna happen, and release item tpo generate funds to do something usfull with...........I know freedom of choice, etc,........at times it just seems a crying shame, asp when something really special ends up as nothing more than a pile of scrap, simply because someone didn't want to admit it was possibly beyond their means/skills to save it and pass it on.

Not a pop at anyone in particular,......guess we all know of someone like the above..................I'll just go and count/polish my side axe collection....:cool2: NOT

 

An end to this piece of the saga. I was in the yard today and the Hippo is gone - cut up fairly recently!!!!!! As I said previously the body was in dropping to pieces condition. One of the lads in the yard though said that when they had ripped the cab off, just to see what was what, he put a battery on it. No 'easy start', no priming, no new fuel, nothing. It started first try and scared the living daylights out of him. Not bad after 30/40 years standing. He tells me nothing now remains of it except the radiator and the badge. What can you say?

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An end to this piece of the saga. I was in the yard today and the Hippo is gone - cut up fairly recently!!!!!! As I said previously the body was in dropping to pieces condition. One of the lads in the yard though said that when they had ripped the cab off, just to see what was what, he put a battery on it. No 'easy start', no priming, no new fuel, nothing. It started first try and scared the living daylights out of him. Not bad after 30/40 years standing. He tells me nothing now remains of it except the radiator and the badge. What can you say?

 

Put things into perspective who in their right mind would undertake ever restoring a Hippo, they are not exactly rare, a perfect running Hippo sold recently on ebay for £1400, the latest one for sale, looks a very tidy example, has as yet no bids at £2250

Edited by Nick Johns
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Its described as "large heavy and slow " how slow is it ? 25? or 30 mph? what are they like to drive ....lots of shifting for slight hills? is it diesel or petrol ? and whats the driving postion like seems to have a wacking great parking brake lever very close to the right foot/leg ?

Only having seen them from a distance and in photo's I m very curious about them .

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Its described as "large heavy and slow " how slow is it ? 25? or 30 mph? what are they like to drive ....lots of shifting for slight hills? is it diesel or petrol ? and whats the driving postion like seems to have a wacking great parking brake lever very close to the right foot/leg ?

Only having seen them from a distance and in photo's I m very curious about them .

 

Large heavy and slow just about does it for driving a Hippo!!!!! Speed is about 30-35 mph but remember that the speed limit for a vehicle of that size in its day was only 20mph anyway. The gearbox (once you have got use to it)is a delight and is very easy to make clutchless changes on. They are powered by a 7.4litre diesel engine that runs like a sewing machine. As for the driving position, well the driver was the last thing they thought about!!!! The seat is a wooden box with a cushion on it, the back rest is a piece of metal with a cushion on it. The steering (except at low speed) is not bad, but that may be something to do with the size of the steering wheel!!!. The handbrake is a ratchet park brake ( as fitted to most heavy vehicles of the age) and if it doesnt nip your fingers when applying it or releasing it then you will catch your trouser leg on it when you get out of the cab. No health and safety in those days!!!

All I can say is that a drive of as Hippo should be on everybodies to do list!!!

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