Scottish Commercial Vehicles
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of seven commercial vehicles manufactured in Scotland between 1910 and 1965. This collection contains some very rare vehicles and some curiosities. No Scottish collection would be complete without representation from the world renowned Albion Company, the longest lasting of the Scottish manufacturers. Although Albion started out as car makers, the company’s survival was entirely due to their transition to commercial vehicle production. Three vehicles in the collection were widely used flatbed trucks. One was built in 1935 and donated by John Jolly, the local coal deliveryman from Orkney. The other two are from the Claymore series built in 1956 and 1965 respectively. The Albion A10 heavy lorry of 1916 was unusually converted from road to rail for use in local industries that had railway sidings incorporated within their yards. The fifth, the smallest, constructed in 1910, was used as a butcher’s delivery van. The fully restored Caledon Model ‘E’, another Scottish made lorry, is unique; no other similar vehicle exists anywhere else in the world. It was used to deliver petrol in cans and this one carries a full load, all beautifully restored. The Morris BMC Open Truck No.1, built in Scotland, by a British firm, was the first of its kind off the Bathgate production line and symbolises the aspirations and failings of the political and socio-economic history of commercial vehicle manufacturing in this country. Although these trucks were successful the company’s withdrawal from Scotland was disastrous.
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