What’s the Greatest Machine of the 1960s…the Leyland Super Comet?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ค. 2019
- THE LEYLAND COMET (1958)
The Leyland Comet was a long running badge used by Leyland for a series of trucks (and the occasional bus) intended mainly for export markets.
The semi-bonneted original Comet was first shown in the late 40s. Although initially targeted for export, it was eventually sold in the home market as well. The wheelbase was 17.5 ft (5.3 m) and the gross weight 8.75 long tons (8,890 kg). A coach model seating 33 persons, sharing the same front design, appeared in 1948.
The body was built by Briggs Motor Bodies and was shared with the Ford Thames ET6 and Dodge 100. The original engines were a 75 hp (56 kW) diesel or a 100 hp (75 kW) petrol unit; the petrol version was rarely seen in Britain.
In the 60s, a heavier duty "Super Comet" model was introduced, eventually supplanting the "regular" Comet.
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT… The first heavy duty road vehicle to feature a tilt cab, making the engine far more accessible for maintenance and repairs.
TIME WARP… Owing to the advent of the motorway and sophisticated trucks such as the Comet, road haulage had increased by 60% by the end of the 1960s - and the era of the long distance truck driver was born!
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I drove a Super Comet for a living in the early 70’s…wish the phrase “crash gearbox” wasn’t used. In the hands of a skilled driver a non synchro box was a dream..light & easy to use.
Constant mesh gearbox
British lorries, in particular Leyland trucks pioneered a lot of the innovations we see today in modern day trucks. It’s just sad it came to an end. 🇬🇧
The brand British Leyland has become a history in UK, but its legacy will live on in India for many years to come.
Leyland Ashok
I agree well said.
Ashok Leyland can export It's truck to UK Again
the funny thing is that soon even in a country like India these old trucks will be illegal to run on the roads with the new carbon taxes and the calls for for countries like India to reduce their carbon footprint...
travelled many thousands of miles in one of these, then learnt to drive in one, brings back many happy memorys, thankyou for posting.
This engine sounds like a musical tribute to my ears .... all time favorite is leyland
Leyland assembled the lorries but did not make the cabs, J Sankey and Sons assembled and fitted out the cabs complete. They also pressed out all the steel panels and made the press tools as well. I was an apprentice there at the time.
There was also an Albion version with the same cab, I spent many hours riding shotgun when dad drove one for Forresters of Whixall.
YES!- and didnt they mske an 8 wheeler version called the Leyland Octopus? My uncle drove artic Seddon Atkinsons in the 60s....
We had one it had a 401 engine it sounded fantastic like a clock ticking over
Watching here from Leyland 🇬🇧🇬🇧
I’ve shared this video to a FB group I’m in for Leyland 👍🏼
I started at Leyland Motors in 1968 being made redundant 18 yrs later by the 'Scottish Mafia' !
Wonderful times, wonderful people...
I'm glad they didn't knock Leyland. They could do alright and these trucks were great. Hitched many a lift in one and was glad to see it coming. Great bit of heat in the winter.
In NZ the OCTOPUS 8 legger was the biggest truck on the roads in the 60,s rail was still king, long haul was forbidden except for refrigerated trucks and one had to apply for a permit to move anything if there was a rail route the Oct was 280 hp operated by RFL and another crowd from Gisborne, there were Commer ts3, ERF with nh Cummins and some had Gardners
Not forgetting Foden 👍🏼🇬🇧🇬🇧
The second 8wh i owned was a Layland octopus with TL11 engine and 9 speed fuller gear box
I can't watch anything with this guy without thinking 'Oh smeg'
Or Britas empire lol
In Krytens voice..... SMMMMEEEEEEGGGGG HEEEEEEEEE smeeerggg heeer
Lovely old lorry 👍🇬🇧
Really impressed to see an real Leyland in the UK 🇬🇧, couldn't even see them anywhere around here. India's got it's Leyland being built in Madras since the 1950s, the super comet ☄️ too
These trucks had a windscreen with lower visibility, not like trucks today,and some had the convex mirrors which today are common on trucks. Thel 'Mercury' had a six speed with overdrive, and 11mpg,which for fuel figures today I think is very impressive. Nice truck with 700000 miles,I bet it runs fine still.
leyland trucks were built with pride to last
Some of those trucks still in use in Malta
There used to millions of these around when I was a kid in the 70s...These, the Bedford and the ubiquitious Comma Van..usually a second hand BT jobbie.
YES! Because you are SENSIBLE people in India and dont have the "oh its broken down - let's sling it and get into even more American style debt". I have seen your trucks and they are INCREDIBLE works of art as well as workhorses. You do like your THAMES TRADERS and BEDFORD LOMASES dont you?
KEEP ON TRUCKING!
just to point out that we made the AEC mercury with an av505 engine which used the same sankey jcs101 cab. also albion used this cab so its not just leyland, our AEC mercury trucks also had a long history,
My ole man had a Chinese six twin steer mammoth minor tractor unit ,it had an av760 in it which sounded good loaded pulling up hill with the bonnet up in the cab 😉
You need a playlist of all the Chris Barrie videos here.
Many Leyland National buses achieved 25 years of daily service. I drove mk2 Leyland Nationals that were 20 years old on the original 680 engine with over a million miles. The driving position was superb.
Many variants of this design. I recall a Leyland Beaver that had a semi automatic or pre select gear box. Gear lever much shorter. Used by ABCO petroleum.
I drove an AEC Mandator Mk.5. 11.7 ltr. straight six, four speed crash box. But it was a good truck for it's time.
Old is gold😊
Love aec so much ❤️
..........Congratulations on being the first heavy duty road vehicle to feature a tilt cab......in England, that is.....In the USA, White Motors introduced a tilt cab in 1949, Ford in 1957, GM in 1960......not to mention virtually every US manufacturer by 1967.
Who cares.
Awesome old truck, however I do wonder how it would survive the old skool outback roads of Australia which the old Macks ( especially the old B models!!👍👍), Kenworths and AEC's etc which saw very little bitumen as well as the odometer going round the clock on numerous occasions and the incredible hours clocked up!!??
Thanks for the good video.
In the 1950s and '60s, Leyland was equal to US metal in Oz, arguably superior:
www.hcvc.com.au/forum/truck_Chat/17110-old-leyland-long-wheelbase-truck
Leyland still around in oz,I spotted a L beaver in adelaide 1989,fully loaded and luving it.
Bedford should of had a tilt cab
I own a rusty & trusty 1987 Leyland Roadrunner 7.t ton horsebox.
Doctor Beeching and Ernest Marples the crook!
AEC trucks the best I was having one 760 engine 💪💪💪
A question from Germany to someone who really has a clue. At one point in he video the "test driver" addresses the issue of 'bad reputation for Leyland cars' compared to the undoubted reliability of Leyland trucks. Where (did) does this difference in quality come from?
Have the trucks been designed more carefully? Built with more dedication? Or ...?
Would appreciate an answer very much. Perhaps by an engineer who was active at that time. Many thanks in advance!
Prinz Eugen probably engineered better, up to a standard, not down to a price,the buses were the same, quality dropped off when they were bought into the British leyland group
Leyland Motors was a producer of high quality commercial vehicles selling product worldwide. It took over the other major U.K. manufacturers (AEC, Guy, Albion and Scammell) in order to secure volume to compete with the big Europeans, but things started to go wrong when politicians forced Leyland to takeover the underfunded and badly managed basket case which was BMC. It absorbed huge amounts of money stripping investment funds away from the successful commercial sector which suffered terminally in consequence. For those of us who were Leyland Motors men, we felt betrayed by the loss of our reputation when we were tarred with the 'British Leyland' brush.
" completely different divisions Leyland Trucks and Leland cars, the old BMC.
Leyland trucks were a premium brand in the 1960’s. If you wanted a truck, you had to wait in line. Not because they were slow at making them, but because they were well made and reliable and lots of people wanted them. The motor industry in England was run by amateur managers . The higher up the structure you went, the lower quality people you would find. They knew less and less about the product and the less about the men who designed and made them.
The failing car industry, was only matched in incompetence by the British motorcycle industry. No investment and no forward thinking resulted in the slow embarrassing death of British leyland. You are German am I correct? Well your products were of reasonable quality and reliability and just got better. For example, I worked for leyland trucks, then DAF international. I kept various fleets maintained in the harsh conditions of Africa. They still run today, 30 years after I’ve left. I bought a new leyland car, well it was badged rover, in 1992 .
It was rusting in months after I bought it. Poor quality workmanship let that car down.
I have rebuilt many engines over my time, the 400 in the truck featured, I’ve done a few of them too. I’ve recently bought a Mercedes 200 1980 model first engine variant. It is beautiful and reliable. Good luck and stay safe
ez icarus I think you are correct. The early vehicles are certainly more rugged , reliable, have great class and were built to last. I have a 40 year old w123 petrol model and it’s lovely. I also have a w221 320. Cdi and it’s a total nightmare, on the plus side, the dashboard clock is beautiful, but even that is complicated, unreliable and needs a computer to sort it out. The w221 is the lesser of the 2
Mr Brittas is doing ok
Ergo cab. I drove an AEC mercury with the same cab. These wagons were horribly hot on summer's days. They also had the irritating habit of air currents taking swarf and other bits and pieces back into the cab. New then might have been a revelation but after a few years they were noisy and unpleasant and quite brutal to drive. However, some lasted into the mid 1980s abroad. I saw one on the Dammam Jubail highway in 1986.
1967 Leyland?
Old Japanese trucks: Hold my beer!
Swedish trucks (SAAB Scania and Volvo) and European trucks (Mercedes Benz, DAF, and MAN) : hehe boii
I used to own a later octopus 8X4 tipper with a 9 speed fuller box great truck to drive
As usual… not a mention of the True Pioneer of Lorry building…. AEC based at Windmill Lane, Southall, Middlesex had many more firsts than Leyland. They pioneered the Diesel combustion chamber with Ricardo performance tuning decades ago. AEC engines started under all conditions. The AEC MATADOR Army Lorry was the True Heavy- Haulage workhorse of the Second World War and ( BEF left behind with the withdrawal to Dunkirk) Matador Command vehicles were personally used by Field Marshall Erwin Rommell.
The AEC MANDATOR Lorry pioneered the V8 Diesel at a time when nothing else on our roads were anywhere near equal!
If Leyland hadn’t taken over AEC in 1962 they’d have still existed today along with PRV (Park Royal Vehicles). There was a hell of a lot of jealousy by Leyland of AEC. Ironic, that at one time the old ACV (Associated Commercial Vehicles) was once larger than Leyland.
Four generations of our family worked at Southall over the years and all had the same opinion. It wouldn’t be quite so hard to bear if Leyland still existed today, but they waisted a promising opportunity to lead the world in commercial vehicle design and manufacturing.
Sorry to be negative, but Leyland weren’t capable of running a p**s up in a brewery🧐🧐🧐
Scania flushed Leyland down the lavatory, in 1969 their LB Series was a gamechanger, a decent cab light airy, a HEATER and brakes that worked, comfy seats power steering, an optional radio, and a gearbox with synchromesh except first gear. This Swedish wagon treated the driver like a human being, why do think drivers were bashing in Sodertjarlie,s door, they were pissed of driving crap like the LAD Vista Vue ,the awful rotbox Ergo, the dreaded 'Jennings Pigeon Coop' sleeper option on Atki Borderers. You are so right for in the late ,70,s Leyland Management could not organise a w-----g contest in a brothel.
These trucks are live with almost the similar chassis design for trucks and buses with an Italian engine.
Looks like a Mandator
0:30 _Robot Delivery Service_ seems a bit of a dubious claim...
It took me a few but that's Rimmer from Red Dwarf.
ive just fallen in love with chris barrie more now
Impressive prowess with a lorry 'box'.
wait. That Leyland truck.. When the cab is lifted.. The interior stays in place? hah, that is so Top Gear ")
Leyland is the best Original remember Cuba today Leyland hippos truck in wajay base Habana 266 truck maybe now 11 truck Leyland hippos truck in Cuba
Excuse me, but the first tilting cab was introduced by Volvo with the "Volvo L4751 Raske TIPTOP", The Leyland Super Comet with that type of cab was launched in 1964 with what was known as the "fourth generation".
George e Neville from the Great Britain was the brainchild of the first tilt cab in 1944. he patented it .
Oh dear!
Is that "Karrier Bantam" Lorry on 0:32 ?
0:56 Look at the cracks in the tyres
Hey Chris 👋... watch the road! - not the gear stick!!!!
The Ford D series had a tilt cab before this Leyland and i think was more popular.
In india it's ashok Leyland
Somehow, in spite of many pioneering innovations ... ... we now buy trucks from abroad.
Crazy.
Вам нужно потратить 1000 фунтов стерлингов на рекламу канала. и всё пойдёт как по маслу. очень шикарный канал, не сдавайтесь.
Hello, I would like to have a model of that truck. I met him in Cuba and I drove it. Thank you.
എൻജിൻ സൗണ്ട്.....അന്തസ്സ്....തറവാടി
Leylandinte engine soundine vellan vere vandi illa
its weird because it dont look that old it looks like it was made in the 2000's
This leyland super comet is powered by which series of British Leyland Six Cylinder Diesel Engine? Was it a Six Cylinder Naturally Aspirated Diesel Engine or Six Cylinder Turbocharged Diesel Engine?
Leyland 400
@@trevortaylor2778 Thanks very much for your information.In our country India Ashok Leyland mostly used this version of Engine in their trucks and buses known as AL 6.65 Six Cylinder Naturally Aspirated Diesel Engine
@@ghalibmahmudlaskar5980 Had plenty of this beast in Jamaica , we nicknamed it the Glass house .There was also the Buffalo , Bison ,& Lynx powered by the mighty 680 engine & big 9 gearbox.
@@trevortaylor2778 is it the same engine in some of their buses?
@@nuthinleicadane Leyland 600 and 680 we're used in the buses.
basically a AEC mammoth
Not really. The nearer equivalent to the 400 engined Super Comet was the 505 engined AEC Mercury. Signed 'Truck Wanker'
@@geoffbuck6865 fair enough 👌
Rimmer!!
You Smeg 😂
Don't tell me the radial tiers don't puncher
600k miles? That's still new come over to the us be hard pressed to find a truck over 10 years without I mil on there
He says about Leyland logo, that's a British Leyland logo in center of steering wheel, not correct for that super comet, it should have the word Leyland, before it became British Leyland
Albion six speed constant mesh box that he can't handle. Hellish cab in a crash and impossible to get a sleep across.
tires are cracked
മലയാളി ഉണ്ടോ
I don’t think you so soooooooo
MultiFleety yes
Is that Ace? Smoke me a kipper!
at one time daf trucks of the netherlands started selling the light duty leyland van/truck under their own name.
it was a piece of shit if ever i saw one.
it was an outdated van/truck and it rusted while new in the showroom.
so that didn' t go very well.
I am pretty sure this comet
DOSENT HAVE A 401 engine
Looks like Aec 505
sounds like a 505
having driven both, h reg comet 401, m reg aec 505 and r reg aec 506 on the engine sound its not an aec maybe a leyland 400
I was an Apprentice truck mechanic in uk 1977, worked on lots of these
Definitely aec 505 , exhaust is on the other side of the engine for 400 series Leyland engines
Long distance in the UK? If you did the NY to Chicago run you'd be very wet! And it's twice that out to the left coast.
Did my apprenticeship the old City and Guilds not this NVQ crap at a Leyland main dealer Marathon Octopus Bison Buffalo Lynx Boxer Terrier and the Guy series of trucks remember straddled across a Guy cab as you couldn’t tilt them honing a set off liners out the 680/720 became the L and TL(turbo) who can forget the headless wonder jeez they were crap the old 698 cracking engine ask one off these new computerised techies they are not mechanics anymore to go and charge a Leyland Terriers brakes with Nitrogen and look at their faces 😂😂wouldn’t know what do
You're waxing lyrical about a Leyland .. they were underpowered scrap !
looks horrible. Uk didnt care for drivers
English nationalistic bullshit and keeping-up-appearences-crap!
1967? Come on!
The Dutch engineers of Van Doorne introduced their modern easy-to drive and comfortable Dieseltruck back in 1962. (DAF 2600Series) That actually was the first modern truck of which the concept still lives on in all other modern brands. It had all the features that 1967 Leyland was having. Except the rust.
........but Leyland allowed DAF to use their technology in the 50s or so I have heard
Initially the Daf 2600 had a Leyland engine, that soon got replaced by a Dutch engine, due to Leyland's poor reliability.
So, to a certain extent you are right. However, the claim in this story is about the appearance of "modern trucks". The Daf 2600 is a Dutch concept, and was introduced a number of years before its Leyland competitor.
The DAF management was shocked about that low quality Leyland engine, and replaced it by a reliable engine of own make.
Leyland was shocked too, and launched quality improvements for their light duty trucks. About 15 years after the introduction of their heavy duty 2600 series, they proved themselves to be trustworthy, and the city-line DAFs got a reliable Leyland motor.