In retirement, Steven Lock is finally managing to acquire a few vehicles that he has always wanted. One such is this fabulous heavy-haulage Scammell Crusader. Peter Simpson tells the story…
Most of us have things that we want to achieve during our time on earth. For vehicle enthusiasts, ownership of a particular type or collection of vehicles usually features somewhere on our list of lifetime goals. Often though it’s in later life, that things like owning our dream vehicle come to fruition.
For Cambridgeshire-based Steven Lock, Scammell ownership has certainly been a long-term ambition. Most of his working life has been spent around commercial vehicles. He ran a very successful mini skip business near Ely for many years. For the past 40 years he has also owned a 1942 GMC troop carrier, one of thousands left in the UK after WW2 . However, due to family and other commitments, restoration of the GMC took 32 out of those 40 years.
More recently though, he has had the time to acquire a few more vehicles. These include a Chevrolet pick-up which he drives regularly, and a fabulous 1959 Ford Edsel. This is a piece of 1950s American tin that’s much more popular and sought-after by old car collectors and enthusiasts today than it was when current. The ‘blue oval’ doesn’t often misjudge the market, but when it does boob, it does so massively!
The other long-term ambition that Steven has been able to fulfil comes in the shape of the wonderful 1978 Scammell Crusader and Fruehauf low-loader trailer seen here. Combined, they form a massively impressive piece of kit. The restoration from an abandoned ex-circus vehicle has taken around four years, and the day before our photoshoot, Steven’s Scammell was awarded the Best Commercial Vehicle prize at the Haddenham Steam Rally. This long-established event always attracts strong support from the commercial vehicle fraternity, and being judged the best of them is a pretty significant thing.
A strong Scammell
Stephen’s Crusader has a Rolls Royce Eagle engine and Fuller range-change transmission with low, medium and high ranges. This gives it, in theory, 15 forward gears. A true heavy haulage machine, it’s rated at 150tons and has a top speed of around 40mph. However, as Steven points out, thanks to the power and gearing it will still do 40mph, whether running unladen or with the full 150tons behind.
It’s ex-MOD and was originally a recovery vehicle – or “EKA Wrecker” to use the military description. The exact ‘demob’ date isn’t known, but was probably sometime around February 2000, as the DVLA civilian registration dates from about them. In civvy street it passed to Clark Motoring Engineering, based near Gatwick Airport in Sussex. That name may well be familiar, as alongside his recovery business Darran Clark is an extremely enthusiastic preservationist. His great grandfather was Jack Hardwick, whose premises at Ewell in Surrey were a mecca for early steam road engine preservationists. Darren Clark used the Crusader as a heavy-duty recovery vehicle for several years, and when it was time for it to go, he transferred the recovery vehicle body to another chassis.
Joined the circus
The Scammell was then sold, as a chassis-cab, to a circus operator with winter premises near Fosdyke in Lincolnshire. Here it acquired a rather unusual 15ft curtainsider body. Its main job, however, was to tow two drawbar trailers between sites, and positioning them when on site. It currently has front airline connectors and a front tow-hitch, which would clearly have been needed for this work. The circus, however, stopped touring after the 2019 season due to Covid.
The Crusader was parked up and then, eventually, listed for sale on eBay. Steven is something of an avid eBay follower, and when he spotted this one for sale he took a look and, though it was clearly in need of some pretty serious TLC and would also need converting into a tractor unit, it was what he wanted in all other respects, so he agreed to buy.
The Restoration
So, with the lifetime ownership ambition fulfilled, it was time for the real work to begin, and once the Crusader was back home, the real extent of the restoration needed became clear. At this point we need to mention a relevant family connection. Steve’s daughter Helen and son-in-law Shaun own March-based G & C A Lombardo (Tel: 01354 654410), a lorry repair and maintenance business covering all aspects of mechanical work along with MoT preparation, recovery, tachograph calibration and so on. Having skills like this available within the family is of course a huge help with a project of this kind, and they really helped a lot when it came to sourcing parts, sorting the mechanicals and putting the lorry back together.
Lots of cab work
After two specialists politely declined the job, the cab and chassis metalwork were sorted by Nigel Green of NVR Body Repairs, based next to Lombardo’s. Crusader cabs can rust spectacularly, especially when they’re left outside without being used. This one was no exception; the list of work needed reads pretty-much like a list of where to look for rot! Places affected included the lower back, air filter boxes, the area above the headlights at the front, much of the floor underframe and the door bottoms. All the rust was cut right out and new metal let in, after which Nigel painted the cab.
The second-biggest part of the restoration was converting the short rigid chassis-cab into a tractor unit. This involved shortening the chassis by about 18in . A new rear crossmember, with a rear tow hitch was fitted, and Steve made a set of new rear light brackets, and fifth wheel skids and mounts. The fifth wheel itself was “found in the grass at the garage.” A set of traditional metal rear mudguards came, via eBay again, from an enthusiast in Lancashire, Steve met him at a service area on the M62 to swap the guards for the cash. Ebay also came up trumps with a spare wheel carrier.
Relatively little mechanical work was needed beyond normal servicing and stripping/checking the brakes. The water pump, however, was leaking and had to be sent away for professional rebuilding and resealing, which cost an eye-watering £790.
Twin stacks!
One of the most impressive features of this lorry is the twin vertical exhausts. These were made using stainless steel tube. A great deal of work went into them. For starters, to get the pipes to bend as required, Oscar (one of the highly-skilled technicians at Lombardo) had to cut triangular grooves out from the inside of the bend, and then TIG-weld them back together. Then, when the assembly was finally fitted, almost all the smoke came out of one stack! Steve wanted it matched. So Oscar devised an ingenious internal modification involving a flap to divide the smoke equally. The first attempt improved matters but it still wasn’t really right, so it all had to come off again so the flap could be modified. Second time it was perfect.
The signwriting was carried out, using traditional painting techniques, by Carl Burton, based in Coates, Cambridgeshire. Steven’s wooden toolbox (with Rolls-Royce branding) is a cut-down 1950s blanket box and just the sort of thing that would have been adapted to use on a lorry like this. There’s also an Anderson lead for taking power to the trailer, as this has electric/hydraulically operated ramps. These aren’t, of course, essential, but they’re certainly a very nice thing to have.
The trailer
The Fruehauf low loader trailer currently paired with the Crusader is a recent acquisition and not the one he originally intended using. That remains in the yard, awaiting restoration. This one, by contrast, was basically ready to go, and the only work needed has been a little ‘adaption’ to suit Steven’s needs. He bought it in June 2024 and was, apparently enjoying a family holiday at Skegness.
Then, on the Thursday before they were due to return, Shaun called him. Apparently, Kyle (another of Lombardo’s technicians) had seen, advertised on Truckbuy, a Fraehauf trailer which he thought would be a “perfect match” for the Scammell. It was even already in the right colours. Steven made a phone call, and somehow persuaded his wife Janet to come home from ‘Skeggy’ a couple of days early so they could go up to Manchester and take a look at it. She agreed, and the trailer was subsequently purchased.
As expected, the trailer was in excellent overall condition, and the only work it has needed has been servicing and adaption to suit Steven’s needs. Specifically, he has added dropdown sides plus an accommodation box. The latter, which also came from Manchester, is a former Asda home deliveries van body, which again was bought for the other trailer. Inside Steven has added furnishings etc., from a donor caravan.
As currently configured, the trailer is ideal for Steven’s needs as there is room on the rest of it for the GMC meaning both can go to shows together, and there’s also room for Steven’s ex-paratroopers Corgi motorcycle which was bought for him to ride around the family farm from the age of eight. The GMC is, of course, an interesting story in its own right, and which we will come back to for a full feature in due course.
And that, basically, is the story so far. Since completion the Scammell has been to a number of shows locally and a little further afield, with the Commercial Vehicle class win at Haddenham the high-point so far. But talking to Steven, one gets the impression that his real enjoyment comes from driving his ‘Big Rig’ and using to full effect that five-over-three transmission.
