Armitage would have liked it
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ABOUT THE TIME the Seddon Atkinson 400 was introduced, John Dickson-Simpson and his fellow enthusiast John Dalzell of Transport Press Services, and a haulier friend were toying with the idea of revamping the obsolete Atkinson tractive unit, to which all three were addicted, to reduce its unladen weight by about a ton without affecting it longevity. The plan never got beyond the stage of drawing-boarc doodles and was a far cry from the TPS design of 44-tonner unveiled at the Commercial Motor Show.
This was an impressive kite flown by the two Johns to demonstrate what could be done with components in the present state of technology. I understand that Motor Panels, whose aluminium cab figures in the design, are the most enthusiastic of the proprietary-unit suppliers and are anxious to see the other bits assembled around their product.
As TPS claim that their sixwheeled masterpiece would cause 35 per cent less road damage than a current 32-tonner, it is a pity that it could not have been produced in time for the Armitage committee to see it. The seed of the idea was sown at the 1978 Show but only now have TPS found time to cultivate it.