Apprenticed To Hall & Co

Phil Reed continues his account of his time with this well-known fleet during the 1960s.

In the earlier two parts of this Hall & Co series, the actual vehicles have only been mentioned fleetingly – something that I will try to address in this instalment.

For most truck enthusiasts of a similar age to myself (around 70-ish), the most distinctive lorries latterly operated by Hall & Co were some 200 plus Guy Warrior 6x4 chassis, which entered service with the company from 1964 onwards. These Guys were primarily specified with Hall & Co’s Salfords-built, all-alloy, welded tipper bodies, with the rest carrying truck mixers.

These vehicles imprinted themselves on lorry-watchers’ minds, thanks to the design of their cabs, with twin, wrap-around windscreens and quad-headlights – this was considered very American and very swish – similar to, but with a rather more ‘Space Age’ appearance than, the Atkinson cab.

Thus, these Guys stood out from ‘ordinary’ lorries in terms of looks. They also stood out in another respect – and one which the company might not have wanted. With Leyland 400 engines and Leyland six-speed overdrive top gearboxes, they were fast – very fast by the standards of the day – and their drivers tended to use that speed to the full.

These trucks went into service at the height of the mid-1960s construction boom. And nowhere was it booming more than in London and the South East – Hall & Co’s heartland. There was work galore and I believe that the drivers were incentivised to do as many deliveries as possible in a day – so the Guys’ speed was seen as a blessing.