Leyland Hippo's

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Les Freathy
You are probably aware these lorries were still in use well into the 1970s i used to observe many in for repair at the REME depot in Ashford, Richard spent most of his time working there i expect he can pin point the date of there last service.

Hi,

Les beat me to it! It is quite correct, a good number of Mk2 and Mk2a Hippos were put back in to service, not sure of exact date, but think it was late 1970's. They were issued out from Antwerp Vehicle Depot and brought back to UK, we looked after those that were at a nearby Vehicle Park, story goes that they were a stop gap because there was a delay in getting the new Foden 16 tonne 8x4 in to service. I would be pretty sure that most of those in preservation today, were from this re-released batch as they had been looked after for so long.

Your statement on top speed reminds me of meeting an old chap from Lancashire with a Hippo, at the Dorset Steam Fair one year. I commented on it being a slow journey and he said that 40 mph was cruising speed, I questioned this and apparantly there is a dodge where you can turn the auxillary box around to up the gearing.