A rare heavy haulage vehicle from 1968 has been restored to its original Pickfords livery by Logistics Consultant, David Batty.
David currently works with road tanker specialist Abbey Logistics and this project has been completed in his spare time away from the company and his other commitments.
David spotted the vehicle in a scrap yard in Stoke on Trent seventeen years ago and realised that it was a rare find. There were only approximately 200 Atkinson View Line’s manufactured between 1968 and 1970 and Pickfords acquired twelve of these vehicles to add to its heavy haulage fleet between 1968 and 1970. The Atkinson View Line was, at the time, a revolutionary design, designed to work on heavy haulage fleets such as Pickfords.
The cab was the first of its kind and revolutionary at the time, as it featured a distinctive one piece front windscreen giving greater visibility and improved safety. One of the reasons Pickfords chose this lorry. As a driver at the time, the Atkinson View line stood out among other lorries and was a highly sought after vehicle among drivers and was seen as quite a status symbol at the time.
David acquired the View Line and spent seventeen years restoring the vehicle to as near as possible to its original specification. He researched and found the original build sheet from the Atkinson factory, sourced the distinctive Pickfords ‘Oxford Blue’ paint colour and matched the original Pickfords Clarendon font to complete the restoration.
The restoration consisted of a completely rebuilt cab, along with all the main mechanical items such as engine, gearbox and axles getting overhauled and now working as good as they did the day the lorry left the factory.
David shared the results of his work with Pickfords. Managing Director Mark Taylor said “This is an amazing piece of work, so much care has been taken to restore the vehicle faithfully and it’s a credit to David’s hard work and commitment”
The vehicle is fully road legal and David plans to exhibit it at shows and events across the U.K.in the coming years - so look out for one of the UK’s most iconic lorries back to its former glory, and on the road again!