Military Trucks Archive 3 Diamond T Models 980,981

Description

Military Trucks Archive

Issue 3

THE DIAMOND T MODELS 980, 981

The Story of Britain’s Second-Generation Tank Transporter

The latest in Kelsey’s exciting new tank-transporter series is the Diamond T Model 980, 981, a truck with almost everything… power, torque, reliability, and good looks! By the time production ended in May 1945, more than 2,000 had been delivered to the British Army. Even after deliveries of the Antar started in 1951, the Diamond T continued to provide valuable service, with some examples serving for another 30 years.

After being demobbed, many enjoyed equally-long second careers with heavy-haulage operators such as Wynns, who had 30, and Pickfords, who had 12, with plenty more in service up and down the land. These mighty trucks were often asked to move enormous, almost impossible, loads from factory to dockside or power station… on one occasion, a convoy of five Pickfords’ Diamond Ts moved a gross load of 245 tons (250 tonne) from Sheffield to the Liverpool Docks.

And when this career came to a close, military-vehicle enthusiasts rushed to snap up the old warriors, restoring them to better-than-new condition.