Historic commercials on display at the Laughton Autumn Show

We report on the historic commercial vehicles to be seen at the 27th Laughton Autumn Show, which took place a few months ago.

The East Sussex village of Laughton welcomed thousands of visitors to the final show of the season at Laughton Showground over the weekend of September 9th-10th. The 27th Laughton Autumn Show was blessed with gloriously hot September weather that showed-off the wide variety of vehicles assembled at the event to their very best.

The number of commercial vehicles to be seen was slightly down on the total that attended during the summer show back in June, 2023. However, one of the most interesting vehicles we saw on display this time was Emma, a Scammell tricycle Scarab light recovery vehicle that was manufactured in September 1963. This vehicle was one of only four built; two were shipped to Hong Kong and the other pair went to work at the Dartford Tunnel in Kent/Essex.

Emma was presented in her original colour scheme, as delivered to the Joint Dartford Tunnel Company in the early 1960s. Interestingly, despite this vehicle’s diminutive size, she was perfectly capable of towing an artic truck out of difficulty in the tunnel with the Harvey Frost heavy crane and winch fitted.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

This event report comes from a recent issue of Heritage Commercials, and you can get a money-saving subscription to this magazine simply by clicking HERE