Edmond T Lennon

15-19 miles per gallon would have the Advertising Council raising eyebrows these days. On the flat in UK at a maximum legal speed of 30 mph, average consumption loaded-out empty-return might get there but in Australia where they had to reinforce the floor under the go pedal for interstate runs the bloke in the movie "The Castle" probably had the right comment. Then again I suppose the Leylands had 5 star safety ratings as well.

Lang

For those willing to plough through it here is the famous Lennon case against NSW Transport to recover taxes.

staging.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publication...957)_97_CLR_667.html

This was the first major legal battle to eliminate the illegal charging of fees and taxes by the States of interstate trucks in contravention of the "Free trade between the states" section of the constitution. Lennons won but the NSW Government kept appealing to the High Court and then the Privy Council. They could not fight the registration so IS plates came in but the road taxes took another 10 or more years to be resolved. Of course the States never paid back the millions of dollars they had collected (ostensibly to protect the railways).

Lang

From Henry Mayberry's book which I found a copy of at Wollongong library.
Enter after Edmund T Lennon sold out to Brambles, late 50's early 70's he was in property development in Sydney. I remember seeing a large building in Sydney named Lennon Towers and when he got back into transport about 1968 he traded as Lennon Towers.

Were they were special order Hippos?
The earlier photo of the mostly white one has a very deep chassis, not how I remember a Hippo.
Luya Julius ordered special Octopii in the early 70’s. They had AEC chassis which is a much deeper section than the Leyland but made from thinner material and with more flitch plating.
Wonder if they had the semi auto boxes or Leyland? Think RR wasn’t an option until early 70’s.

Agree with Gryphon, it is not a Foden which had a flat portion to the rear of the mudguard. If there are 10 studs it is a Beaver, 8 stud for a comet.
Lang, they were a very good engine and the mpg figures weren't that far off the mark.

mammoth wrote:

Agree with Gryphon, it is not a Foden which had a flat portion to the rear of the mudguard. If there are 10 studs it is a Beaver, 8 stud for a comet.

I come up with 8 studs.

Terry

jeffo wrote:

Were they were special order Hippos?
The earlier photo of the mostly white one has a very deep chassis, not how I remember a Hippo.
Luya Julius ordered special Octopii in the early 70’s. They had AEC chassis which is a much deeper section than the Leyland but made from thinner material and with more flitch plating.
Wonder if they had the semi auto boxes or Leyland? Think RR wasn’t an option until early 70’s.

.
These Lennon Tower's hippos came with the Leyland 12 speed gearbox. 6 speed with hi/lo worked by a second gearlever. 2 trucks not mentioned by Henry Mayberry that was owned by Lennon Towers Tallawarra was a single drive Leyland Beaver and a bonneted Leyland Hippo. The Beaver ended up at Heggie's Bellambi pulling a flat top trailer and the Super Hippo was converted to a rigid tipper and sent to Heggie's Lithgow.

Poor old Leyland box.
Reckon their mechanics would have been clued up on modifying layshafts.