Halley.
Firstly, thanks to John for forwarding over a few old photos from a friend. In this photo, we have a head-on view of a rare Halley lorry, as built by Halley's Industrial Motors of Glasgow, Scotland (with offices in London also, from 1908). The company was formed in 1906, taking over the Glasgow Motor Lorry Company, and in 1907 produced a fire engine. In 1910 they built their first engine, and in the same year a motor pump fitted with a six-cylinder engine. In 1927 the company folded although like a phoenix from the ashes, re-formed as Halley Motors Ltd. The new identity would be relatively short-lived though, as in 1935 the business was wound up. Albion took on their former premises.
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The names of the young gents in the photo aren't recorded. The registration appears to be B5983, a Lancashire number. Everything about the photo smacks of the very early 20th Century, from the sepia hue of the print, to the gents' attire, the acetylene lamps on the lorry, and its bone-rattling solid rubber tyres. Halley produced thousands of motor-lorries bodied for various different applications, and like Albion, were major players in the commercial vehicle market at that time. Despite this, very few appear to have survived into preservation.
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Return to Page 21 in the motoring image archive, or visit the main index of vintage & classic photographs here.
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