Thames Trader

The Thames Trader was a range of trucks that Ford UK built from 1957 to 1965. Its distinctive forward-control or semi-forward-control cab set it apart from other British commercial vehicles, and the Trader covered a much wider weight range, from 2 to 7 tons, than the earlier normal-control Thames ET or the forward-control 7V; it was the first heavy commercial vehicle designed by Ford of Britain, although its headlight surrounds suggest a family resemblance to the American Ford C series of the mid-1950s. The four- and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines came from the Dagenham family originally developed for the Fordson tractor in 1952, updated to Mark 2 specification, with a 115 mm stroke and bores of 95 mm for the petrols and 100 mm for the diesels. A Mark 2 version appeared in mid-1962, and from early 1962 a normal-control Trader NC used the cab Ford Germany had developed for its slow-selling Ford Köln truck. London Transport had five Trader-based double-deckers built to carry cyclists through the Dartford Tunnel, with the lower deck for bicycles, until the service was dropped in 1965.