I realize we tend to talk about car and truck names a lot on here, but there’s a good reason for that: it’s fascinating. Remember, our co-founder Beau has referred to this process as “the sport of kings,” and if he’s saying it’s such a regal undertaking, then that must mean something. I happened to stumble across some really fantastic examples of one of my favorite kind of vehicle names: animal-based ones. And these are all for big-ass British work and dump trucks!
Well, they’re not all animal names – we have an astronomical name in there, too, another favorite category of mine. Here, look at these, all from 1964:
Beaver! Retriever! Hippo! Mothertrusting hippo! What a fantastic name for a big, bulky, strong brute of a truck! I adore it.
Let’s see what else Leyland came up with:
Okay, I appreciate Super Beavers and Super Hippos, sure, every culture needs their heroes, but Octopus? Dear god what a glorious name for a dump truck. I mean, minus the tentacles, it’s a bit tenuous, but it somehow just works.
Just take a moment and try these out:
“Oh, that, that’s my Super Hippo.”
“I drive an Octopus. Why?”
“Sounds great! I’ll pick you up in my Leyland Beaver at nine!”
I also just like that such utilitarian vehicles still get to have fun, engaging names. They could just be named after numbers, like a newfound pulsar!
Octopus Jesus died on the asterisk for our sins.
Great article, Jason!
“I think I’ll have the soup.”
I love that the trucks have their gross vehicle weights listed in units of cwt (hundredweight) – how extraordinarily British!
The Imperial hundredweight (which these almost certainly are) is one of my favorite units because it’s almost like it was specifically designed to make Metric true believers’ heads explode; one hundredweight equals 8 stone, or 112 pounds. XD
If I have one qualm, it’s that none of the animals seem to have anything to do with each other. Like, DeHavilland had a Beaver, and also the Otter and Caribou, all animals that live nearish each other. I guess it’s more metaphorical, but then I suspect Beaver and Hippo are amorphous concepts (industrious! Sturdy!) While the Octopus is a bit more literal (8 wheels!).
Perhaps the Hippo’s lyrics are just bottomless it can haul so much.
Be more constructive with your feedback, please.
Beaver you say?? And my brain goes to the old high school default, and of course the jokes.
Will just stick to using “Delores.” Or Mulva. Thanks Jerry.
That was gold, pure gold.
Man, big construction equipment turns me into a 5 year old. I was at a bike trail this Fall that is adjacent to a mining museum. I took a quick detour to check out a big piece of equipment that was near the trail and ended up spending at least half an hour walking around checking out all the excavators and dump trucks they had on display. There’s just something about that stuff that pushes my buttons.
I’d buy a car called Octopus if it had a V8. Or eight wheels. Or eight doors.
Here in Kenya there’s a trucking company called Rongai Workshop & Transport. Probably the oldest trucking company in the country. Since colonial days 1947..
They have mix of around 40 Beavers, Super Beavers, and Super Hippos still pulling strong. Over the past 10 years they brought new Beiben NG80 (Chinese Mercedes-Benz NG80) head units into the fleet to relieve the old ancient Leylands, but even today the animals can still be spotted pulling the long Mombasa to Nakuru route though they’ve been progressively put into short haul duty.
Keeping such an old and large fleet strong enough to pull 40 foot containers from sea level and up to 6000 plus feet was due to a rigorous maintenance team and inhouse spare parts fabrication.
https://www.rongaiws.com/truck-and-trailers
I really want to turn a Leyland Octopus into an retro styled 8 wheel RV!
Was going to be called the Mega Growler but plans changed at the last minute.
I think the Hippos and Beavers should have had giant teeth on the front of the dump bed so it looked like their namesake opening their mouth. And the Retriever should have had a waterfowl, or at least a tennis ball on the roof.
It’s gonna be a short date when you try to pick her up in a Leyland Beaver.
Either that or she’s The One.
I don’t know about tenuous, but I think Octopus is fitting for an 8 wheeled truck. If I remember correctly, they had 4 wheel drive and 4 wheel steering, not bad for something that had it’s start in the 1930s.
When I was working in Lagos Nigeria these Leyland dump trucks were everywhere.
Beat up,bald tires ,smoking like an old steam shovel but still hauling dirt .
Labor is so cheap there that the dump trucks carried 4 or 5 workers in the back that used shovels to load them.
They would get out of the box ,start shoveling dirt up into the bed of the dump till it was heaping full ,then climb onthe load of dirt,go to where they were dumping ,jump out and if the hydraulics worked the driver would dump it otherwise they shoveled it back out.
Rinse and repeat all day.
Ashok Leyland in India put a work-elephant angle on the animal theme and you still see overladen Tuskers on the road. Looking at their website they’re just down to the eComet (I see what they’re doing with the eco thing) and Viking of the historical names now and everything else is alphanumeric soup.
For some unlikely cross-class copulation, Leyland also produced a Beaver-Eel during WW2 (on a Retriever chassis).
I’m kinda torn. I appreciate having colorful names at the medium/heavy duty truck level, but for this kind of vehicle I also understand the simple utility of the numbering nomenclature (F-350, 550, 750, etc.).
So unless you just have, say, one heavier-duty model (e.g., if Ford only had the 150 and 550 and nothing in-between or above), I think the numbering system is actually better, so long as it’s fairly coherent and understandable.
We learned in “The World According to Garp” that the word “beaver” had more, uhm, colorful connotations. I, thus, am not sure I could handle a Super Beaver, quite frankly.
As long as you can find that starter button, you should be OK.
If you can’t, just ask your lesbian friend. She knows.
Hot dam!
“Honey would you like to come with me to that lot on the corner today to look at some Beavers on offer? Honey? Where are you going?”
“Nice Beaver.”
-Frank Drebin
“Super Beaver”
Thanks, I just had the hydraulics refilled
Might have to lodge a complaint about that beaver.
Thank you, I just had it stuffed.
See if you can find the film ” Hell Drivers” (1957, directed by Cy Endfield). It has a lot of these being driven with gusto!
I’ve found a few DVD copies on the market, but they’re too expensive. But I still intend to get a copy for my library.
Looks like the film is available on a few streaming services including the Criterion Channel, at least in the US, so thank you for that suggestion; it does look like a worthwhile watch, especially with those Leylands.
ETA: just checked imcdb.org and while they don’t list any Leylands the panoply of vehicles is indeed mighty interesting, so I’m still gonna give the film a watch:
http://imcdb.org/movie_51713-Hell-Drivers.html
While Leyland was not known for reliability, the Comet was the worst of the bunch.
It only showed up every 100 years.
I know it fits the joke, but pre-BL merger, Leyland was known for very high build quality and durability, part of why Leyland Trucks was able to survive that debacle, continuing today as a PACCAR subsidiary (though they no longer use the Leyland badge on their products)
Yes I have heard that Leyland trucks were dependable workhorses. But, as Mark Twain said, “Never let the facts get in the way of a good story”. Or joke, for that matter.
What colors did the octopus come in? I’m really hoping for Ink Black.
They could change colors.
I would pay extra for that.
Not just Octopus but also Low-Weight Octopus?? Some seriously cool names there, all right.
The hydraulic piston rods (or whatever they’re called) on the Low-Weight Octopus are astonishing:
“How long do you want the hydraulic piston rods to be?”
“Yes.”
“Wynona’s got herself a Super Beaver
And she shows it off to all her friends
One day, you know, that beaver tried to strand her
So she fixed him up with PB Blaster
Along came Lou with the old Octopus
And said, “Recognize that smell?
Smells like old Diesel,
That Beaver just rings my Bell”
Then after the song is over, the crowd enthusiastically chants “PRIMUS SUCKS! PRIMUS SUCKS! PRIMUS SUCKS!” And the band revels in it.