Atkinson

Atkinson Lorries Ltd of Frenchwood Works, Preston produced Lorries and Buses from 1916 to 1970

• 1907 Edward Atkinson became and expert in the repair and servicing of steam vehicles and was an agent for Alley and McLennan the forerunner of Sentinal
• 1916 Designs and builds his own steam wagon with a 6-ton payload
• 1920 October. Exhibited at the Commercial Motor Exhibition at Olympia with a vehicle with the Uniflow engine
• 1924 Atkinson were said to be building a bus based on a four-ton steam wagon chassis with an upright boiler.
• 1933 Formed Atkinson Lorries Ltd for the production of diesel powered vehicles using the Gardner engine.
• WW2 Built 160 6-wheel and 100 8-whelers for wartime contracts
• 1950 They built their first purpose-designed diesel bus.
• 1953 Launched range with the bow front
• 1957 Heavier vehicles launched for cross-country and oil-field operations
• 1970 Acquired by Seddon
• 1974 Vehicles marked as Seddon Atkinson after Seddon was acquired by International Harvester of America

Sources of Information

• British Lorries 1900-1992 by S. W. Stevens-Stratten. Pub. Ian Allen Publishing
• The Engineer of 29th October 1920 p424
• Ian Allan - British Buses Since 1900 - Aldridge and Morris