The Uggly Lump Stephens Mystery (Upd.: Stephens plate)

These pictures were sent to us by Adnan Afana. He has just acquired this Stephens motor. There is very limited information about this sturdy piece of machinery, Adnan believes it belonged to a Colonel Stephens. We also don’t know what to make of it, we don’t even know if it’s pre-war although at least the radiator looks that way. We did a quick google on Stephens of Gloucester, but came up empty handed. Can you tell us more about this GM diesel-powered tractor? Or on what kind of machine the radiator was mounted in the days it was new.

editor Update: The various updates show that we may not have been clear enough. We just wanted to know what is the background of the Stephens radiator shell.

Published:

Tuesday December 14th, 2010

Unknown

16 December 2010, 16:01

I would suggest that a visit to this site might clarify who Col Stephens was. More may then become clear!

http://www.hfstephens-museum.org.uk/

Unknown

15 December 2010, 22:42

A bit of a long shot this - a Google search reveals there was once a manufacturer of incubators in Gloucester called Stephens. If one and the same then the name plate has probably simply been lifted from one of their machines.

Unknown

15 December 2010, 16:44

I seem to recall there being one of these hauling parcels around East Croydon station back in the early 1960s. It was a noisy little brute and I wondered whether it was made by Daimler, because of the ribbed radiator shell reminiscent of early Daimler cars.

An ex-aircraft tug makes sense.

Unknown

15 December 2010, 15:21

I suspect the StephenS nameplate does not really belong to the radiator shell. It may be from some other sort of machinery entirely.

Unknown

15 December 2010, 07:28

Pretty certain this is an aircraft handling tractor from the sixties, not anything prewar. As they are normally found on airport aprons they are always registered but seldom driven on public roads other than round airport complexes as they are very low geared. The PZ registration is from Belfast and was used reversed (ie numbers first) from 1966.

Unknown

15 December 2010, 06:34

I just read an article about a stephens tractor.
just wild guessing, should it have anything to do with
http://www.wattsgroup.co.uk/history.html
I find Stephens, I find early diesel, I find tractor,... one never knows
nico

Unknown

15 December 2010, 03:00

The is a Mercury aircraft tug made by the Mercury Truck & Tractor Co. Ltd. of Gloucester (1920-1964)and later (1964 1972) in Guildford in the Dennis Factory. Somebody has swapped the Mercury plate on the radiator for some reason or other. Not too sure of the year but probably in the fifties.

Unknown

14 December 2010, 23:44

It looks like an airport tug. The StephenS nameplate does not quite conform to the space, and is held on with rusty, mismatched bolts, so it may be a red herring.

Unknown

14 December 2010, 23:34

The registration is a Belfast one from 1966.

The Uggly Lump Stephens Mystery (Upd.: Stephens plate)

Comments

Make a comment, ask a question, give your opinion, share additional information or start a discussion by filling in the fields below.