934/943/944 Leyland Octopus (1)

Hi Gents,Still getting the hang of posting pictures, had a few Photobucket issues lately, still here's another attempt to test the theory......Leyland Octopus Variations.... Cheers Gents, Chris Warr.

Is the white one a 'Sweetners for Industry' Octopus? Dave

Hi Dave, It is, I was really pleased to get one, took me over 20 years to find. Chris Warr.

Here are my three Octopuses or should it be Octopi??? Dave

Lovely condition on those Dave, mine are a bit battered apart from the Green / Yellow Wagon. I'm still looking for a Green / Yellow wagon with the higher level green band on the cab,a blue chain lorry, and the Shell - BP with white chassis and hub variations on them all. Chris Warr.

Here's a better pic of the 'Sweetners' Tanker, battered, but the only one I could afford! :laugh: Chris Warr.

Here is a shot of my Shell/BP Octopus which I acquired earlier this year. I bought it at an auction house, it had obviously been owned by someone who was a very heavy smoker and it looked a real mess but I thought I could clean it up and make it look presentable. It was in a reasonably good box and I got it for less than 100, I think everyone else was put off by the condition. When I had cleaned it I was delighted as it is now an excellent addition to my collection. Keep looking for the Corn Products truck you never know when a bargain is around. If you do find one that is dirty take care because the labels are paper stuck onto the vehicle like my Shell/BP tanker and you have to clean carefully round them. Dave

That's looking great now Dave, cleaned up a treat! Know what you mean though, years ago I used a foaming cleaner on a good, but filthy Foden 'Regent' Tanker, that had just cost me 120.00, and wiped all the lettering off the rear decal .......................AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH Never again. Chris Warr.

Hello Chris
and Dave Although this post should be in a new thread,
as the later discussions have been on the 944 Leyland Octopus tankers,
I thought I would throw this one in although it may have been discussed somewhere,
sometime ! As a result of your discussions,
I pulled my 944 out when something struck me as being quite odd;the box does not refer to the model as being a Leyland Octopus,
but simply ' Shell - B.P.Fuel Tanker '.On one side it has a little story about the model,
and it states: ' The prototype vehicle on which the model in this box is based,
has a tank - capacity capable of holding 4,
000 gallons of fuel oil
and it is manufactured by Alfred Miles Limited of Brockworth in Gloucestershire,
a subsidiary of the world - famous Gloucester Aircraft Company ' Meccano was referring to the tank,
not the vehicle,
so one wonders why Leyland was not mentioned anywhere
except
on the base of the model.The Shell - B.P.tanker ' s predecessor was the Leyland Octopus Tanker ' Esso '
and its full name is displayed on the box on three sides.So why was the 944 treated differently ? [img] / images / sites / default / files / old - forum - images / 9440851_550x391.jpg [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / old - forum - images / 9431097a.jpg [/img] Warmest regards Bruce PS I should mention something about the wheels on my 944 as it carries two completely different types of plastic hubs,
but will leave that one for the other thread !

My one
and only one octopus !
[img] / images / sites / default / files / old - forum - images / CIMG2019.jpg [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / old - forum - images / CIMG2020.jpg [/img] Cheers

Hi all,
Good point Bruce,
never thought about that.I wonder if they thought the old Leyland was getting on a bit,
so ' Shell BP Tanker ' might get a few more orders in
from
the shops ? Chris Warr.BTW: I posted pictures of the Octopus wheel variations in another thread about a year ago,
I can ' t remember which one now though ! They appear to be completely random in allocation,
I ' ve got at least one Octopus with 7 of one type
and a single solitary other style of wheel.

Greetings all ! Continuing with the 934 Leyland Octopus Wagon,
I thought collectors might like to see the original drawing of the cab
and chassis,
Job No.7874 with the last change to the drawing being made on 24 June 1964 when the six slots in the chassis were deleted.This is interesting in that my 944 Shell - BP Fuel Tanker still has its slots,
so I guess it must have been an early production example.Kind regards Bruce [img] / images / sites / default / files / old - forum - images / IMG_7478_640x417.jpg [/img] [img] / images / sites / default / files / old - forum - images / IMG_7481_640x480.jpg [/img]