The Atkinson Knight was not one lorry but a set of trade names: in the 1960s Atkinson sold its Silver Knight tractor units, Gold Knight tippers and tankers and Black Knight freight chassis alongside the lightweight Weightmaster range. All of them carried the Knight of the Road device on the radiator grille until the badge and the names were dropped at the Earls Court show of October 1970.
Atkinson Knight at a glance
| Maker | Atkinson Lorries, Walton-le-Dale, Preston |
|---|---|
| Trade names | Silver Knight, Gold Knight, Black Knight |
| Period | 1960s, ended October 1970 |
| Silver Knight | tractor unit |
| Gold Knight | rigid tipper or tanker |
| Black Knight | rigid freight chassis |
| Also sold | Weightmaster range of lightweight chassis |
| Badge | Knight of the Road, upper offside corner of the radiator grille |
| Cab | glass-fibre Mk I from 1958, revised in 1968 |
| Engines | Gardner, with Rolls-Royce and Cummins offered alongside |
| Company | Atkinson Lorries (1933) Ltd, Atkinson Vehicles |
| Replaced by | the 1970 range headed by the Borderer |
The Knight models are described in the Atkinson section of the English Wikipedia article on Seddon Atkinson; this page is based on that one source.
History of the Atkinson Knight
A Preston lorry maker
Atkinson & Co. was founded in 1907 in the Frenchwood district of Preston, Lancashire, by Edward and Henry Birch Atkinson as a firm of steam-wagon repairers. In 1916 the company built its first six-ton four-wheel steam wagon, and production reached about three wagons a week with a workforce of more than 150. Steam production was abandoned in 1929 after about 545 Atkinsons had been built, and in 1933 the firm was acquired by the London garage owner W. G. Allen and became Atkinson Lorries (1933) Ltd. A new factory opened at Walton-le-Dale in 1948.
The Knight of the Road badge
Atkinson’s lorries were assembled from proprietary components — a bought-in chassis frame to Atkinson design, usually a Gardner engine, a David Brown gearbox and Kirkstall Forge rear axles. The circular A logo dated from 1937, and between the early 1950s and the late 1960s the badge was supplemented by the Knight of the Road device. From the 1950s many Atkinsons carried that trademark on the upper offside corner of the radiator grille.
Three Knights
In the 1960s the company sold models under the trade names Silver Knight, Gold Knight and Black Knight. The Silver Knight was a tractor unit, the Gold Knight a rigid tipper or tanker and the Black Knight a rigid freight chassis; the Weightmaster range of lightweight chassis was offered at the same time. In 1958 the coachbuilt hardwood and metal cab had been replaced on standard models by the glass-fibre clad Mk I cab with twin fixed wrap-around windscreens, keeping the traditional exposed Withnell-tube radiator. A single headlight model came first, followed in 1963 by the Deluxe twin headlight version that became an Atkinson characteristic.
More power
Hauliers wanted more powerful engines, and Gardner’s road-vehicle units were limited to 120 bhp in the early 1950s. Atkinson trial-fitted a Daimler 650 cubic inch engine rated at 150 bhp in an eight-wheeled rigid chassis, and later offered Rolls-Royce and Cummins engines alongside Gardner, which answered with 150 bhp in 1957 and 180 and 240 bhp units in 1966 and 1970. From 1968 the Mk I cab was revised with stronger ash framing and a concealed radiator behind a glass-fibre shrouded metal grille that still carried the Knight’s Head.
The end of the name
The Knight names and the badge ended with the range announced at the Commercial Motor Show at Earls Court in October 1970, which was named by the publicity officer Frank Whalley and headed by the two-axle Borderer tractor unit. The show exhibits carried four badges on the grille — the Big A, the Knight’s head, the new model name and the engine maker’s plate — and Managing Director Peter M Yates said they looked “like fairground lorries”. He told Whalley to stop using the Knight badge, which was consistent with ending the Knight names for the range. In the same year Seddon Diesel Vehicles acquired Atkinson to form Seddon Atkinson.
Design and features
- Knight of the Road badge: the trademark on the upper offside corner of the radiator grille, used from the 1950s to 1970.
- Names by job: Silver Knight for tractor units, Gold Knight for tippers and tankers, Black Knight for freight chassis.
- Mk I cab: glass-fibre panels on a hardwood frame from 1958, with twin wrap-around windscreens and an exposed radiator.
- Proprietary machinery: Gardner power as standard, with Rolls-Royce and Cummins units offered later.
- A name with an end date: the badge and the Knight names disappeared together with the 1970 range.
Atkinson Knight versions
- Silver Knight: tractor unit for articulated haulage.
- Gold Knight: rigid chassis for tipper or tanker bodywork.
- Black Knight: rigid freight chassis.
- Weightmaster: range of lightweight chassis sold alongside the Knights.
- Deluxe cab: twin headlight version of the Mk I cab from 1963.
- 1970 range: Borderer, Leader, Searcher, Defender and Venturer, which replaced the Knight names.
The Knight names gave way to the Borderer and the rest of the 1970 range. More Atkinsons are in the Atkinson collection.
Video: Atkinson 1971 Silver Knight lorry
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Seddon Atkinson, English Wikipedia: Atkinson company history, Knight badge and trade names, Mk I cab, engines
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