AEC Mercury tipper.

The quality medium-weight 12 tons gross market in the early fifties was dominated by Leyland’s best selling Comet 90 and after a meeting of AEC’s sales and engineering senior personnel a completely new chassis to rival the Comet was developed and dubbed the Mercury.

As built the Mercury’s tare was still heavier than the Comet’s but when the gross weight limit for two axles was increased to 14 tons in 1955 the AEC with 25bhp more power and air brakes came into its own and sales rocketed.

In those years despite rail competition coal haulage by road was big business especially for supplying industry lacking railhead facilities and here we see a Mercury loading at a Midlands colliery, it carries the early type of cab which differed from the more usual cab which was more rounded.

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