All the kids loved Stinkerbell [2] - a photo on Flickriver

Stinkerbell was a three-wheeled industrial truck manufactured by R A Lister & Co of Dursley, England. Over the years I have owned five different versions of the truck. This version was fitted with a JAP single cylinder engine of 600cc. A three speed gearbox and a reverse gear meant a top speed of about 15mph was possible. The clutch was hand operated and is the pull-up bar we see on the handle bars. The throttle and gear lever were on the opposite end of the handle. It was steered by turning the whole engine and gearbox unit which was mounted on a turntable. A handbrake operated by the right hand and a rear wheel foot brake was operated by the right foot. The driving seat was a saddle. The left foot operated the warning bell which was just barely audible above the clatter of the engine.

This truck was nick-named Tinkerbell because of the lovely ting-ting sound the bell made and her name was painted on the front panel. The engine was very worn however and emitted lots of smoke during operation; it was my father who said "Cor, Stinkerbell would be more appropriate!" . . and so an extra S was added in a big flourish to the name!

In the 1980s Stinkerbell visited many vintage shows and rallies with me and was a great favourite with the rally kids. At the end of the day, when the public had all gone home we would fire her up and go off on a jaunt around the show site.

This is one such show, Deerhurst Farm Fayre in July 1985. I remember the occasion, we had arrived on the Friday night and had only just set up camp when a violent thunderstorm broke out and continued on and off all night. The following day was hot and humid and very wet underfoot and wellington boots were useful in the long wet grass.

At this show I was approached by a young mother with two young boys who showed an interest in Stinkerbell and mentioned they used to have one in their garden. I chatted interestingly, hoping that I was just about to go off on a search for another one to add to my collection. It soon transpired that the truck they owned they had sold to a collector in Gloucester and, guess what, this was one and the same truck!

In the rear of the truck we see young Richard in the green tee-shirt, next to him is Helen in the red cardy, behind her is her brother Brian and then Elizabeth, the sister of Helen and Brian. The lad in blue and white wellies on the saddle is one of the boys whose father used to own Stinkerbell and his brother is on the extreme right; sorry, no recollection of their names (but the younger was possibly Ben).

Stinkerbell eventually passed on to another collector when a decision was made to sell the premises at Southerndown which had been our home for 28 years.

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Taken on: July 1, 1985

Tags:

Lister Autotruck

Lister

Stinkerbell

boy

girl

children

Deerhurst

Gloucestershire

Minolta SRT 303

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Sets appears in: • My Vintage Engines • 1980s Assorted

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