Part 1

In 1924, a two year child by the name of Lachie Griffen arrived with his family to settle in Governor’s Bay at the head of Lyttelton Harbour. In this small rural community, he would develop a transport company that would be quite pioneering in many of its approaches, as it faced the difficulties of servicing the needs of a rural community in hilly, difficult terrain.

Lachie’s family had bought an orchard in the Bay and there was probably the expectation that Lachie would one day play a significant part in the family business. However, Lachie harboured desires to be a musterer, working out in the open and often escaped from the drudgery of school to assist drovers taking stock through Governor’s Bay over the hill to Christchurch.



While he did start his working life at 15 with another orchardist in Governor’s Bay, he quickly moved on to driving trucks for the local transport operators - Long and Ashton who operated Governor’s Bay Transport. His first drives were in a 1937 C30 International and a very unique for the times, full forward control CS 300 International.

War intervened in 1940 and Lachie’s experience as a driver lead to him being sent to Italy in 1943 as a tank driver with C Squadron of the 19th Battalion Armoured Unit. What he saw of the transport operated by the enemy there would later come back to influence his thinking when running his own transport company many years later.








On completion of hostilities, due to his previous transport driving experience, Lachie got a job driving ‘top brass’ around in a 1942 Ford V8 staff car. He nearly didn’t get the job though, as when his future commanding officer found out at the interview he had been driving tanks, he was told ‘I’ll not have you as a driver. You’ll be going round bloody crunching everything up!” As well as driving in Italy, Lachie also found himself in Japan for 12 months, where driving a Ford V8 around streets designed for rickshaws probably brought back memories of negotiating trucks around the narrow tracks in the bays of Banks Peninsula.







On his return in 1946, Lachie worked for Ra Blatchford, a local sand and shingle supplier, driving a new Austin K4 tipper, which proved pretty disastrous. It was not up to the tasks asked of it, and a broken crankshaft was one of many frustrations experienced with this truck. In 1951, Lachie was approached by Dick Dunbier and Jim Washer, who, prior to Lachie going overseas had taken over as the partners in Governor’s Bay Transport. They had valued his assistance in those early days of their ownership as he was the only ‘experienced’ driver in the firm.





Now the pre-war restrictive licensing schemes were being removed and they were concerned that if the opportunity to put on another truck was missed, someone else would! They were interested in taking Lachie on as a partner, which he was able to do with a rehab loan. Lachie had only been a third partner for a short time when Dick Dunbier decided to pursue other interests. Then when Jim Washer decided he had had enough, Lachie found himself the sole owner of the company.



During the Dunbier / Washer years, the Internationals had got very tired and the only truck available new in the austere post-war years were Austins, although these were not really successful as they were really just a bus chassis with a local Boon’s built cab. They were too long in the wheelbase for the type of work being asked of them.

It was at this time that the CX Commer with petrol sloper motor became available, with its revolutionary chrome bore guaranteed for 100,000 miles. Its great styling certainly stood out and while it may have been a little thirsty on the hill, the first one purchased by Dunbier and Washer soon proved its worth, being a full 7 tonner compared to the 5 ton Austins.










The original intention was to buy two CXs, but instead of the second CX, they bought a truck that if Lachie had had his say, “they wouldn’t have touched with a forty foot barge-pole” – a Commer Superpoise. With its Humber Super Snipe motor, it was under-powered for the Peninsula and boiled its head off every time it looked at a hill. Lachie found it a dray to steer and ride in and he was a lot happier when he managed to get it out of the fleet 3 years later. (This truck is in the Richardson Collection although not on display - Ed)
From his wartime experience, he was determined to go into diesels, as he had experienced first hand the Fiat diesels used by the Italians in the war.




At this time, Leyland were just coming back on the scene with their wonderful post-war transatlantic-styled design – the bonneted Comet - named after the tank they had been producing in their war time factories. After a successful trial of a demo Leyland Comet 75hp, an order was placed with the agents. Luckily, before the order could be filled, the 75 was superseded with the 90hp – a little more power which would prove handy for Lachie’s next pioneering idea - a 2 axle drawbar trailer.






Everyone told him he was crazy to go into trailers but he had seen first hand what the Europeans did with trailers in his time in Italy. The trouble was, getting someone to build what he wanted!

Trailer Manufacturing Co in Christchurch wouldn’t build a 2 axle. They reckoned he wouldn’t get it around the corners of the Peninsula and wanted to build him an artic trailer unit. But Lachie knew that traction-wise on the steep hills of the Peninsula, an artic was hopeless. Another advantage of a 2 axle trailer in difficult going was that the trailer could be parked up in a convenient place and ‘fed’ by the truck, even if it did mean two trips in for the loads.



At the time, the maximum trailer length was 14’ and Lachie wanted a 16’6 deck, the same as the truck decks, which would make trans shipping, etc easier with everything being the same.

Dave Dommett of Dommett Trailers was approached to see if he would build what was wanted. “What are you going to tow it with?“ was the query.

“A 90 hp diesel” was the reply.

“90 hp on Banks Peninsula – you’re mad” was the reply

“Well I might be, but I reckon I know what I am doing”.


A Ringfeder was welded onto the back of the Leyland and a 14’ 2 axle was borrowed from Dommetts for a few days, which proved the idea was workable. Dommett reluctantly built the trailer and it proved Lachie’s ideas right, although at times, the Leyland proved a little underpowered. A second low mileage Leyland Comet 75 was soon purchased and on occasions, the second Leyland had to be ‘roped on’ to tow the trailer combination up the hills on the steep bits.




 

The very rare CS 300 International. Lachie remembers it as being hot work in this cab.

The K4 which proved quite a disaster, brand new outside the showrooms

The unusual Austin - a 5 ton bus chassis with locally built cab - too long in the wheelbase and too light in the chassis to be anything useful - pictured in the Bill Richardson Collection - Invercargill, New Zealand

The brand new Leyland 90 with unfinished sheep crate - nearly ready for service!

No 2 - the Leyland 90 with 16’ 6” 2 axle trailer. Note the collapsible sheep race that had to carted on the side of the trucks in those days.

The 1937 C30 Internatinonal. Note the bags of cocksfoot on the back and the milk cans on the roof.