The Crossley FWD (Four Wheel Drive) truck was manufactured between 1939 and 1945 and the tractor from 1943 to 1945. The majority were supplied to the Royal Air Force.

The chassis was designed to meet the British War Office's Q-Type specification issued in 1935 for a 5 ton payload truck.  Crossley's original proposal was for an all-independent suspension chassis with the 6.8 litre six cylinder 38/110 bus engine and a new 5 speed gearbox. Because of tight timescales, and at the War Office's request, the production version was simplified and reverted to proven drive components from the IGL range and the 5.2 litre 30/100 type engine. The prototype was made in 1938 with production getting under way in 1939. The tractor units were frequently used to tow the large "Queen Mary" trailers

Total orders were for 7406 trucks and 2836 tractor units. 100 of these units were not completed when orders were stopped in 1945.

The chassis numbers were 51xxx-59xxx for the truck and 71xxx onwards for the tractor unit.

ENGINE AND CHASSIS

The FWD 30/100 engine

FWD 4x4 tractor chassis

FWD 4x4 truck chassis

BODY STYLES

FWD Airfield crash tender. As well as the RAF, these were used by the Dutch Air Force (painted red) and the Danish Army Air Corps.

FWD 4x4 tractor unit.
The cab body in this example is by Mulliner.The cab design was deliberately simple to aid repair in the field.

FWD with flatbed body and Crossley cab

Many of the vehicles had Crossley built bodies but others were built by Mulliners, Park Royal and English Electric. The cab was deliberately made with a basic square shape to simplify field repair. Uses included general service, breakdown vehicles, mobile generators, crane trucks and crash tenders.

Variants

The truck cost between £763 and £1054 and the tractor unit between £972 and £1106

SPECIFICATION