Victor Harman explores another great British achievement. This time, it’s the Gardner Diesel
There were 75,000 vehicles in 58 countries driven by a power unit produced with the engineering skills of Gardner, and a workforce in good times approaching 3,000
But the 1930s saw the real origins of the Gardner legend, based on a series of engine ranges designed for buses, boats, and trucks that happened almost by chance.Gardnerhad built their reputation mostly on heavy stationary and marine engines, but MAN and Benz inGermanywere then developing lighter diesels for road transport. British truck operators began to envy the economy and low price of diesel (four pence a gallon) compared with petrol at one and sixpence a gallon, which then powered most commercial vehicles. Nottingham bus operator Trevor Barton fitted a heavy 5.6 litreGardner4L2 marine diesel engine into his petrol Lancia bus, the word got around, and others succeeded with similar petrol to diesel conversions. L Gardner suddenly found themselves major suppliers to the haulage and passenger transport industry.
Just as with the British motorcycle industry, wartime, new foreign machinery, and low investment brought about Gardner’s demise. As recently as 1994, L Gardner records revealed that there were 75,000 vehicles in 58 countries driven by a power unit produced with the engineering skills of Gardner, and a workforce in good times approaching 3,000. After a brief flirtation with high power, high-revving, engines and the disastrous arrival of turbo-charging in the 290hp 6LXDT and 320/350hp 6LYT engines, Gardner took part ownership of Cheshire truck manufacturer ERF. Soon after that, under the disinterested ownership of Hawker-Siddeley, the last vestiges of the company finally faded into the sunset in 2003, leaving magic memories best described by the words of one of its many remaining enthusiasts: “Ah! The incredible, indestructible Gardner – one of the great unsung heroes of British engineering!”
But more than just mere memories remain. Many Gardner engines are still giving sterling service, from fairground generating sets to quarrying diggers, to paddle steamers on the Nile, and in hundreds of restored trucks, buses, and locomotives. There are a good few more Gardner powered Land Rovers and Rolls Royce cars than those pictured here, for this was a popular conversion using the 4LK engine, which produced 57hp from its 3.8-litres at 2,100rpm, weighing just 300kg. Interestingly, this same engine powered two midget submarines that crippled the WW2 German battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord in 1942, thereby making a significant contribution to victory in the war at sea. A full history of L Gardner and Sons appears in “Legendary Engineering Excellence” by Graham Edge.