Corgi 1:50 1966 AEC Ergomatic Low Loader & Scammell Highwayman Set: Chris Miller

This model was produced in 1997

Associated Equipment Company (AEC) was a British vehicle manufacturer that built buses, motorcoaches and trucks from 1912 until 1979. The name Associated Equipment Company was hardly ever used; instead it traded under the AEC and ACLO brands.

In 1926, AEC and Daimler formed the Associated Daimler Company, which was dissolved two years later. In 1927, AEC moved its manufacturing from Walthamstow to a new plant at Southall.

G. J. Rackham was appointed Chief Engineer and Designer in 1928. He had previously worked for Leyland Motors. His ideas contributed significantly to AEC's reputation for quality and reliability.

From 1929, AEC produced new models: the names of lorries began with "M" (Majestic, Mammoth, Mercury, and so on), and those of buses began with "R" (Regent, Regal, Renown, and so on). These original "M-models" continued in production until the end of World War II. AEC introduced diesel engines across the range in the mid-1930s.

From 1931 to 1938, AEC and English Electric co-produced trolleybuses. AEC supplied the chassis, and English Electric the electric motors and control equipment.

In 1932, AEC took a controlling interest in the British subsidiary of the American Four Wheel Drive (FWD) company, and began to use more standard AEC components in those vehicles. To avoid confusion, these were marketed under the name Hardy. Production ceased about 1936.

Scammell Lorries Limited was a British manufacturer of trucks, particularly specialist and military off-highway vehicles, between 1921 and 1988.

Scammell started as a late-Victorian period wheelwright and coach-building business, G Scammell & Nephew Ltd in Spitalfields, London. George Scammell, the founder, was joined by his nephew Richard and Richard's sons Alfred and James. By the early 1900s, the firm had become financially stable, providing maintenance to customers of Foden steam wagons. One such customer, Edward Rudd, had imported a Knox Automobile tractor from the United States, and impressed with its low weight/high hauling power had asked Scammell if they could make a similar model of their own.

However, the outbreak of World War I in 1914 stopped the project and presented itself as a turning point in road transport history. Mechanical transport was seen to work, proving its vast potential beyond doubt to forward-thinking companies such as Scammell. George Scammell's great nephew, Lt Col Alfred Scammell, was injured and invalided out of the army, and he was able to apply the practical experience he had gained during the war and began developing the articulated six wheeler. Percy G Hugh, chief designer, conceived the idea and at the 1920 Commercial Motor Show, 50 orders were taken for the new design. The vehicle's very low axle weight allowed it to carry 7.5 tonnes (7.4 long tons; 8.3 short tons) payload legally at 12 miles per hour (19 km/h), rather than being limited to 5 mph.