Corgi 1:50 Scammell Scarab Blue- Eskimo Frozen Foods

Diecast metal with plastic parts

This set includes unpainted figures

The Scammell Scarab was the successor to the Scammell Mechanical Horse and production began in 1948.[1] Its name is commonly believed to be derived from the rounded bonnet that resembled the elytra (wing covers) of a Scarab beetle, but the name really comes from a more conventional source. It was a portmanteau of Scammell and the Arab horse which the Mechanical Horse replaced in British Railways usage. The official Scammell Lorries advertisement film makes reference to this. It was extremely popular with British Railways and other companies which made deliveries within built-up areas. The Ministry of Defence also used the Scarab and trailers for predominantly internal transport on large military bases.

In the late 1920s, railway companies were looking for a suitable vehicle to use on their town parcels delivery traffic, which was predominately horse-drawn. The London Midland & Scottish Railway experimented with various ideas and in late 1930 announced, jointly with Karrier Motors, a tractor unit for this purpose. The vehicle, the Karrier Cob, was powered by a twin-cylinder Jowett engine and utilised a mechanism to couple existing horse trailers to the tractor units. Meanwhile the London & North Eastern Railway had approached Napier, the quality car and aero-engine makers, for an answer to the same problem. They came up with some ideas, but did not wish to develop the concept and sold the project to Scammell Lorries of Watford. Their designer, O. D. North, refined and further developed the concept of the three-wheel tractor unit which automatically coupled and un-coupled trailers and in 1934 announced the introduction of the Mechanical Horse.