The Benbros No.28 Chain Lorry used the Foden cab & chassis from No.20 Flat Truck and No.21 Diesel Wagon with a new body.  In the 1950's, chain lorries were a familiar sight transporting milk in large aluminium churns and the Benbros model is a neat representation.

 

Like its predecessors, the cab & chassis section was a single casting onto which the wheels were directly fixed negating the need for a base. Underneath 'Benbros', 'Qualitoy' and 'Made in England' were cast. The body was a simple flat-bed onto which were cast six posts joined by metal bands representing chains.

 

The first versions of the Chain Lorry were painted either yellow or bright red. The yellow versions had silver trim picking out the chains, headlights, grille, bumper and the fuel tank on the chassis but the red models only had trim on the chains. The wheels were unpainted metal on nail-head & crimped axles. 

 

As with earlier Foden models, Benbros produced the Chain Lorry in a range of colours. Those fitted with metal wheels included a mid-red version with round-head & crimped axles, pale blue, metallic blue, mid-blue and green, all with silver trim. There was also a beige variation with red trim and a rare beige one with silver trim.

 

When Benbros switched to black plastic wheels, both the blue (slightly darker) and green models were fitted with these as well as a new darker red version.

 

Sold only in a Mighty Midget box, the illustration indicated that maybe Benbros had planned another design for the Chain Lorry which did not work out. The box showed a four-wheel AEC vehicle with only four chain-posts whereas the final model was a Foden truck with eight-wheels and six posts.

 

Finding the Chain Lorry is harder than one might expect and mint versions are often scarce. Some colours are rare, such as metallic blue, beige and green.

Variation 1 : yellow, full silver trim, umw

Benbros No.28 Foden Chain Lorry

Variations

 

All models had Mighty Midget boxes

 

• (1) YELLOW                             SILVER trim     SILVER chains                  umw

• (2) BRIGHT RED                     NO trim             SILVER chains                  umw

• (3) MID-RED                           SILVER trim      SILVER chains                  umw

• (4) PALE-BLUE                       SILVER trim      SILVER chains                  umw

• (5) BEIGE                                 RED trim            RED chains                       umw

• (6) BEIGE                                 SILVER trim       SILVER chains                 umw

• (7) METALLIC BLUE              SILVER trim       SILVER chains                 umw

• (8) MID-BLUE                         SILVER trim       SILVER chains                 umw

• (9) GREEN                               SILVER trim       SILVER chains                 umw

• (10) MID-or DARK-BLUE     SILVER trim       SILVER chains                 bpw

• (11) GREEN                             SILVER trim       DARK-GREEN chains    bpw

• (12) DARK-RED                      SILVER trim       SILVER chains                 bpw

Variation 2 : bright red, partial silver trim, umw

Variation 10 : mid-blue, bpw

Variation 12 : dark-red, bpw

Variation 4 : pale-blue, umw

Variation 3 : mid-red, umw (round-head axles)

Two types of wheels

Different colours of red

Variation 8 : mid-blue, umw

Variation 11 : green, dark-green chains, bpw

Variation 9 : green, umw