rouch Recovery has become a firm favourite on Oxford commercial recovery trucks and the fleet grows even more with their bright orange colour scheme making a welcome return on an AEC Matador Wrecker.
The company began in 1948 when David and Barbara Crouch ran a local filling station and recovery service. Three generations on and Crouch has grown into one of the biggest and fastest growing recovery operations in the UK – and still family run. As they are proud to say - Breakdowns, road traffic incidents, wheel changes, bus and coach movements and trailer repairs are all in a day’s work! And they have the vehicles to achieve that.
Originally, the AEC Matador was a heavy 4 x 4 truck and medium artillery tractor made especially by the Associated Equipment Company for Allied Forces during WWII. With an AEC 7.6 litre engine and a speed of around 30 mph, it saw service in many military roles. Post-war, the heavy duty and powerful Matador was a natural choice for civilian use, including as a recovery truck. It also had good off-road performance on rough terrain and when used as a bus fleet recovery truck, many were fitted with lifting jibs for suspended towing.
All these plus points made it an ideal vehicle for Crouch Recovery and here we see it in 1:76 scale miniature. Decorated in the signature orange colour scheme with black and white graphics, the flat fronted cab features its distinctive curved roof with the Crouch’s name printed on it, also repeated on the cab doors. A beacon has been added to the cab roof above the windscreen. The white lettering on the front of the vehicle details the 24 hour service – Recovery Engineers. To the rear, the flatbed trailer has a recovery winch complete with tow hook fixed to the brown planking and the huge wheels with orange inserts sit on a black chassis. The vehicle is registered Q492 DNR, indicating it is a specially derived vehicle. Whatever its previous life, nothing can detract from its extremely powerful capabilities as part of the Crouch recovery fleet!