1941 David Brown VIG1/100 Tug

Estimate: £14,000 - £16,000*

Reg No: Unregistered (Formerly ‘KBJ 870’) MOT: Exempt Chassis No: AW/C 29

During the Second World War, David Brown was awarded a contract to develop a wheeled Air Ministry tractor for use on concrete runways following the change from grass runways. Trials of the VIG1/100 were carried out at RAF Leeming in Yorkshire during 1941, with some 650 being subsequently supplied to the Air Ministry between October 1941 and December 1942, before being replaced by the VIG1/462 with a Brockhouse torque converter transmission. The Air Ministry tractors were used on the wartime airfields for handling the heavy bombers and hauling fuel bowsers and bomb trailers.

Manufactured in 1941, chassis no. AW/C 29 was supplied new to the Air Ministry, as designated by the AW chassis number, indicating that it was one of the original wartime VIG1/100 tractors. Demobbed for civilian use after the war, the David Brown was provided with the registration number ‘KBJ 870’, although the Tug is currently unregistered. Subject to a comprehensive restoration at an estimated cost of over £20,000 by Ivan Cowlen, this is surely one of the finest examples, having been authentically restored and finished in full RAF colour scheme and insignia. Fitted with full belly weights and wheel weights, the David Brown has recently been shod with two new front tyres. A rare and interesting piece of WWII military history!