Commer TS3

The Commer TS3 was a diesel engine fitted in Commer trucks built by the Rootes Group in the 1950s and 1960s. It was largely the product of Tilling-Stevens, but was developed by Rootes Group when they bought out Tilling-Stevens. The engine was the first diesel engine used by Rootes Group and was of unorthodox design.

Development

Rootes' intention for the engine was to produce a new range of Commer trucks with the modern "cab forward" design, which required an engine low enough to mount under the driver's cab rather than in front of it as previously. Eric W Coy, Rootes' Chief Engineer, was responsible for the development of the engine by a core team of only seven people, at the Humber plant at Stoke Aldermoor. "TS" in the engine's name derives from its Tilling-Stevens origins, a company acquired by Rootes in 1950. From 1954 Rootes diesel production was moved to the Tilling-Stevens plant in Maidstone, Kent.

Engine Origins