This post was originally written for and appeared here, at hooniverse.com.
This film, posted to Youtube by the Ford Heritage Museum, details a rare trip with rare meat from London to Paris by truck. The goal was to pimp the Thames Trader complete the delivery of seven tons of beef in less than 24 hours.
Hit the jump to see if they made it. (Spoiler: They did. Hit the jump anyway and watch the worthwhile video.) 
The Ford Thames Trader was the latest and greatest in commercial lorries in 1958. It certainly couldn’t compare to today’s luxo-trucks, but everything is relative. The fine folks at Wolsley of Smithfield didn’t seem to mind as they drove their new lorry from London to the coast, caught a ferry across the English Channel, then carried on to Paris (seemingly with a fag hanging out of their mouth the whole time – ah, the simple times).
Is it possible that the idea for Smokey and the Bandit derived from this film? Maybe, maybe not, but this film gets that much more enjoyable if you imagine Jerry Reed’s “Eastbound and Down” playing in the background.
Today, a passenger can take the Eurostar and make the same trip in 2 hours, 15 minutes. My, how Thames have changed.
