The Matador is one of the most instantly recognisable of all wartime vehicles and highly regarded by all who drove it, either during World War 2 and later conflicts or in civilian life as a timber tractor, breakdown truck or for any other task where its powerful (by 1940's standards) engine, low gearing, four wheel drive, winch and straightforward, rugged simplicity made it the ideal choice.

Originally intended as a Medium Artillery Tractor (M.A.T.), it was mainly used to tow a 5.5" gun, filling the gap between the Morris Quad Field Artillery Tractor and Scammell Pioneer Heavy Artillery Tractor towing the 25 pdr and 7.2" gun respectively. The first few Matadors, model 853, had a petrol engine. Most were built with a 7.7 litre diesel engine, model O853. The "O" signifying an Oil engine.

It soon became apparent that the Matador could do more than just tow a gun and various other versions were built. Some had the timber and canvas body replaced by a box body containing a large generator, some were adapted to carry a 25 pdr gun, once the gun was winched up inside it looked like an ordinary lorry and was not easily identifiable as an artillery unit. There was also an Armoured Command Vehicle, best described as a box on wheels.
Six wheeler versions were built by matching the rear bogie from the pre-war AEC Marshall to the Matador front end. Although never called a Matador in official AEC or military publications, but simply referred to as model 854 or O854, they are none the less commonly known as six wheel Matadors.

By the end of the war, over 8500 Matadors had been built. As they came up for sale they were snapped up by civilian buyers. Thousands of them had a timber crane fitted and went to work in the woods, lifting, winching and dragging incredible loads in impossible conditions. Some of them are still there over 50 years later having outlived more modern and sophisticated vehicles.

Many had a Harvey Frost recovery crane fitted. At one time just about every bus garage in the country had it's own breakdown truck and usually it was a Matador, some of them fitted a coach built cab to make them look like a bus but the distinctive hub bollards were always a clue as to what was underneath. They were also popular with independant recovery operators who valued their towing and winching ability and the 7.7 litre diesel engine which was guaranteed to start in any weather, no matter how long it had been standing.
They were also sought after by funfair and circus owners and civil engineering contractors, in fact, by anyone who had to move heavy equipment across rough ground.

Hundreds of Matadors have survived into preservation, either with a timber or recovery crane or restored to their original military specification. Most steam rallies will have at least one example on show, either parked up with the commercial vehicles or loading the rack saw in the working timber section.