Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2021 i Classic & Vintage Commercials

Good news and bad news…. Two contrasting positions regarding major lorry events for 2021 emerged in the week before this issue went to press. To begin with the bad news, the 2021 Kelsall steam rally, due to take place at the end of June, has been cancelled. This event, of course, also hosts the major ERF Gathering of the year, and generally sees more than 200 ERFs converge on Churches View Farm. In a brief statement issued on November 29, the organisers said. “It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce that due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided not to go ahead with the rally for 2021. This has not been an easy decision however, we want to make sure that everyone stays safe.…

No place like home A superbly restored Foden S20, with a fascinating history, has returned home to its original owner, and is now looking as good as new. Well, sort of… Pip Dunn tells the story While I admit my preferences for old lorries is firmly from the 1970s through to the early 2000s, when I saw David Ping’s immaculately restored Foden S20, I was so incredibly impressed, I just had to find out more. Having seen the truck on Facebook, I spoke to David, and agreed to head down to Whittlesey to see him and the S20. And that’s when I found out that this old timer had a fascinating history, not least that after a few sales here and there along the way and a fairly major modification…

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MISSION OF MERCY Rare Ford Transit Wadham Stringer ambulance conversion GUW 365N is also a bit of a television celebrity as Bob Weir recently discovered. Kenny Moffat is an ambulance paramedic / technician with the Scottish Ambulance Service. He was brought up in the area and spent some of his childhood years involved with the Summerlee Heritage Centre in Coatbridge. “The Summerlee Heritage Centre is one of the most important industrial heritage sites in Scotland,” he explained. “I used to live close to the museum and was a member of the ‘Friends of Summerlee’. The ‘Friends’ is a voluntary organisation that supports the activities of the museum. I spent some of my teenage years restoring and driving their collection of steam engines. I even learned to drive on steam engines…

MAKING LORRIES Pt4: Nick Baldwin continues his personal look at the changing face of lorry manufacture down the years. It seems that I may have uncovered a rich seam of latent lorry lore, judging by contacts from friends and colleagues old and new. Thank you all for reassuring me that I’m not a lone lorry loony! Industrial archaeology runs deep and I’ve been told about lots of surviving evidence of where lorries were formerly built, operated or worked on. This all arose from our current series on factories and production. I realised before I’d got to the end of part one that I’d bitten off as much as I could chew on the subject. I had piles of pictures showing the exteriors of early motor factories but few clues as…

FAMILY AFFAIR This Dodge 500 has been connected to the Thomas family throughout its 50 year life. Now it’s been restored as a tribute to the much loved father and grandfather who drove it commercially. Peter Simpson tells the story. This month, as is perhaps appropriate for our Christmas issue, we’ve chosen for our main cover feature a lorry which is much more than a well-restored piece of transport nostalgia; it’s a family heirloom, a reminder of a much-loved and missed father and grandfather. It’s also a lorry which has been owned by the family since it was three years old and which will never be going anywhere else. Dodge 500 tipper VTC941H was new in 1970, and supplied by Clitheroe-based dealership TGB (owned by the Harper family, who also…

Viewline’s Post-Pickfords history Following publication of our feature on David Batty’s ex-Pickfords Atkinson Viewline in last month’s magazine, more information on the lorry’s past life has come to light. Firstly, the photo below, showing the vehicle while owned by Pickfords, was taken by Peter Davies on September 15 1970 - when, of course, the Viewline was nearly less than a year old – on London’s West India Dock Road – a location that’s a bit different these days but was then very much part of a busy working commercial port. Additionally, David Boot from Mansfield (whose Foden DG was featured by David Reed in our May issue) has been in touch to say that he recognised the Nevelle EMV name that was on the lorries door when bought. EMV, apparently,…

CLOSE-UP on Classics RENAULT MAGNUM RENAULT MAGNUM Pt 2: Peter Davies concludes the story he began last month with a look at the mechanical side, along with development before and after Volvo’s takeover. While most attention was, as usual, focused on the cab, the Renault AE range, as first introduced, boasted a pretty impressive mechanical specification too. Renault’s B18 triple-countershaft, range-change and splitter gearbox provided 18 forward speeds, all except crawler having synchromesh engagement. Some drivers felt that having so many ratios was unnecessary, especially in the most powerful AE500 as there was ample power to skip shift a lot of the time. The rear axle on 4x2 and 6x2 models was RVI’s own P1345 hypoid double-reduction unit with hub reduction. The rear bogie on 6x4 models was the type…

A TALE OF TWO TANKERS David Reed calls in on John Murphy to see his two similar but different eightwheel tankers. John Murphy loves old lorries. Based in Huddersfield, he has attended runs and shows over the years with a variety of vehicles. Many get sold on for further use, but at the moment, he is to be seen with two 1965 eight-wheel tankers that bear the National Bus Company’s leaf green livery. They are DLK125C, a Leyland Octopus and DLK 292C, an AEC Mammoth Major V. Both have been restored by John, and both look great. The Leyland arrived first. “When it was advertised in Classic & Vintage Commercials,” John said, “it was a bad time for me as I had already bought an ex Kirkdale Haulage Leyland Octopus…

Scottish Selection As a schoolboy, regular Classic & Vintage Commercials reader Bob Stroud wrote to several lorry manufacturers asking for information. Most sent leaflets, but Bedford responded with some carefully-selected photographs… With reference to your editorial in the October issue requesting historical archive material, I wondered if the enclosed pictures taken of new vehicles as they were supplied might be of interest to you. What you said about such items being lost spoke to me and I thought I’d prefer you to have them instead of them laying in a cupboard. When I was a young lad and interested in all things lorry, I wrote to many lorry manufacturers asking for information. Bedford were the only one to send large black and white photos as opposed to information leaflets. They…

FALCONER REMOVALS PERFECT PATINA! Peter Simpson visits a family-run removals business in rural Wales with a few surprises in store… Photos: Martyn Barnwell As photographer Martyn and I arrived at Falconer Removals storage depot at Ammanford, I became slightly concerned. Outside, bright and gleaming in the mid-August sunlight, there stood an almost new MAN TGL complete with distinctive liveried-up pantechnicon bodywork on top of a bespoke lengthened chassis. I also subsequently discovered that this new lorry had cost, as it stood before us, £87,000. Very impressive, and clearly a very significant investment for a family-owned business. But though it’s a fine-looking beast, a 20 plate MAN isn’t exactly what CVC is all about. Had we come on a wild goose chase? The answer to that question is, of course as…

J4 at 60! The once seen everywhere J4 van is 60 years old. NICK LARKIN tells why it deserves to be much more in the public eye as a British icon. With enthusiastic users from The Beatles (sort of) to the Post Office, BMC’s J4 van was once seen everywhere, transporting everything from fruit and veg to arrested criminals. Launched in a fanfare of not too many instruments at the 1960 Commercial Motor Show, the J4 wasn’t exactly treated to a glossy brochure and snazzy advertising slogan. “Setting a new style in local delivery,” was the best BMC could come up with to sell the new baby in an already strong market with the Bedford, Ford, Rootes and Volkswagen all pitching for a share. Not forgetting the slightly larger BMC…

Model Corner Mike Neale begins a two-part look at the various Mini van models made over the years BMC introduced a 5cwt van version of the Mini in June 1960, followed by the pick-up one year later. They were badged either as Morris or Austin and were fitted with a plain painted metal grille. The pick-up went out of production in November 1980 and the van in May 1983, at which point they looked pretty much the same as when launched, aside from the badge. Unsurprisingly, there have been many 1/43 scale models of the Mini commercials made over the years. Each of the three main diecast toy manufacturers at the time, Dinky, Corgi and Spot-On, produced a Mini Van. Given that they were all modelling the same vehicle, they…