Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2021 i Classic & Vintage Commercials

GAYDON’S GO! Alongside the fully understandable but still sad news that this year’s HCVS London to Brighton event has had to be cancelled, there’s better news from the midlands. Tom Caren has been in touch to say that the British Motor Museum at Gaydon are still planning to go ahead with a major programme of events in 2021 including the Classic and Vintage Commercial Show which should be taking place on the June 12 and 13. Last year ‘Gaydon’ was one of a very small number of lorry events to go ahead, albeit with significant restrictions including all visitors as well as exhibitors having to be pre-booked to control numbers and for contact-tracing purposes. Clearly such things are far more ‘do-able’ in a museum environment where everyone coming on site…

CLOSE-UP on Classics FORD CARGO Pt2: Peter Davies completes the story, taking in the Iveco Ford period… As well as the Ford Dover diesels described in part one, other power units were offered on the early Cargos from 11 tons gvw upwards – two being carry-overs from the D-series. These were the 8.8 litre Perkins V8-540 (originally branded as a Ford engine but built by Perkins of Peterborough) and the Cummins V8-504. The 8.8 litre V8-540 was rated at 180 bhp (at 2400rpm) and provided 410lbs/ft of torque at 1700rpm. The Cummins ‘Vale’ had undergone a significant re-design since it first appeared in the D-series. It was not particularly successful in its earlier form and lacked performance. It was a ‘revver’ with a governed speed of 3000rpm and a peak…

July 11 2020 BILL REID MEMORIAL AYRSHIRE RUN A modified Bill Reid Memorial Ayrshire Road Run took place in Scotland. David Reed reports. On July 11 2020, a modified Ayrshire Road Run took place in south-west Scotland. This was not the two-day affair that has been a popular event for many years, but a one-day trip taking in around 100 miles of scenic countryside between Lanark and Cumnock, with strict Covid-19 restrictions in place at all times. As usual, the driving force behind the run was the Ayrshire Commercial Vintage Vehicle Club, with Jim Smith at the helm making sure that things ran as smoothly as possible. The day started and finished at The Route 74 Truckstop alongside the M74. This facility is only six years old and was built…

MODEL PROFILE THAMES 400E RANGE Peter Simpson tells the story of Ford’s fifties van which set new standards in a rapidly-changing market. Photo: The late Jim King These days, many people think of the Thames 400E as the van which, in 1965, Ford replaced with its radical new Transit, and in doing so transformed the whole 15-35cwt van market. By comparison, the 400E seemed ancient. That, though, isn’t really fair. Less than eight years earlier, in November 1957, the 400E was the smart new kid on the block and a massive step forwards. Its predecessor, the E83W Fordson, dated back to 1938 and with a sidevalve engine and transverse leaf springs front and rear, wasn’t exactly state of the art then! The 400E, though, was slap-bang up to date in…

month Next Coming up in the April 2021 issue of Classic & Vintage Commercials OUT Friday March 26 BEDFORD COLLECTION We meet Tommy Williams and his rather special collection of Bedfords – plus one that isn’t really a Bedford at all – and learn of his family’s rather special place in Britain’s road haulage industry. DAF 2100 Pip Dunn tracks down a remarkable survivor that’s alive and well in Lincolnshire Auld Dick Bob Weir meets George Bell and his rather rare 1956 Thornycroft Swiftsure. Malcolm’s Memories More wonderful stuff from the newlyuncovered Malcolm Ladd collection, including some fantastic and rare Edward Beck heavy haulage images… Plus Start of a new two-part look at Ford Transit models, a look at some rare surviving Jowett prototypes, more PD’s archives, more classics still…

MAN ENTHUSIAST MAN FAN Andrew Thomas is a massive MAN enthusiast, and along with son Danny has recently completed restoration of a rare 32/240 tipper to add to the family’s collection of preserved vehicles. Peter Simpson tells the story of the rebuild, and looks at some other delights in their shed. As those of you who’ve read my ramblings regularly over the years might be aware, one of my favourite driving routes in Britain is A465 ‘back-door’ route to Neath, Swansea and points west from the M5. The ‘Heads of the Valleys’ road, as it’s better-known, starts just west of Abergavenny and, as the name implies, runs across the top of the South Wales ‘valleys’ forming, in effect, a boundary between the predominantly industrial and former coal-mining areas to the…

PROBLEMS AT DVLA? Strike action may be coming at the Driver & Vehicle licensing Agency in Swansea. The Public & Commercial Services Union, the trades union which represents staff there, are to hold a strike ballot due to concerns about safe working practices. The ballot is to run from February 18 to March 11, and follows more than 500 covid cases among staff since September, and allegations that staff have been “pressurised” to attend for work when feeling unwell or unsafe. Whereas less than 400 staff were on site at the time of the first lockdown in March 2020, numbers are now, it’s claimed, in their thousands. It’s also understood that despite the largely clerical nature of the DVLA’s work, management have been reluctant to sanction home-working, due to confidentiality…

VIC HARVEY Sadly, we must record the death on December 1 of well-known Sussex preservationist Harold Victor Harvey, better-known as Vic, at the age of 84, writes Peter Love. Vic came from a farming family, and in1973 he started Vic Harvey Transport with an AEC Mandator artic and AEC Mercury rigid. At one point the fleet numbered ten vehicles. He later moved, very successfully, into commercial vehicle hire, and the company he established remains in existence to this day. His involvement with preservation began in 1965 when he acquired ex-Kent County Council 1935 Foden S threeway tipper BKT307, used by KCC since the early 1950s as a snowplough with which he participated in the HCVC 1966 London to Brighton Run. This vehicle is now owned by Alan Eatwell and is…

Carrying on We welcome photos of older lorries that are still in service for publication in this section. We can accept contributions by email – cvc.ed@kelsey.co.uk, or by post to The Editor, Classic & Vintage Commercials, Kelsey Media, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding ME18 6AL. Please provide as much (or as little) information about a vehicle as you are able and, before entering or taking photos on private property, please ensure that you have all the permissions that you need to be there, and to be taking photographs. Allan Bedford John Podgorski Miles Crisell Bob Dickson Bob Dickson Bob Dickson…

MALCOLM LADD PHOTO COLLECTION MALCOLM’S MEMORIES A further mixed selection of period photographs from the personal collection of Classic & Vintage Commercials reader Malcolm Ladd. Last month, we started serialising the massive collection of lorry photos from the fifties and sixties assembled by Malcolm Ladd. As we explained then, most of the collection was assembled as a result of schoolboy Malcolm writing to many of the best-known haulage companies at the time, expressing an interest in their fleets and asking if they had any spare photos. This month’s batch includes some heavy haulage courtesy of Wrekin Roadways, a few examples of the varied fleet which seems to have been operated by Capels Transport, two shots of a fine Leyland Super Comet operated by Pitt & Scott, and some tanker action…

NEWS BRIGHTON RUN CANCELLED If you have a News story, e-mail cvc.ed@kelsey.co.uk or write to The Editor, Classic and Vintage Commercials, 5 Yalding Hill, Downs Court, Yalding ME18 6AL The Historic Commercial Vehicle Society have cancelled the 2021 London to Brighton Historic Vehicle Run, and refunded all entry fees that have been received. In a statement on the HCVS website, the club say “we regret to say that we have reluctantly decided to cancel London-Brighton 2021 as we are unable to run within the Covid guidelines.” It goes on “Further news regarding HCVS events will be published when available.” It’s understood that the decision was an extremely reluctant one, made mainly due to concerns about the difficulty of marshalling spectators who traditionally turn out to watch the run at numerous…

MODEL CORNER FODEN DG & FG/FE By Mike Neale Foden launched the DG range of trucks in 1936. Early versions were streamlined with a sloping windscreen, which unfortunately drivers found it hard to see out of, particularly if snow built up on it, so a flatter fronted S10 cab was introduced in 1937 (or S9 cab on lighter versions). A ‘tombstone’ shaped grille was fitted, and engines were Gardner diesels. During WW2, many DG4 six-ton 4x2 and DG6 ten-ton 6x4 lorries were produced for the War Department. Post-war Foden DG lorries were much the same as the pre-war versions, except that the driver’s side windscreen was no longer split in two. In 1947 the new FG range was introduced with a flat-fronted cab, the S18. These had an ornate frontal treatment,…

MINOR VARIATION? Mike Neale meets John Halford and his fine 6cwt pick-up… Pretty much everyone refers to the Morris Minor shaped vans and pick-ups as Morris Minors, even though the term was never officially used on the commercial vehicles. The correct term was Morris 6cwt van or pick-up or alternatively, from April 1968, Morris 8cwt van or pick-up. The latter were distinguishable by slightly wider, 4½J wheel rims instead of 4J. Additionally, from 1968 (March) the 6cwt and 8cwt could also be bought with Austin badges and branding. These came about because, with the A35 van discontinued, another small RWD Austin van was needed to sell through the remaining Austin-only dealerships within the BMC network. Changes were minimal, and there was never any real attempt to hide the connection –…

BRITS DOWN UNDER Nick Baldwin looks at the changing lorry market in Australia during the sixties and seventies, and how the British manufacturers lost a key export market. The Australian Automotive Yearbook for 1966, for which I paid three shillings many years ago in a flea market, turns out to be a treasure trove. As well as detailing all the new commercial vehicles registered in 1965, it gives a complete picture of what was on the road in 1962 when the youngest of the Jowetts in the title was a mere ten years old. The Thornycrofts spanned thirty years and perhaps more. Other rarities included 646 Federals, 303 Oldsmobiles and 87 Guys (plus about 70 PSVs). There were 238 Tempo Matadors and 176 Hartnetts in the lightest category. Larry Hartnett…