Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i Classic & Vintage Commercials

Following their successful inaugural event last year, Gary and Julie Woodrow (who also run the annual autumn show at Norwich, have once again arranged a Father’s Day event at Bressingham Museum near Diss over the weekend of June 15-16. As before, exhibiting vehicles is by invitation only due to space. Visitors, however, are very welcome indeed, and as a day out for Dads, it’s got to be a good bet, with lorries and the numerous other attractions at Bressingham – railways, fairground rides, the steam collection and the Dad’s Army museum to name just four. As an added attraction for this year, it’s hoped that there will be a special display of preserved post office vehicles. There will also be a road-run on the Saturday evening. To find out more…

Dave Lee has just self-published, as a limited run, a comprehensive photographic record of Devon-based lorries and fleets from the 1970s onwards, kindly sent us a copy for review, and we have to say that we’re impressed. Titled, appropriately enough, West Country Trucks – Devon, the 260 page hardback book contains over 600 photographs, mostly covering the 1970s and 1980s. Local enthusiasts in particular will be reminded of many fleet names from the past which, sadly, no longer exist, as well older versions of liveries that are still around. We liked especially the sections on Harris & Miners/Brian Harris, and B Thompson of Moretonhampstead, which shows fleet development from AEC Mandators and Scania 110s right through to a pair of 2023 Renault T480s. As we say, the print-run for this…

As has been widely reported, Donald Campbell’s Bluebird K7, the boat in which he set seven world water speed records between 1955 and 1967 and was killed while attempting to set an eighth, has now been returned to Coniston and is on display at the Ruskin Museum. During its 12 years active life, Bluebird was transported around the world by lorry; with Surrey-based Graham Adams doing the work. Though most people connect the Campbell family with Coniston and the Lake District, the family actually came from Surrey. Graham Adams also transported the Bluebirds on their various overseas trips, including to the USA and Australia. Anyway, we thought readers might like to see a couple of photos of Bluebird’s travels with Graham Adams’ Seddons. Though not shown here, one Adams Seddon…

King’s Lynn based Anglia Car Auctions had something slightly unusual for them in their classic sale over the weekend of April 6-7; a 1965 AEC Mammoth Major MkV eight-wheeler with AEC 691 engine, six-speed gearbox and full air brakes. What’s more, it found a new home for a total price of £6264 including ACA’s 8% plus VAT Buyer’s Premium. New to London Brick Company in 1965, AMJ745C was new to London Brick and initially used at Stewartby to transport ‘green’ (ie soft) bricks from the manufacturing areas to the various kilns for firing. This work ceased in around 1974, at which point it was converted to a driver training vehicle, with a new flat body and cab extension to accommodate trainees. Sold by LBC in 1987, it was restored and…

Ample interior headroom was provided by the View-Line cab, the external overall height being 9ft 10in (3m). In spite of the high floor line there was still 5ft 1in (1.6m) interior height – not quite up to the Renault Magnum’s 6ft 1in (1.87m) but considerably more than most cabs in the ‘sixties. Sound insulation was also given close attention. Unlike the standard Mk.1 Atkinson cab, the View-Line’s floor and engine cover was insulated with heavy-duty 2 inch thick sound-absorbing material made from a neoprene-coated, glass-fibre cellular substance. On the inside, the surface of the floor and bonnet were covered in thick rubber matting while the rest of the interior, including the roof, had a PVC lining. Twin air-operated wipers were fitted, sweeping the upper two-thirds of the huge windscreen. Fresh…

Garth was a fictitious Superhero that appeared in American comics but the real Superheroes were the drivers that put up with tough working conditions back in the 1970s! The likes of this Foden ‘S41’ twin-steer 32 tonner of M Elliott & Sons were quite a handful with none of the luxury features and automated functions enjoyed by today’s drivers. With its noisy cab, manual gearshift and only 240bhp from its Gardner 8LXB it demanded special skills compared with most modern vehicles.…

The Classic & Vintage Commercials time machine’s first touch-down this month is in Cardiff’s Mill Lane Open Air market on June 25 1981, where the vehicle scene seems to be very much Ford-dominated. In front we have a 7.5tonne D-Series fridge lorry operated by Hippo Campo, a frozen food wholesaler based just up the road in Crickhowell, Monmouth. Behind that there’s a 1977 35cwt Transit which the front panel tells us is probably diesel-powered, and behind that there’s another D-Series, this time a tipper. The PGW Transit is being followed by a 17cwt Transit, which is being followed by a Bedford CF with open sliding driver’s door, and just visible behind that there’s an Bedford HA van. Other commercial vehicles include a John Laing 35cwt Transit, a BMC J4 and…

I cannot believe that this series has reached part 22 and, as we move to our new home within Classic & Vintage Commercials, I still have four to five more parts to go before I need to sort out more images for future issues. In this issue I have included a couple of items that have a personal involvement to add a little more interest; I just wish I had taken more photos of the lorries I drove back in the late 1960s. Anyway, I hope you enjoy part 22 and as always the letters pages are open for opinions and further information on the images.…

NOW INCORPORATING MAGAZINE! BEDFORD O TYPE For his latest restoration, Parry Davis adopted a slightly different approach! MARSHAL LAW In the Ergomatic cab’s anniversary year, Bob Weir tells the story of an interesting restoration. BRITISH COMMERCIAL VEHICLE MUSEUM Our series of museum visits continues with a look around this well-known collection. MOOVING ON More from Carl Johnson’s archive, this time looking at cattle transport in times past. ERF EC Peter Davies next Close-up series looks at this rather fine range PLUS: Commer Imp restoration, fairground lorries of the past, the final part of our series on Morris Minor models, an anniversary centre spread, all our regular features and a few surprises! These features are all planned at the time of going to press. We reserve the right to make changes and…

The memorial service for renowned transport historian – and regular Classic & Vintage Commercials contributor – Nick Baldwin took place on March 19 at St Michael’s Church, Shepton Beauchamp. It was a celebration of Nick’s life, and well-attended, in terms both of people and historic vehicles. David Gordon, Phillip Porter and Roger Bateman all participated in the service, and the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society was represented by Chairman Fraser Clayton along with his wife Linda. Classic & Vintage Commercials and Kelsey Media were represented by Editor Peter Simpson, along with CVC ex-Editor and current Editor of Old Glory magazine Peter Love. The church was packed full of Nick’s friends, colleagues and acquaintances, while the street outside took on the air of a vintage vehicle event, with numerous people bringing along…

Mobile clinics were introduced as an important way of bringing diagnosis and vaccination against Tuberculosis to the general public. Run by the Ministry of Health, a fleet of Leyland Beavers was dispatched around the countryside. The fittings and equipment were state-of-the-art and enabled pictures to be taken with the same speed and efficiency as a hospital. The interior was divided into two compartments by a fixed partition and a light-excluding door. The X-ray apparatus was installed in the forward compartment, and the rear section was used as a waiting room. This could also be turned into a darkroom for processing film. Patients entered the vehicle though a canvas awning, at the rear, and could then be examined at the rate of 120 people per hour, similar to that possible in…

Having played on old scrap Bedford A and D types as a kid I always had it in my mind I would love to own a Bedford of my own. That particular aspiration is one that I’m now unlikely to fulfil. I have, however, owned a 1961 Bedford CA now for some years. My CAL, registration 7498BY, was supplied new by the Croydon Automobile Company, has had three owners from new and is currently showing 45,000 miles which I think is genuine. It’ss a long wheelbase (hence CAL) with the second front-end style with the smaller grille and one-piece windscreen that was introduced from January 1959, though from January to July 1959 the windscreen was slightly different. It’s also a Utilabrake, one of a number of similar conversions by Martin…

According to its labelling, this photo of The Green Market in Newcastle-upon-Tyne dates from “circa 1955.” It has, however, to be later, as the MBB registration carried by the Thompson’s Bedford S Type to the right was issued in June and July 1960, and Donaghy’s Ford Thames Trader. which has come into market from Consett, would have been new in 1957. Behind the Bedford we can see a Standard Atlas van, while outside William Hardy & Co there’s a British Road Services Leyland Comet. Many more commercials are visible in the background, and the overall scene of flat-caped market porters, sack barrows, wooden boxes and so on is classic fruit market of the era. This is Clayton Street and at the time the market itself was housed in sheds. A new…

Come and join me as I arrive at Suddies (Sutherland’s) depot at Tullos Industrial Estate in Aberdeen. I’m in my Bedford TK 14 ton curtainsider and have received a bit of flack for taking so long to arrive from Coatbridge. The reason was that on the Friday I left Coatbridge after a week’s training I had brake failure at Dundee and was towed back to Perth by a Mutch of Perth AEC Marshal wrecker. I had to overnight in Perth then continue my homeward journey by train the following day. On the Tuesday I got word the lorry was ready to be collected. The brake fluid in the reservoir had been contaminated. This was not the best of starts, arriving on the Tuesday instead of the Friday as expected. Sutherland’s…