Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2025 i Classic & Vintage Commercials

Gary and Julie Woodrow have confirmed that they are once again holding their popular Commercial Gathering at Bressingham Steam Museum near Diss in Norfolk, and the 2025 event will run over the weekend of June 14 and 15. As in previous years, due to restricted space at the site vehicle entry is by invitation only, but visitors are of course very welcome to go along, and there’s lots of other transport-based attractions at Bressingham including no fewer than four separate railway tracks, period fairground rides, 17 acres of very impressive gardens, a railway museum and the famous Dad’s Army Museum collection. To find out more, go to https://bressingham.co.uk…

Whenever a new vehicle is introduced, it’s not unreasonable to expect it to be an improvement on its predecessor, and while automotive history contains more than a few instances of new cars not really doing that, the overall picture with commercial vehicles is a bit more positive, with very few replacements being a step back. Just occasionally however, a vehicle comes along which is such a massive improvement on what went before that it transforms the entire market. One such was without doubt the Ford Transit range, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The Transit really was everything that a van needed to be – huge payload thanks to a broad track, faster than anything else on the road, almost car-like to drive and a massive range of factory-supplied…

The NEC hosted the Practical Classics Car & Restoration Show from Friday March 21 to Sunday March 23. It is a smaller show than the November Classic Motor Show, but still with plenty to see and quite a relaxed atmosphere, rather easier to walk around without the dense crowds that you sometimes get in November, particularly on the Friday. Ticket prices were £28.50 (£29.50 on Sat) in advance, £31.50 (£32.50 on Sat) on the door, or two/three day passes, family and child tickets, with car club discounts available for advance tickets. Most of the exhibits were cars, as you would expect, but there was a decent turnout of, mainly light, commercials. Here are a few of the CV highlights… In 2018 Daniel, with no previous mechanical knowledge, rebuilt the engine,…

Though the M40 from London to Birmingham was completed only in 1991, the first section to Oxford was built in stages between 1967 and 1974, and this image, taken on August 27 1971 shows the motorway passing High Wycombe, shortly after this section was opened. Traffic is light and what there is seems to be predominantly commercial vehicles, with the most obvious being the British Oxygen Foden S36 artic tanker. On the opposite carriageway there’s a Bedford CF350 dropside which would at the time have been no more than a couple of years old, but the Commer FC/PB behind the Foden could be up to ten, as external appearance had changed hardly at all since the model’s introduction in 1960. Further back we can just about make out a Mk1…

Here we are at article 28 of Kent and Sussex again with a mixture of types and makes from both counties, the Gatwood Matador recovery truck is a favourite of mine probably because I used to own one and often wish I still did but these days they are for fitter guys I would have a job to get in it these days. We also take a look at an unusual Maudslay from Brighton plus a variety of types.…

One of the stand-out restorations of the past couple of years must be ED8133, Sue Ransome’s 1934 Leyland Beaver TSC9 that was last seen at the Onslow Park Steam Rally in 2009. Back then the Beaver was fitted with a chariot body which it had received at Walkers when it was relegated to recovery duties before passing onto the fairgrounds. Now it has been fully restored, back to how it would have looked when it was delivered new to Peter Walker’s Dallam Brewery in Warrington in 1934, retaining its ‘Beer is Best’ lettering on the radiator. The brewery itself, that has its roots at Ayr where Peter Walker established the Fort Brewery in 1817. After moving to Liverpool in 1836 where he established a new brewery in Everton, he moved…

Through thick and thin Tractor World has weathered the storms and again proved to be a huge hit in 2025 when no less than just under 16,000 people coming through the gates to the Kelsey Media event, writes Peter Love. It took some people two hours to arrive on site on the Saturday owing to the traffic situation as the roads were just clogged up with traffic heading towards the Three Counties Showground. The Tractor World organisers are working on the problem already to put the situation right for 2026. There was also a new exhibition centre here which enabled for extra displays and more of the outside traders to be housed inside, which turned out to be a great success. The entry in all classes was well up and…

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KARRER BANTAM RESTORATION Yes, it says Commer on the front, but there’s a reason for that. Read why, and all about this fabulous new-out prizewinning restoration! SCAMMELL AMAZON We meet up with 18-year-old Jack Carter and his first restoration project. It’s going to take time, but he WILL do it! LUTON GOWN Mike Neale meets a man who owns two 50s vans, both with a little extra room on top.. PLUS: Lorries with big boxes, our unique and comprehensive events guide, Bedford RL and RS Models, all our usual features and, of course a few surprises along the way… 60 YEARS OF THE FORD TRANSIT Pt2 of this epic tale, and we move into the 1970s, with a couple of facelifts, the second resulting in what many consider to be…

Looking at the new Ford engines in more detail, both the Cost Cutter and the 4D had some advanced features including pressure lubrication, easily-replaceable wet cylinder liners, five-ring aluminium alloy pistons with two oil control rings, a five-bearing crankshaft with thin-wall copper lead bearings and, in the case of the 4D, exhaust valve rotators. Other mechanical features of the ET models included a single dry-plate clutch described by Ford as ‘centrifugally assisted’ and Ford’s own 4-speed gearbox which was of the sliding-mesh variety, commonly referred to as a ‘crash box’. Taking the drive to the fully-floating, spiral bevel rear axle was a short propeller shaft to a mid-mounted crossmember and coupled to the axle via a somewhat old fashioned torque tube and radius rods. Ford explained that this arrangement left…

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As well as factory-built vans, the Mk1 Transit was sold as a chassis cab, or chassis and scuttle for bodying by outside coachbuilders. Ambulance bodywork was also made by several firms, but the largest by volume were Herbert Lomas and Wadham Stringer. The history of Wadham Stringer can be traced back to 1900 when Harold Wadham of Waterlooville, Hampshire started manufacturing bicycles, his brother Wilfred joining the firm in 1904. In 1908 they started building carriages and the firm of Wadham Motor, Cycle and Coach Builders was established. In the 1920s it became Wadham Bros. Motor Company Ltd., with buses being built for local bus operators. They expanded and opened branches to sell cars in Southampton, Cowplain, Chichester, Southsea and Portsmouth. During the Second World War they manufactured a lot…

Tuesday February 5 to Sunday February 9 saw the 49th annual Rétromobile classic car show held in three exhibition halls, plus the linking bridge, at the Porte de Versailles in Paris. I took the Eurostar from London St. Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord, a journey of 2½ hours, choosing a hotel in central Paris, although there are several near the show venue. The easiest way to get to the show is by Metro line 12 to Porte de Versailles, about half an hour from the centre. Ticket prices ranged from 20 Euros per day bought online in advance to 25 Euros on the door, which I thought quite reasonable. Public admission queues were fairly long at opening times (10am each day, apart from the Tuesday which was the preview…

Back then, the nationalised electricity suppliers were also leading suppliers of electrical appliances, had high street showrooms, and competed directly with firms like Currys.…