Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2025 i Classic & Vintage Commercials

When it came to braking, the Dennison tractor unit had full-air, S-cam expanded drum brakes with 15.5in (393mm) diameter drums. Lining width was 7in (178mm) on the front and 8in (204mm) on the rear. Three-line trailer braking came as standard as did a load-sensing valve on the tractor rear axle. Spring-actuated parking brakes were controlled by a two-position lever just ahead of the gearstick. ZF 8065 integral power-assisted steering was standard. A 24v insulated earth return electrical system incorporated a 35 amp alternator. From the driver’s viewpoint it is always the cab of any new lorry that always makes the biggest impression and most Dennisons were fitted with a cab from the Finnish maker Sisu. Only the first 75 Dennisons had the Foden style Motor Panels cab while the remaining…

First held in 1962, the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society’s London to Brighton Run is still generally considered to be the premier moving event for commercial vehicle preservationists. It has, of course changed over that time with, for example, the start-point moving from Battersea Park to Crystal Palace and, since last year, the Brooklands Museum at Weybridge. The route has also changed, partly due to the start-point moves, but also because of changing traffic conditions. For example, a half-way stop in Crawley is no longer possible. There were also some organisational changes for this year. HCVS Chairman Fraser Clayton, who for many years headed up the large team running the event, has taken a (well-deserved) step back, and overall responsibility, and most of the behind-the-scenes administration, has passed to the HCVS…

The Bedford JO normal control, ½ ton all-steel pickup was intended to be a truck with car-like comfort and performance. It combined the Bedford TJ cab with a Vauxhall 2651cc, straight six-cylinder OHV petrol engine as used in the Cresta and Velox saloons, with 104.5bhp or 113bhp (depending upon the compression ratio chosen – 7.0 to 1 or 8.1 to 1), giving it a maximum speed of 86mph with even the 7.0 to 1 compression engine. If that wasn’t enough for you, later versions had a 3293cc, 114bhp six-cylinder engine fitted. Vauxhall Motors’ description in a brochure for the JO noted that the “High-duty special alloy main and big end bearings are built to stand up to sustained high speed Motorway driving; two-piece exhaust valves give efficient cooling with longer…

To be fair, there is probably an element of ‘Editor’s Privilege’ in including this image as it incorporates two of his personal interests (rural railways and the Rootes Group) and is also somewhat local to his current home. It is the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway, which opened in 1883 and closed in 1966, shortly after this photograph was taken. Passenger services ended in the 1930s, but the line continued to provide an important route to market for the many local farmers and growers. From the 1950s however this traffic gradually transferred to road transport, a shift that this image was, perhaps, taken to illustrate. As the headboard shows, the Commer is operated by Marriage’s. They are a Flour Milling business, actually based in Chelmsford since 1899, still very much in…

In late December 1989, Leicester-based potato merchant Dave Crowson was about to take delivery of a brand-new Scania G93M which he had ordered a few months earlier. It was to replace the Bedford TL which Dave had been driving in the family-owned business for the previous five years or so. Dave, however, asked the supplying dealer to hold off on registration and delivery until January 1990 because “when I come to sell it, a 1990 lorry will be worth more than a 1989 one.” That few days delay, though sensible at the time, has since turned out to have been utterly pointless. That’s because Dave never sold it. More than 35 years on, Dave still owns the G93M. It still works daily too, is extremely well-known, much-loved by enthusiasts and…

Paul has lived in Shropshire for most of his life. He has a background in transport, and his father and uncle once owned their own haulage company. “They started Cadwallader Brothers in 1948 and stayed in business until 1981,” he recalls. “I’ve been driving since I was a teenager and currently work for Salop Haulage in Shrewsbury.” His early driving experiences include an AEC Mandator and Ford D Series. “I passed my Class One in 1975 when I was 21. Paul has always been keen on classic lorries and has owned the Borderer since 2013. “I had been after an Atki for some time, and it seemed the right thing to do,” he explained. “The lorry was in a bit of a state and took me eight years to restore.”…

Last time, we left the story of the Ford Transit in March 1978 with the launch of the model known to most outside Ford as the ‘Mk2’ Transit. Though Ford were keen to stress the ‘newness’ of this model – and launched it with panache that had hitherto been largely limited to cars, the Mk2 was a heavy restyle of the original model, with all the key underpinnings carried over. A key reason for the original Transit’s success was the large range of factory options available; no fewer than 32 door options, eight different payloads (twice the number offered by the Bedford CF) plus four choices of engine. All these could be ordered from Ford dealers too. But having said that, the outside conversion/modification specialists were still every bit as…

Over the nine months or so, Classic & Vintage Commercials has had the privilege of sharing with you some fabulous images from a rather special archive which, like so many, was ‘saved from a skip’ when someone spotted their historic significance. That ‘someone’ was retired long-term Papworth Coachworks employee Alan Robinson, who our Editor happened to meet at a show in 2024 and who mentioned that he had ‘a few photographs you might be interested in.’ Those ‘few photographs’ turned out to be a huge box-full of images, which we have been working through since last summer. Anyway, we’ve now reached the bottom of the box. But having said that, Alan has recently been in touch to say that he may have found some more, though he thinks these may…

Avaried selection of commercials went under the hammer at Rixton near Warrington on April 12. Conducted by Malcolm Harrison Auctions Ltd, these were vehicles from the Tommy Taylor collection. Some of these were familiar participants in local road runs recently, most notably the Cheshire Run which has finished at Rixton for many years. This was not an ‘everything must go’ dispersal-type auction and most, if not all, vehicles offered had set reserves. As normal at this type of sale, not everything sells, and some vehicles on offer here appear to have remained unsold. This does not necessarily mean that the reserve was unrealistic, it might simply be that the bidders on that particular day were not really in the market for that particular vehicle. The first that did sell was…

Dennis Brothers launched their new Ace 40/45cwt lorry in 1933. The front axle was set back such that the radiator protruded forward, perhaps unkindly giving rise to the nickname “Flying Pig.” The Dennis Pax 5-tonner appeared in 1945 in both forward and normal control forms, the latter with a similar protruding snout to the Ace, as a 4-wheel rigid lorry with an 11ft. 6in. or 12ft. 10in. wheelbase, plus from 1949 a 9ft. 6in. wheelbase was offered. The standard engine was Dennis’ 70bhp four-cylinder sidevalve petrol 3770cc unit, with the option of a Perkins P6 diesel. Production continued until 1956, with a redesigned Pax launched in 1957. Dennis are probably best known for their fire engines. In the early 1930s they introduced new Ace and Big Four fire appliances, with…

LEYLAND COMET Alan Greenwood’s restoration of his 1954 Leyland Comet may have happened 40 years ago, but the lorry still looks superb. But even more important is the impact that owning it has had on Alan’s life since… DODGE 300 Held over from this issue due to lack of space, but it’s a story worth waiting for! BEDFORD TM Hard to believe but it really is 50 years since Bedford launched the TM range. Peter Davies begins a new series telling the full story. AUTOBIANCHI BIANCHINA VAN Commercials don’t get much smaller, and yes, this is a genuine UK-from-new example! OLD DOGS, NEW TRICKS Another selection of old lorries which found second working lives with travelling showmen, courtesy of David Vaughan. PLUS: Ford Model A restored on Bermuda, Cheshire Run…