Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2022 i Heritage Commercials

The National Motor Museum in the heart of the New Forest National Park, as usual was the host of the International Autojumble on 10th and 11th September 2022. More than 26,000 showgoers turned out for Beaulieu’s event assisted by the glorious weather. It was nice to see a greater international presence from traders and bargain hunters alike compared to last year, the show felt more like its old self, with two busy days. Nice to hear Dutch, German and French being spoken while wandering about. I visited on the Sunday and the weather was fantastic, unlike my trip to the Spring Auto Jumble earlier this year! As always, the event was well laid out with great facilities including the museum and Bonhams auctions on the day. As expected, a number…

In the history of heavy vehicle engines, Britain stands out as the only nation where heavy vehicle engines with eight cylinders in line have been manufactured in significant volume. Until 1953-54, although in diminishing numbers, with straight-eight gasolineengined premium luxury cars were produced by General Motors and others in the US – and by Daimler in the UK for its most prestigious limos. In 1955, the configuration also ran its last as a Formula One World Championship winning power unit. Surprisingly, from 1920 onwards, despite their use in higher performance cars, straight-eights – gasoline or diesel fuelled – never caught on in the US for trucks. Indeed, aside from what might be considered a missed British opportunity, a batch of Canadian military 6x6 prototypes were the only instance of straight-eights…

It was a Bedford engineer who initially approached the Ministry of Supply on the 23rd of December, in the winter of 1938, suggesting that a four-wheel drive cargo truck may be an asset in the forthcoming conflict. After quite some delay, the Ministry finally responded to the company a week after the War had started in the following September suggesting development may be a good idea. This turned into an urgent operational requirement, design work starting immediately, with the first prototype QL1 rollingofftheproductionlineinrecordbreaking time on the first day of February 1940; QL2 and 3 quickly followed. They were put through a gruelling 10,000 mile testing regime, maintaining them to a whisker away from destruction, culminating in a total nuts-and-bolts strip-down. Utilising the standard six-cylinder Bedford overhead-valve 3519cc petrol engine, QL2…

Since its inception in 2012, I’ve attended every Retro Truck show apart from 2016 when I was working in Scotland on the same weekend and Flybe cancelled my flight back to Birmingham! Of course, 2020’s show, never happened, but in 2021 the RTS returned to the calendar and 2022’s show was just as good, if not better still. There was a great mix of superblyrestoredtrucksmostlydatingfromthe 1980s and 1990s, but plenty from the 1970s and of course trucks from the 2000s are now definitely classics – even some from the 2010s are regarded as such – I expect a Mercedes Axor to be at the RTS pretty soon? Here’s just a small slice of the action – which further cemented the RTS as the best truck show of the year. Put…

The BMC FG-Series of Austin and Morris derived light commercials was one of the longest serving and most versatile of the post-war era. Having featured Len Wilkes’ pristine Morris FG K30 in the February 2022 issue of Heritage Commercials, we thought we’d take a look at the other side of the thruppenny bit, so to speak. Firstly, although shared designs within BMC, the two companies were always keen to maintain their own identities so here we have an Austin. Almost at the top of the FG series in terms of weight, and previously carrying Austin S200 designation, the collaborative FG nomenclature was in place before the BMC amalgamation of 1968. This one hails from 1963 and is built upon the heavy duty FGK 80 chassis. This was designated as a…

The world famous Farnborough Airfield site in Hampshire once again played host to the British Motor Show in mid-August. Among the gleaming and shining new vehicles on display for the first time and a whole hall given over to the exciting new age of electric vehicles, there was a great deal to interest classic car enthusiasts at this year’s event and even a few commercial vehicles for good measure too. Lined up alongside the runway were more than 200 classic vehicles including a 1961 Citroen H van that was first registered for use as a butcher’s delivery vehicle in a small village in the Dordogne. In 1995, the H-van was converted by its present owner into a camper van and toured Europe. The van also had a short starring role…

The Bedford TK is one of the bestknown lorries of its generation and gained a reputation as a modern and reliable workhorse. Ian Wilde from Shropshire owns a superb example, writes Bob Weir The Wilde family has been trading for 85 years and is involved with plant hire and supplying parts and engines for contractors’ plant. “A T Wilde & Son Ltd is a family run business and started in 1937,” Ian explained. “My grandfather, Alfred Thomas Wilde, originally ran a blacksmith’s shop near Shrewsbury. He earned a living shoeing horses, tractor repairs, and supplying generating sets and Lister Petter engines.” The company’s current three-acrestate-ofthe-art premises is a far cry from the blackand-white timber framed building that was A T Wilde & Son Ltd.’s first home, but the rural setting…

To achieve this, Scania (GB) appointed the late David Crowther as their Specialist Vehicles Sales Manager. David previously had extensive experience working in the waste industry with Glover Webb and Liversidge, Jack Allen’s and Trio Containers. David achieved the sale of the first Scania chassis to a UK local authority in 1993, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. This was a low emission Euro One Scania P93ML 6x2/4RA 250 chassis with a second steer and lift axle plated at 25,500kg (GVW). Its chassis was fitted with a 22m3 Farid Municipal Vehicles Ltd ECO 2600 rear loading unit, complete with Otto Olympic high level split bin lifting equipment. The Scania cab had a dual passenger seat seating a crew of two. To ease driver fatigue, the chassis was fitted with…

The job involves delivering two French bulldogs to the port of Rafina, where they are met by a member of the family’s Greek house on Mykonos, and then we return to the UK. This year however saw us having to collect a cat from northern Italy to bring back into London. I have always loved going to Greece, for the abundance of classic trucks still working, or quietly sat at the side of the road, just awaiting their fate. I love seeing some of these trucks plodding slowly up the hills, reminding me of my younger days on the roads. My girlfriend is not as impressed with the constant stops to take ‘holiday’ photos, but I cannot let some of these opportunities go by! So here I present to you…

Mercedes had always had a strong presence in the market for trucks at the lower end of the weight spectrum, with the LP range of vehicles in the 6-11 tonne sector using its flat-fronted cab introduced in 1963 but with the wheel arch at the front. The models were introduced in 1965 with the LP608 6½-tonner followed by in 1967 by the LP808 7½-tonner. Into 1970 and the LP811 and LPL813 were added to the range but it was the end of the decade when the slightly larger trucks, the LP1013 and LP1113 were added to this product range. For weights above 12 tonnes, the stylish NG cab was used after its introduction in 1972. The lightweight LPs could also be specified as a 4x2 tractor for applications where a…

Amberley Museum in West Sussex played host to their annual Communications and Commercial Vehicles Day on Sunday 21 August. The venue attracted 35 classic Royal Mail, GPO, British Telcom and even some military communications vehicles. The oldest vehicle on display was Graham Skinner’s 1928 Austin Chummy Van with a large contingent of 1940s commercials including John Plant’s 1946 Z type Morris that started work in the Guildford area before being sold on in 1976, and Terry Smith’s Fordson 5 cwt light van. Much attention was paid to the smartly displayed 1938 Morris Minor Van that when new in 1938, was allocated to the Head Postmaster in Brentwood in Essex. Simon Grainger acquired it in 2011 and has had it restored to its current condition. One of the rarest vehicles on…

“Le camion Hotchkiss est electerricifique,” laughs Ken Walsh in a fractured Mancunian accented impression of French. “Don’t be daft,” joshes older brother Ray. “The electric bit is certainly true. But terrific? I don’t think so.” “Well, I drove it out of the workshop under its own power,” defends Ken. “Yes,” jibes Ray. “And no further. A few yards running on batteries? Think you’re like that Tesla chap? You’re miles behind even a milk float.” The Walshes have quite possibly the only two trucks in Britain built by former French manufacturer Hotchkiss. The one under discussion is a bonneted 1954 vintage 4.5-tonnePL25. The other, an eight-tonner, is a 1968 forward-control DH80. Sporting a hydraulic crane, it earns its keep lifting cabs, engines and whatever else in their workshop lockup needs a…

Bedford’s plant at Dunstable in Bedfordshire was opened by Vauxhall Motors in 1942. The Ministry of Production had authorized the project as a shadow factory, to be used during WW2. It was eventually transferred to Bedford Vehicles in the early 1950s and was subsequently used to build buses and trucks. The plant first opened on a 98 acres (40 ha) site in Boscombe Road. This was on the outskirts of the town between Dunstable and Luton. Most of the initial output was destined for the war effort. In keeping with a lot of plants of its type, the factory was also linked directly to the railway. The Dunstable branch lines were used to bring in raw materials and sub-assemblies and ship the finished products to other parts of the country.…

First Great Dorset Steam fair since COVID, well it simply is huge if you have not been then next year is a must at over 600 acres, the showground is one of Europe’s largest outdoor event locations and sees in excess of 1,000 trade stands, plus over 2,000 exhibitors and their families at the event. Coupled together with campers on the public campsites (5,000 caravans and tents) it is estimated that the population living on site amounts to 25,000 people at any one time! The total number of people that visited this year’s event was in excess of 200,000 This year we saw exceptional weather, really hot, dry sunny and the inevitable Dorset dust that seems to work its way everywhere. There were many stunning & splendid commercials on display…

Chris Newton has been digging back through his archives to find some unpublished photos in which we will see some of his favourite makes of lorry that were once built in the UK. How times have changed. At one time you would have needed more than two hands to count the number of manufacturers whose lorries were British made. This also shows just how individual each make was and they had bags of character whether it was from how they looked or how they sounded. Sadly, with some of the more modern trucks we are reaching a point where one model looks very much like another. As Chris wasn’t old enough to see many of these older lorries working for a living, he has picked his best photos from the…

When I was born in 1971, my father Anthony, bought a Bedford CF van brand new from Malta. After owning it for 18 years, he decided to sell it. I bought it from my father, re sprayed it and then I decided to sell it again. Many years later, I decided to try to find the same Bedford but it was too late as it had been scrapped. I tried to buy one locally and it was also very hard to find, not only locally but even from the UK as Bedford CF panel vans became very rare. After searching for some time, I managed to find one but it was in a very bad condition although I still bought it. From then on, I kept searching for parts on…

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