The Derelict Bedford - part one

With the large numbers of Bedfords built and sold, you'd expect to come across a variety of challenged examples in your travels. Some can be saved while others are too far gone and would even be doubtful as sources of parts. However, Bedfords are Bedfords no matter what their condition or how much or little they did in their working lives.

A well-restored Bedford is magnificent but a worn working example or even just a cab sitting in a paddock has just as much appeal. For those who appreciate old machinery, I know I'm preaching to the converted. Here's a few pics from Ian Storrie - working Bedford owner - who has a habit of turning up old trucks in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully they illustrate what I'm dribbling on about.

I hope to find out some more detail about each truck from Ian in the near future so for the time being I hope you enjoy the pics. A nice foil for the lovely shiny things in the preceding post too.

Still rolling after all of these years. While the A-frame attached to the front of this O-type is an indication she's more trailer than truck these days, it's good to see she's still useful.

I had forgotten about this O until I was going through Ian's old emails. I got rather excited as it's not every day you come across a complete truck with a van body such as this. A lot of preserved trucks these days are finished with trays because, let's face it, they're more useful that way. However of late I've noticed vans becoming a more popular restoration subject particularly in the UK where some new restorations have appeared wearing wonderful period livery. They are certainly refreshing when you are accustomed to trays - not that there's anything wrong with those of course.

A mate of mine has suggested we do our TK as an Arnott's truck. He even knows where there is a former Arnott's body that might be available. Of course me being the king of procrastinators...

Having said that, this O would be wonderful to park in the shed for one day in the future. Superb. I hope she is still with us.

A-types are rare the world over as they seem to have been cast aside when the TJ appeared - just like the majority of road-going (as opposed to the fire appliances etc) S and C-types when the TK was released. Always pleasing to see one.

What looks like a J1. This might have a fibreglass body as something similar - and in much better condition - was recently for sale on Ebay.

A 1968 or earlier (note the 'ridge' on the front panel) TK-style cab. Looks like she would still yield some decent bits.

Peterborough Truckfest - the Bedfords add the class...

George Ward attended the Truckfest on May 2 and, among the huge number of trucks (old and modern) present, he found a few Bedfords and has graciously given his permission for them to be posted on BTW - since it desperately needs an update. Anyway, enjoy.

The oldest Bedford to feature on BTW to date, this 1936 WL tipper was photographed during one of the show's parades. A couple of years or so after this truck was built, the W-type received a facelift when the bonnet and grille more associated with the later KMO range 'replaced' the front-end you see above. The cab remained until the KMOs arrived on the scene just before the war.

Speaking of the war, the polar bear on the left guard of this 1941 O-type radio van (?) is the insignia for the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division. Interesting to see the fuel tank on the left. Would it also have one on the right in the standard position?

Probably one of the most extensively restored Bedfords on the road in the UK, this Jeakins 1951 ML (same age as our ML but infinitely more complete!) accompanied a Model T to Truckfest.

I'm afraid I'm no good with the dating of UK number plates (L reg?) but based on the lack of 'ridge' on the front of the cab, I'd argue this TK 'type' is post-1968. Helping this argument, and going by the combined indicator/clearance light and assuming the "Bedford" badge would have been on the grille, I'd also say post-1973. Can anyone confirm? She's certainly a very tidy example and wonderful to see.

Budget Bedford Shines

UK-based restorer Mick Austin, and his brother Bob and good mate Neal, have recently finished this superb O-type. Mick has written a little story below giving the background of the Bedford and how and why she looks so wonderful today. Proof of what can be achieved on a limited budget.

The Bedford was new to Co-Operative Dairies, Northampton, England, and was used for collecting milk churns from various farms for many years. She was then sold to the Perritt’s company (also of Northampton) and used in their scrap business making runs to London a couple of times a week. After she was retired, restoration was started and abandoned and the vehicle was sold on to a local garage where her condition quickly deteriorated due to being stored outdoors and vulnerable to the British climate.

We bought the Bedford in a rather dilapidated condition and restored her in the open over a six-year period. This restoration was the subject of an eleven-part series in Classic and Vintage Commercials magazine. The whole point of the restoration was to see another Bedford O-type based on our Dad’s old motor which he drove for Procea Products Ltd in the 1950s. Neither myself, Bob or close friend of some 45 years Neal Boddington are skilled mechanics or vehicle body builders and we purely made it up as we went along ... on a ‘shoestring’!

It’s good to see our Australian cousins have opened up such a great Bedford web-site, good on yer sport and success for the future!

Thanks Mick and a huge thank you for providing the wonderful photos. The magazine series is a constant source of inspiration for me. I’ll have to read it again when I finally bring our Bedfords out of storage. Congratulations again.

An ad from 1960 - market leader!

Here's an ad from 1960 broadcasting the reasons why Bedford was a smart choice. Fair to say this is borne out by the number of surviving examples. It's an interesting little read but apologies for the quality. It is a scan of a small picture included in the August 2009 issue of the Trafalgar Truck Restorers Club's excellent newsletter. If anyone has a copy of the original I will gladly replace the picture above. Click on the picture for a larger version.

New email address

Hi everyone

Just a quick post to let you know of my new email - aircrewbooksATiinet.net.au

We've just changed ISPs and although we had a connection on Thursday the modem/router has only just arrived. If I haven't replied to your recent emails, this is why.

Photographed a very tidy J1 on Thursday so will post her up shortly. I've also been receiving a great amount of photos of Bedfords at truck shows and Bedfords looking sorry for themselves. The manual list has been added to so I'll also get that posted. If anyone has old Bedford ads, I'd love to post some scans of them. I've got a couple of loaned Bedford magazines from the 1970s which are full of great ads and articles. I hope to be able to scan these in the near future before returning them to their owner (you probably all know him - Dave Horne).

Andy

Manual Library

I've had this idea to make available the manuals I have lying around. The plan is to scan these manuals and make them available to those who need to reference them. Sure, many owners/restorers will already have what they need but just in case a copy can't be sourced or only a section is needed, perhaps the scans will come in handy.

At present I only have the operator's handbook and the big manual for the KMO range; the handbook for diesel-engined TKs and several TK/TJ service training manuals for various components and sub-assemblies. I'll put up a list of the titles as an ad on the right-hand side. This will make it easy to update.

Through The Fence - a Bedford weekend

We did a fair bit of travelling this weekend and just happened to stumble upon several Bedfords. We were in Parkes on Friday and while Jodi was at the physio, I headed off to a yard in the LIA to stick the camera through the fence to record several trucks we'd found a few months ago. Had forgotten about this pre-1973 TK - note the old style clearance lights above the headlights. Doesn't look like she's been anywhere for a while. I also found a shorter wheelbase tipper but half of her was hidden behind a pile of dirt.

Decided to head out to Parkes airport for a sticky but noted the pre-1968 TK cab and chassis - note the 'ridge' above the grille and clearance lights - parked under a tree at a water tank manufacturer's yard. Decided to be cheeky and ask if I could have a look at this and a truck-mounted crane parked nearby. Fortunately, the owner was a pretty cheery bloke. The cab of the TK was totally stripped-out but it's only just occurred to me that I didn't look at the back of the rear wall on the left for the data plate. That's what I get for walking over sheets of tin in Crocs (shoes) and worrying about things that don't like being disturbed!

The D-type with the mounted crane (anyone heard of a Steinbock?) is a familiar sight from the highway as you head north out of Forbes. However she points away from the road so I had assumed she was a J-type. Imagine how chuffed I was to see her from the front! She actually looks in decent nick so I'm entertaining the idea of having a closer look i.e. seeing if the owner will let me into the paddock.

Finally, with my sister and brother-in-law visiting over the weekend, we did some sight-seeing and since the b-i-l is a car enthusiast we went back to Forbes to visit McFeeter's Motor Museum. Full of a surprising range of cars so not quite my cup of tea (hee hee) but, happily, housing a J1 fire appliance from 1962. On loan from the Forbes fire brigade - note the number plate - there's a surprising number of these still around and, according to the museum guide, they are bullet-proof. A couple of these live here in West Wyalong so I'll check them out. I was a bit cheeky and asked to hop the rope to see inside the cab. She's in original condition and I was surprised to see many cab features that were unchanged from the KMO range - even the 'vertical' pedals. Somewhere in the dark depths of my mind is something about smaller Js having the Bedford six-cylinder 214 cu. inch motor ... just like the KMOs. A cab and front-end change and ... was it that simple? If so, a good, long-lived basic design under the skin.