cav551 I am sure you are mistaken in your reminiscing, about the hoity toity horse box owner, bedfords are still the mainstay of reliable horse boxes, old yes, crusty around the edges yes, but reliable beyond compare, they are still to be seen waiting quietly in all manor of parking spots, fields, barns, most irish vehicle dealers, and of course the backbone of the far east, the only reason they fail is constant driver abuse, the trucks themselves have built in survival techniques such as oil, loss this is to ensure that the driver checks it, (many an engine that never uses oil, is lost because they never checked it) not so bedfords the reminder is on the ground for all to see, poor braking you say, well this installs the drivers survival instinct with the right attitude of when to start braking, and even at times when they think im not going to stop they invariably push harder and the problem is solved, as well as applying the fact that for better heart circulation one should be scared once a day, ask any mechanic (not a computer toting young un) and they will remind you that the Bedford was absolutely fine until it was given to a driver,