oiltreader:
Thanks to kevmac47 and servo88 for the pics, splendid I remember the Bedford CA , moved one or two of them, steering column gear change, they were also a bit draughty(sliding doors).
An advert from 1959.
Oily
Great info.oily, When I worked for Baxters Road Services in the 50s, They had one of these Bedfords it had a Martin Walter body with seats in it, It was new to them in 1956, Reg 3 ABB, It was used for delivering smalls & also for going out to breakdowns, I remember going to Manchester with a Typing Sensimatic Burroughs Payroll machine, I delivered it to a hotel in Tib Street just off Piccadiley Manchester, It was on show to potential clients, Jonny Baxter told me that the rate for this van was 12bob & sixpence an hour plus 6 pennies a mile, Well now this was 1957, So 340 miles approx. plus the 12&atanner hourly rate, Plus this van had an A licence on it.& ran at the same speed as their motors,The good old days when money was real money Eh, Regards Larry.
Our 1st Bedford was a 1955 Kenex conversion with slatted wooden seats down both sides in the back. I remember with the smog in the 50’s in London sitting in the passenger seat with the door open one night telling my Mum how far she was from the kerb all the way home. Happy days!
I was asked last year to get a recently purchased petrol CA Bedford Ice Cream van running after it had failed on its journey to its new home. This unfortunately turned out to have burnt away the surface of the head and the block, as well as cracks in an exhaust valve port and seating. It rapidly became clear that the only way this could become a worthwhile project economically was for the owner to DIY.
This is a picture of the new lubrication bay taken in 1962 at T.C.Harrisons in St Helens Street Derby just after they had taken over The Universal Car Company.The Zodiac is Edward Harrison’s and this was a tuned up motor and fitted with an overdrive,next is a 100E and then a Trader 75 for Bemrose the printers in Derby.They didn’t keep them very long and swapped about every three years a good buy second hand.They did have a couple of B.M.C. but bought more Traders.Note the 400E by the side of the building
Has anybody got any pictures of Ind Coope delivery drays.I sold them 33 D1313’s and some Cargos after.They also had a Ford A-series petrol Fire engine.Would be very pleased to view.When Derek Miller was the Transport chap they bought a Cargo 1615 with Low profile tyres and while it was in our yard somebody pinched a lot of wheels one of which was the spare off this motor and it seems was the only one in the country and was a Michelin.They were found and I was called to the police station to identify that one and the others they nicked.We used to mark them and as a lot of you chaps know the way you work.We had a Cargo tipper pinched one night and and never found it and when I went to work one Monday we had about three motors on blocks with the wheels missing.Re the Cargo I had to go to County Court which was a bit daunting and they also had Arthur from Tyremiles in Ashbourne ( without much notice i.e. get your ares down here and asked him all about the amount of money they made out of Tyres)
Batterby and Hefford - there’s another name from the past, not to mention Universal Car Company! Remember Vic in the parts dept? A cantankerous auld bu**er, but a heart of gold. I had a 100E van same as the one in the pic as a teenager and he once gave me an old stores parts book - far better than any workshop manual!
Ste46:
Batterby and Hefford - there’s another name from the past, not to mention Universal Car Company! Remember Vic in the parts dept? A cantankerous auld bu**er, but a heart of gold. I had a 100E van same as the one in the pic as a teenager and he once gave me an old stores parts book - far better than any workshop manual!
Steve
Well Steve.That’s where I started my apprentship in 1954 and travelled on the 7.45 train from Uttoxeter and it was the same time that the groundwork was being done for Willington power station.Coming back I had to look sharp as the train back went at 6.05 and if I missed it the next one was at 8.15.My nickname there was Utch but a lot of them didn’t even know where Uttoxeter was.One problem going to Derby Station was that it was by Trolley bus and sometime the poles came off the wires.I wondered what I’d let myself in for and I thought on my first week I hadn’t seen a green field as it was dark both ways.
Yes Vic was a man of no customer politeness but he could serve three people at once but then Ford hadn’t got many models then.He used to come from the racks loaded and just chucked the stuff on the counter.I remember my dad said that the U.C.C. was known to Atkeys as 7090B which I understand was the universal joint on most Ford models
Was the Universal Motor Company, Derby, the same firm Tony, a pal of mine has a small two stroke engine that they made and there are also much larger ones in preservation around the globe?
He,s another teaser this one,s named Two Cities, was it on an Aki flat bed years ago? Regards servo 
