WHY LUTON?

In converstion with someone during the week, and the subject of Luton bodies came up. Now, I knew what the Luton was, but why was
it so called?

A Luton body is a style of commercial vehicle body incorporating an enclosed box body extended over the cab. It takes its name from the town of Luton, in Bedfordshire, where the Bedford commercial vehicle plant was located. It was “invented” by Mr B.E. “Bertie” Barrett who owned a haulage business in Luton which had, as its principal source of clientele, the millinery industry which made the town famous in the early twentieth century. Hats, many of which were made of straw, were distributed in hatboxes which were bulky, but had little weight. Since trucks were mostly delivered without bodies at the time (just a chassis and cab), Mr Barrett had bodies built which extended over the cab and most of the way over the bonnet of the truck as well. The front of the “Luton” was tied to the front bumper of the truck by means of a metal pole on either side.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luton_body

Thanyou Harry. Thats that question sorted, as well as a little bit of history.

I always thought it was invented by a chinaman, Lu ton van :slight_smile:

I used to think that loads of van drivers in Holland were called Hertz van Rental. :wink:

I thought this thread was about Luton town :blush:

Apparently, a heavily gang of Muslim extremists have been driving around Luton today killing every white person they came across.

Police fear the death toll may be as high as two. :wink:

would you rather they were called Cleckheaton bodied vans? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Harry Monk:
I used to think that loads of van drivers in Holland were called Hertz van Rental. :wink:

An Australian mate came over to Germany to visit me back in the mid eighties, and I picked him up from Frankfurt airport. He’d never been out of Oz before and obviously Germany was a place he’d only seen in war films.

We had to drive about 30kms to where I was living and as we left the Autobahn heading for my house he said; “Strewth,… this Ausfahrt’s a big place isn’t it mate!”

Harry Monk:
Apparently, a heavily gang of Muslim extremists have been driving around Luton today killing every white person they came across.

Police fear the death toll may be as high as two. :wink:

:grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing:

Harry Monk:
I used to think that loads of van drivers in Holland were called Hertz van Rental. :wink:

Didnt they have a branch in Wales called Barry van hire ?

Harry Monk:
I used to think that loads of van drivers in Holland were called Hertz van Rental. :wink:

used to go out with his sister, caren van Rental! :wink:

truckerjon:

Harry Monk:
I used to think that loads of van drivers in Holland were called Hertz van Rental. :wink:

used to go out with his sister, caren van Rental! :wink:

You sure it wasnt ■■■■ Van Dyke ?

also re Luton
mad as a hatter
due to all the glue fumes that attled their brains

hitch:
also re Luton
mad as a hatter
due to all the glue fumes that attled their brains

Not the glue, the mercury that was used in making felt. It affected the nervous system and made hatters twitch and fidget, therefore looking like the were mad.

ta
i stand corrected
nearly close

Coffeeholic:

hitch:
also re Luton
mad as a hatter
due to all the glue fumes that attled their brains

Not the glue, the mercury that was used in making felt. It affected the nervous system and made hatters twitch and fidget, therefore looking like the were mad.

It dates back to when the hatters used to treat the felt with their own urine :frowning: , it turned out one guy was getting better results than the rest. He had syphillys and was being treated with mercury,so the owners added mercury to the mix, and they all went mad…HASNT AFFECTED ME THOUGH!!! :smiley: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:
All credits to Mark Williams.

hitch:
ta
i stand corrected
nearly close

Looking at some of my neighbours, and other citizens of this town in which I live, I suspect there is still a lot of mercury used in Luton today. Most of them appear more than a little bat-crap crazy. :wink: