Bedford Trucks
by Motoring Editor Chris
Dugdale
In 1903 the first Vauxhall car was built and in 1905 the factory
was moved to Luton in Bedfordshire, England. The first factory covered
an area of about one and a half acres but by the end of the 1930`s
this had increased to thirty nine acres.
The first Bedford Truck was introduced in 1931 and by 1937 over 8000
men were employed in the manufacture of Vauxhall and Bedford vehicles.
Many more were indirectly employed in the supply of materials.
The Company warranted the trucks for 12 months from the date of purchase
against any defect in materials or workmanship and to replace that
which was defective and to deliver to their dealer`s establishment
without cost. The purchase price of your new Bedford could be spread
over monthly payments by "The Vauxhall & General Finance
Corporation Limited", this enabled dealers to arrange a payment
plan best suited to their customers requirements.
Many
famous firms were using Bedfords by 1937, a few names that will be
familiar to you today are Anglo-American Oil , Brown Brothers, Cadbury`s,
Chivers, C.W.S., Every Ready Batteries, Express Dairies, Fry`s Chocolate,
H.M.V, Huntley & Palmer, Kodak, London County Council, Pickfords,
Rose`s Line Juice, Riley Car Company, Sainsbury`s, Standard Telephone
and Cables, Southern Railways, Transport & General Workers Union,
Waring & Gillow, Youngers Ales.
The
Bedford 8 cwt Van had 75 cubic feet of loading space with two double
opening doors at the rear, the front was trimmed in leather cloth
and doors had locks and winding windows. The body was constructed
of seasoned hardwood, all joints being glued and screwed and strongly
reinforced at all vital points. the roof, supported on strong hoopsticks
and covered in waterproof leather cloth. Motive power was provided
by the 12 h.p. six cylinder engine which had a four bearing crankshaft
with torsional vibration damper. The engine was insulated completely
from the frame by rubber mountings. Overall length was 13ft 1½
inches, 5 ft wide and a height of 5ft 8 inches. The Radiator Shell,
Bumpers, Hub Caps and Door handles were Chrome Plated, to the front
of the radiator there was a stoneguard in silverlac, the roof was
black, wings and valance in black enamel, body and bonnet in brown
primercoat. The Van could be supplied ready finished in cellulose
paint for a small extra charge.
The
Bedford Ambulance Chassis was designed with specially soft springing,
low pressure tyres and hydraulic shock absorbers front and rear. This
de-luxe ambulance had a fully domed roof with a body panelled in silver
finished steel and aluminium. The two full width rear door opened
flush with the body sides and could be fastened to the side panels.
The
Bedford 3 ton Short Chassis formed an excellent tractor unit for use
with an articulated trailer. The small turning circle of 39 feet was
a great advantage with this type vehicle. Many leading trailers manufacturers
of the day designed trailers specifically for use with this Bedford
3 ton chassis.
Many
older readers will well remember Bedford Coaches, especially the postwar
OB model, the writer has many fond memories of travelling on these
as a child. This chassis was designed expressly for passenger work,
with semi-forward control and a wheelbase of 167 inches. It was available
for both 20 and 26 seats. The coach illustrated is a Duple "Vista"
with 26 seats. This coachbuilder produced a wide range of standard
coachwork for the Bedford Passenger Chassis, there being six body
models covering practically every need in light bus and coach work.
The power was supplied by the 27 h.p. six cylinder engine, vacuum
servo brakes, grouped chassis lubrication, heavy duty four speed gearbox
and a full floating rear axle.
For the Building and Delivery Trades a number of Dropside Lorries
were manufactured from 30 cwt to 3 tons, varying in length from 16ft
to 21ft with unladen weights from 33 cwt to 48 cwt.. Also Tippers
from 30 cwt to 2 tons were available.
By
1937 there was a range of 50 standard models, the Company set out
to produce a body for practically every business need, however, not
everything could be catered for and Bedford Dealers were glad to supply
designs for a body especially built to suit a firms business. An example
of this is the Shell Petrol Tanker, Fire Engines were another popular
line.
I hope you found this
brief outline of Vauxhall Bedford Commercial Vehicles from the year
1937 to have been of interest.
