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kwatt wrote:Huh?
The oldest van I ever drove was an old Bedford HA thing. Got it on two wheels though on a bend… that was impressive, if a little scary. 😉
K.
Mine was also a bedford HA,you could see me coming for miles it was ORANGE !!!if i knew how to convert 35mm slide to digital format i would post it up here.
dave
Re: And in the beginning….
goosegreen wrote:Was the Viva Van the one with the seats so hard that if you jumped in too quick you Jarred your spine?.
Goosedont know, but I know it was ex Post office and only had one seat when we bought it. I fitted passenger seat from a scrap yard, didnt bother about things like seat belts though!
Re: And in the beginning….
Martin wrote:
eastlmark wrote:
Blimey Martin, I had to wait till 1980 to get a viva van!You have good taste Mark 😉
In 1975 business was on the up and I bought my first brand new van…..
Martin, I dont even know what that Is! Is it like a Matra-Simca or something???
Re: And in the beginning….
eastlmark wrote:Martin, I dont even know what that Is! Is it like a Matra-Simca or something???
It’s a Simca 1100 (4 cyclinder transverse engine) Max payload 510kg. I bought it new from a Chrysler/Simca dealer In Newbury for an ‘on the road price’ of £1078.55. 😯
Great little motor it was…. 🙂
Re: And in the beginning….
Circa 1982 First Van after leaving Hoover.
Cost me £200.Used to park it in the town center when I was taking a day off to get the sign noticed.
The subtitle read: Automatics – Twin Tubs – Vacuum Cleaners
Re: And in the beginning….
Ahhh… them were the days..
When I first started workin at the MEB we used to drive a Austin A35 van.. so little you used to shut the door on your sholder and drive with your face in the winscreen.. remember getting home most nights with a raging headache cuz the winscreen was so close and I think there was still one on the fleet that had those sticky out flag indicators!
Then we moved up to the old Bedfords with a 3 speed gearbox, colum change and side opening doors that you could secure back in the nice hot summers and drive around with no seat belt on because they wern’t fitted in those days..
Yep… them were the days when it was the rare occasion you would have to stop at a junction because there was another vehicle coming unlike today when it’s the rare occasion to get straight through a juntion becuase there isn’t one coming…
When machines were designed by engineers instead of accountants and service engineers were happy little souls..
And no.. you didn’t have a man with a flag walking in front of the vehicle either 🙂
Mick
Re: And in the beginning….
Hey Mick
I worked for the MEB at Stafford but I did my training at the MEB summer lane technical training school in Brum.
God I remember the bedfords only too well. I always used to get the one where the door wouldn’t latch properly in the open position and would almost take yer arm off if you had to stop a bit quick. Then came the viva’s and the bedford CF’s.
Happy Day’s
Sean
Re: And in the beginning….
I posted a picture of your beloved Bedford vans earlier in the thread, why did they make such an unusual clunking noise when going over bumps, it was a very distinctive sound.
Jim.
Re: And in the beginning….
‘Cos the rubber dampers on the leafsprings fell off in the first 5,000 miles usually 😉
Re: And in the beginning….
That used to be animated the last time I saw it, about two years ago. 😉
Re: And in the beginning….
iadom wrote:That used to be animated the last time I saw it, about two years ago. 😉
My little joke has fallen flat now then eh Jim? :rolls:
Re: And in the beginning….
It looks quite funny when it is bounding along, why is yours not moving. 😕
Re: And in the beginning….
iadom wrote:It looks quite funny when it is bounding along, why is yours not moving. 😕
Believe me Jim….mines moving all the while 😉
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