I took 5003 NX along to the Father’s Day Event at Wythall Transport Museum. Which means that it’s now less than a year until the 65th Anniversary get-together in 2013. It’ll be at Wythall again, they did such a great job of helping to host the ’50th and ’60th. And being Father’s day on the Sunday there’ll be classic bus rides to be enjoyed, as well as other attractions. Forget counting the days ’til the Olympics, this is the one to get excited about!
Gaydon Classic Commercial Show, 2012. Very mixed weather was the main aspect of Saturday at Gaydon, whilst the sun broke through on the Sunday and made for a great get-together. Vans in attendance were J/Bs 5003 NX, 495 YUB, 8444 UA, 949 BYY and 749 VRF; whilst flying the flag for the Austin side of the Register was 101 van, 585 TFM.
Members and owners/enthusiasts in attendance included, in no particular order, Bob Wall, Ray Herritts, Ray Kings, John Davies, Pam and Bob Mulholland, Dave Raven, Peter and Helen Smith, Dennis Bradley and Harvey Pitcher.
To see further photos go to the gallery at www.jtypevan.com/home/2012-gaydon-classic-commercial-show/
At least two Morris J/B vans have enjoyed the Jubilee Celebrations over the first weekend of June. Roland Turner’s OBL 432 was used as advertising run up to the local village party on Saturday afternoon and evening, whilst the Pitcher family’s 5003 NX stood on display outside Birmingham Council House for a weekend of celebrations. Are there any other vans out there that took part in the Royal Celbrations? If so, we’d love to see photos which we could add to this blog.
We have had contact from a J-owner in Canada, who found our website. He writes:
“I have J type van totally complete, not siezed. I aquired it about 10 years ago and is in storage till I find time to work on it. The question I have is this. The van has the clutch and brake as per usual but the throttle is in between these pedals in the centre. What can you tell me about these vans, how to determine year etc. I live in Saskatchewan Canada. This truck was used from new as a delivery truck for a local Co-op, I believe as a part of the war pay back program to pay off British debt. Any info would be appreciated, thanks Tony”.
This is a very rare left-hand drive J-type, of which only a handful survive! An early Dutch van, NF.85.99, which attended the ’50th Anniversary Celebrations also had a centre accelerator pedal. It would take a lot of getting used to! Tony has since supplied the van’s chassis number, which indicated a build date of March 1953. Thanks for the info Tony. Please stay in touch.
Charlie Grahn in Canada has sent this photo showing the state of play with his restoration. It’s really coming along! Check out the side-valve gallery (by clicking the Morris~Commercial badge on the right) to see what it looked like before work started, some eighteen months ago. Brilliant work Charlie, on a very rare Canadian survivor.
Check out Charlie’s bog at http://www.victoriajvan.blogspot.co.uk/
Classic Van and Pick-up features a four-page article on JAV 160, the 1953 Morris~Commercial J-type still sporting its original livery. It’s a shame it didn’t get top billing on the cover!
Also in the mag is a photo of the ex-GPO Utility PUL 580, and an advert for an Austin 101 pick-up which may be unknown to the Register. Hopefully someone will pass on info about this one.
Register member Pam Mulholland has sent this photo of 585 TFM at the Austin/Morris day at Brooklands racetrack, its first show following its thorough restoration. The Austin 101 is signwritten with the garage name of her husband’s first work in 1960! The Mulhollands are aiming to bring their van to Gaydon for the Classic Commercial Rally, where we hope to get a number of Register vehicles together.
Register members Pam and Bob Mulholland recently sent photos of their Austin 101, painted and ready to put back together. It is hoped that 585 TFM will attend a few 2012 rallies, possibly including the Gaydon Classic Commercial Display.
Another Oz J type is to change custodianship. The van which originally was from Wangaratta in Victoria is leaving Steve Hartnell’s care and travelling the 2500 Km’s to Sydney to become a very pampered van for my plumber! Steve has been looking after this van for many years and it has travelled from Victoria to Darwin and then on to Cairns.
Before leaving North Queensland, Alan Hurst, the custodian of JB 46632 (the Sahara van-Bertha) went to take the attached photographs. Not bad eh? Look at the atlas and check out Cairns. It is in Queensland, Australia and is closer to Papua New Guinea than to the state capital, Brisbane. And here, we see two J type vans! Almost like the Scarlet Pimpernel!
Peter Bateman Sydney February 7, 2012
A few days ago, Register member James Hewett sent in a greetings card new to me, by well-known designer and illustrator Emma Ball. It is a lovely addition to any collection of J-type ephemera!
Emma has a website at http://www.emmaball.co.uk/ where I found another card with a similar drawing on it and also a 2012 Calendar. Since the calendar was for sale at a reduced price I ordered one, and the other card. The items turned up a couple of days later, beautifully packaged in a carton that made it impossible for the postman to bend; neatly wrapped in tissue paper were the items themselves. I was so impressed.
Let’s hope Emma adds more J-type designs into her range.
