Ken Cooke has put his Morris J/B van UMO 938 up for sale at an auction at Mathewsons Auctions on 25th April. This screengrab has come from their site.
http://www.mathewsons.co.uk/#!auction-page-1/c5o
We would urge any enthusiast looking to purchase a van to consider this one.
It underwent a thorough rebuild when Ken acquired it, and it will undoubtedly be one of the most correct J/Bs around as Ken is a stickler for getting, and using, the right parts.
Really surprised that nobody has emailed to say that this has been positioned by the M6, apparently for a few months now! The J-type is one of three images that constantly scroll through, the other two being a telephone box and a plate of fish and chips by the seaside. We don’t actually know what the message of the advert is!
We’ve just got back from a session setting up the stand at the NEC. We’re in Hall 6, Stand number 115. We’ll load more images tomorrow!
Click on any photo to enlarge.
Children are wonderful. Monique Vandeleur, daughter of Paul, was living away from home in a rented house in Brisbane five odd years ago.
South East Queensland has a hot sub-tropical climate and houses are built up off the ground on posts, or as the locals call them ‘stilts’. This slight elevation allows the hot humid air to circulate. It also provides much needed storage, undercover, away from Queensland’s penetrating sunlight. It was underneath that house Monique noticed the old yellow van. The Vandeleur family has an interest in Volkswagen Combi vans but this old yellow Morris unit collecting dust and cobwebs appealed to Monique.
After tireless pleading with her landlord, custodianship of the ABBCO Bread van # 13 – a 1954 J type – chassis J/R 23528, was arranged.
This Morris J is one of about nine from the ABBCO fleet, which found their way north to Queensland in the late 1970’s. Maurie Catlin, the long retired chief mechanic of ABBCO in Sydney, still recalls that sale. All those vans were in great working condition.
Since the van went to the Vandeleur home it has been cleaned and given a modicum of TLC. Brakes have been renovated, as have most mechanicals. A new wiring loom was installed and the usual rust problems in the sills repaired. Surprisingly, very little serious work was needed to get it running again. Considering the age and history of this hardworking van, this is remarkable.
September 7, 2014, Fathers Day in Oz and Paul went for his first major outing in a J type van. Being a very well behaved Morris J van, J/R 23528 was very happy to wait whilst it’s custodian enjoyed the fare of a French restaurant for brunch. Captivated onlookers smiled. Others with longer memories recalled J type vans making deliveries in their towns. Morris J type owners are accustomed to people smiling and being gleeful.
Monique’s discovery of the dusty yellow van made her dad very thrilled. What better vehicle to go on a Fathers Day drive?
Peter Bateman
Sydney Australia September 8, 2014
Members and enthusiasts can see that some owners braved the horrendous rain to attend the event. On the day we achieved four J/Bs and an Austin 101. In the circumstances it is surely remarkable that four of the vehicles were driven to the event, with only XRH, the Star of the Show, being trailered – with good reason – all the way down from Hull.
Our thanks to:
Heather Sumner for supplying the commemorative mugs and presentation plaque…
Abi Pitcher for creating the XRH cake, which everyone reckoned looked fantastic and tasted really nice…
Bez Pitcher for baking the cakes for Abi to create with..
Tom Caren, Show Manager at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, who is confident that the show will be repeated next year!
Thanks also to all the Register members and J-type enthusiasts who helped turn the couple of hours of dry weather in the afternoon into a special occasion for Ken Cooke, who has owned XRH for 50 years.
Click on any photo to see larger image!
This weekend sees the first ever Classic Van and Pick-up Show at Gaydon in Warwickshire. The J-type Register will have a display there with, if all goes according to plan, two J-types, five J/Bs and Ken Cooke’s Austin 101. The Show neatly coincides with the 50th anniversary of Ken purchasing his beloved van, XRH 885. This surely should be the star of the show!
Also in attendance are the Post Office Vehicle Club, The Morris~Commercial Club, The Transit Owners Club and many more.
Following on from the last blog post, we’ve added more photos to the GPO J van gallery archives in the History section.
5003 NX flew the flag for the J-type Register and for Haymarket Publications at the Classic Car Boot Sale at the Southbank, London, over the weekend of 15th/16th March. The Vintage Festival team had transformed Queen’s Walk into a paradise of all things vintage – fashion, vinyl, homewares, pop and automotive culture. With street food sold from classic Citroen and Renault vans and music from the top of a double-decker, it was a vintage-lover’s dream weekend. The weather was fine both days, not a hint of rain and not even much of a breeze. Attendance was high and the whole show had a great vibe about it.
The 1:24th scale J-type model that was mastered by Phil Knight, one of our J-type owning Register members in Australia, is now available to purchase. It is listed for sale at www.thepartsbox.com as a complete kit (code number 1426), or body kit only (code number 1427). The body-only kit caters for those intrepid Aussies wishing to make a model of one of the custom J-types that exist over there. Prices are 1426: $82.50 + postage, and 1427: $35.20 + postage. I wonder how many of these kits will find their way to the UK?
If you are interested in purchasing one, visit:www.thepartsbox.com
The models are also available on ebay, but at higher prices than those quoted by The Parts Box
