The Mail van sported the usual GPO J-type requirement of rubber front and rear wings and much improved locks for security, whilst also having a rear door locking bar, which could be operated by the driver from inside the vehicle. Mail vans also had a wooden partition with sliding door to separate the load area from the cab. This door was lockable for obvious security reasons. Some GPO ‘J’ vans were also fitted with an opening driver’s windscreen.

The Post Office, possibly quite arbitrarily, designated these vans as having 100 cu ft carrying capacity, although Morris-Commercial’s own advertising suggests a much greater potential volume. It may well be that the manufacturer could include the space alongside the driver, whilst the GPO might only have measured the space within the body secured by the partition.

The GPO also tested a batch of diesel-powered J-types, the remains of one of which was found on a farm near Stoke-on-Trent. It had long since lost its engine to a good cause, but there was enough left to show that it was indeed a diesel, including a petrol cap with ‘Fuel oil’ pressed into it.

Mail vans were a common sight on British roads throughout the ’50s and well into the ’60s. When sold out of service, the GPO would strip the vehicles of their livery and security locks and sell them on at auction, the princely sum of £25 being the price mentioned as being paid by many subsequent owners!

Nowadays the few survivors are much sought-after with but a handful preserved. Only three have been returned to their original livery so far, but others are known to be undergoing full restoration.

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