Posted on August 18th, 2014
What a difference a week makes! Just seven days after owner Gary Sumner had to admit defeat with getting SLO 234 to Gaydon for the Classic Van and Pick-up Show, the beautifully restored Mail van performed the task of delivering the bride to church on time at the wedding of Lucie and Alwyn. What a great way to start married life!
From a pristine van to one in a sorry state. This photo was emailed to us by Lisa Snow in New Zealand. It shows a J-type involved in an accident in Napier, New Zealand. Ouch! Photo courtesy of Pete Bullivant.
Posted on August 10th, 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!
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Giant poster at entrance to Museum
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949 BYY, 5003 NX, XRH 885, 495 YUB and 749 VRF line up in front of the Museum
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Panoramic view of the J-types and Austin 101 at Gaydon 2014
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495 YUB and 749 VRF
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XRH cake and info board
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Ken and his daughter Debbie with presentation plaque
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Ken Cooke with presentation mug and Abi with XRH cake
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’50 years of XRH ownership’ logo
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XRH 885 information board
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495 YUB information board
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749 VRF information board
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949 BYY information board
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5003 NX information board
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Taxi-based van on its first outing
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Austin 7 pick-up, tiny but cute!
Posted on August 7th, 2014
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.
Posted on July 27th, 2014
Register member Peter Page has sent us shots of his van MSK 194 being ‘branded’ as part of the Worshipful Company of Carmen’s Annual Cartmarking ceremony, in the Guildhall Yard in London. This year’s ceremony was held on the 16th July.
Also note that the latest issue of the J-type Review should be dropping through member’s letterboxes over the next few days.In it we mention that the Classic Van and Pick-up Show at Gaydon on August 10th neatly coincides with the 50th anniversary of Ken Cooke purchasing his beloved Austin 101 XRH 885. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are planning on bringing a club vehicle along. It is only a fortnight away!
Posted on July 20th, 2014
This photo of the coachbuilt J-type owned from new by Carlsberg Breweries and on display in Copenhagen was taken by Nikki Perry, and was sent to the Register by commercial vehicle enthusiast Stuart Taylor. Many thanks to both of you.
Posted on June 22nd, 2014
The Queensland rural town of Warwick in far away Australia had a population of about 10,000 in the early 1960s. It also had about five Morris J type vans. One, JR 32164, suffered the ignominy of being crashed and became a firewood store in a suburban backyard. There it sat for over 40 years before being saved by Graeme Collins. Graeme’s Dad, Stan and a wartime chum, Roy Willi had started a garage in Warwick in 1948 and sold Jowett cars and Fiat Tractors. That garage, Fitzroy Motors prospered and soon they sold Austin vehicles. BMC came next, then Leyland. It was during these years Graeme was born.
Graeme recalls his dad selling three Austin 101s to the local milkman. That would have been in the late 1950s of course. He can’t remember exactly but he had seen the wrecked J type in that back yard for many years. It took over thirty-five years to procure that van. Eventually Graeme was able to take the firewood out and the van found a spot in Graeme’s shed and his long held dream of “dropping a J type on the floor and putting something serious inside” was able to start.
Due to the shunt the nose had gone and the chassis was crooked. The Oz ‘J type grapevine’ led Graeme to Far North Queensland and he found a ‘paddock feature’ through Alan Hurst who had saved a J type which had sat in a paddock beside the Redlyncyh to Cairns road for yonks. Enter JR 22909, only 18,000 kilometres away. No sweat.
All you really need to know is this finished J type Rod still has an original J type chassis (JR 22909) although much strengthened. Graeme started the rebuild by asking a local tradesman to have a look at the project but realized this dream project could only be successfully completed by a mob of pros. He sent it off to Queensland’s Gold Coast and the famous bunch at Oz Rods. Many quality Oz Hot Rods have left these artisans and JR 22909 is no exception.
It has Ford Econovan underpinnings at the front. A Flaming River steering column connected to a Billet Specialties ‘Outlaw’ steering wheel makes direction changing a breeze. There is a set of leather trimmed Mercedes Benz Sprinter van seats to make long Oz distances pass comfortably. The entire interior is trimmed but behind the trimming are kilograms of Dynamat, which keeps this van very quiet on the inside. At the rear a four link suspension holds the Econovan’s rear axle/diff assembly and that holds a set of 255 70 R15 Maxxis Bravo tyres. That is slightly more rubber than the 600 x 16s of an original J type.
And under the front seats is a Holden V6 3.8 litre engine coupled to an automatic transmission. That combination makes this very mild J type van into a very great Morris J type Oz Hot Rod.
Peter Bateman
Australia July 2014
Check the Oz Rods website for the build photographs
http://www.oz-rods.com/Graeme’s%20J%20Van.html
Posted on June 9th, 2014
There are two J-types for sale at the moment, a GPO Planning van in the UK and a pick-up that appears to have been a cut down van, in New Zealand.
The Holden V8-powered Pick-up is on the ‘TradeMe’ website, whilst the GPO (the youngest surviving Morris J/B) van is for sale by auction (Lot 145) at Charterhouse Auctioneers sale on the 15th June in Shepton Mallet.
Posted on April 16th, 2014
