Practically Classics Forum

GPO generally used BMC J2 or J4 and latterly Commer PB, so it would be unlikely to be a Thames.

suffolkpete wrote:GPO generally used BMC J2 or J4 and latterly Commer PB, so it would be unlikely to be a Thames.

Think you're right. However, i have a strong recollection about a Thames van, with peeled off but still visible "John Salmon Land Drainage" down the side. This was probably before the Commer (we called it "Buzby" for obvious reasons). But as i was about 8, and this was about 1975/6, i may have an excuse to be a bit vague..

Next time i'm over at the 'rents house, i'll drag out the photo albums.

The 400e was a widely used van with the electricity boards, we had about twenty of them in our local area. Many hours spent freezing our bits off (early versions had no heaters and later ones were so pathetic they were damn nigh worthless). I always liked driving them though, yes they had their faults such as the wipers (vacuum powered) but with practice they could be set so that they worked over a range of throttle settings. The big snag (IMHO) was the fuel tank breather in the wheelarch, this was never sorted out and always ended up drawing water into the fuel system, nobody seemed bothered enough to cure it.

Compared with the other vans available e.g. Bedford CA, J series BMC, Morris Minor etc they were a good comfortable drive. The CA always filled me with dread, handled like a pig and rolled like one. Ford please!

I was always aware that our legs were in a very nasty place in the event of a major shunt but we didn't consider this mere detail as we went on our merry way. Oh happy days of my previous life.
Thankfully I left the firm prior to the introduction of the Viva and Transit vans.