FV1604A

Hi kd, Just a bit of info regarding the Army Gipsy numbers. Quite a few were sold off at Ruddington still carrying their Special Project numbers. 01 SP 21/22 /24 /25/26/28/30/31/34/35/37/39/40 were at auction in the June 1969 and June 1970 sales. A lot of the DRE 1xx C Civil Defence LWB models were also available in June 1970 too. Good luck on the restoration. I ran one of the SWB ‘ALF’ registrations for a period in 1984 and loved it. Really underestimated truck.

Hi Sammy Jo, Just looked at your K9 plate. It is showing as a G.S. , General Service, chassis in other words it may have started life as a canvas-covered one-ton logistics truck/personnel carrier, although I can't be sure whether a radio-bodied example was described as such on the brass plate or not. I have checked my collection of Ruddington sale information and the nearest I can find to yours are 59 BG 49 lot 1293 (09/06/70) and 59 BG 35 lot 1026 (13/02/68) which were both one-ton cargos, but 59 BG 64 was described as a van lot 1468 (09/08/70). For further research you would need access to auction books 102-105 or a few beyond 107 as they appear to have mostly been sold off between 1968 and 1972. Good luck, Keep searching. Bw, Mike.

That was why I started it with ‘if the internet is to be believed’ although I have seen a picture of it in the aluminium dropside box period with the registration that your K9 carries. We look forward to the information on the brass plate. Does your V5 give any clues to its past owners? If it says 15 owners then the travelling background history could well be right. Good luck, Mike.

Hi Sammy Jo, If the internet is to be believed, your K9 has had a ‘Hippy’ party history in the care of the ‘travelling community’ for many years before being preserved. It started life with Louise on Q348 GVC as a car recovery truck, had many owners until Mark changed it to RFO 328 and a Bedford 330 diesel was fitted in 1994. The recovery gear came off to be replaced by an aluminium tray and another bodywork change when that gave way to a BT comms cabin, which is possibly why you may not find an MOD brass plate although I hope you do. Great truck, nurture it, I owned one back in 1984 and still think it was one of the best trucks I had experienced. All the above info is thanks to Dave Fawcett of Travelling Albion van fame.

Great News, Skippy Pete. I will stand by my opinion that the CX22S was one of the most beautiful trucks built along with the Diamond T 980. Would be interested in chassis and army reg if possible. Well done! Mike.

Hi Snowdrop358, Many thanks for this. I have passed on the information to its previous owner. He will be sad to see it in its present state as it was a fully operational AFS Hose Carrier, complete with equipment when he sold it, but, at least, it is still providing a service to its owner. Thanks again, much appreciation from myself and the ex-owner. Best wishes, Mike.

Hi Sharky, I have come upon one of the previous owners of the AFS Bedford last week and he is very keen to know what has happened since the last post of 2015. Could you let me know if RYX 342 is still alive and well and whether you did finally find a new body for it. Thanks, Best wishes, Mike.

The good news is that it is still around. Wally Dugan is the man to know, it was in the Museum of Army Transport at Beverley for many years, until the museum sadly closed.

Hi Neil, Well done , a great choice of truck. I had the pleasure of driving one (with aero-screen) in the Lord Mayor's Parade in Newcastle umpteen years ago. I can tell you from my records that yours, 25 RA 37 was sold out of Ruddington on Wednesday the 20th September 1961 as lot number 738 and it was one of a batch of six sold together (This was normal practise for the MWs, OYs and QLs, probably because the auctioneers had so many to sell.) Although that particular batch did not have its price recorded, a similar batch of six went for £120 (yes, for all six!). The odd times they were sold off individually, the going rate was £40-45. Enjoy your purchase, look forward along with everyone else on here to seeing the first pictures of it. Mike.

Hi, This Fordson WOT 6 was rescued from a dismantler's yard in Annfield Plain, County Durham around 1985. It appeared that NTY 385 ( a May 1958 plate) had been potentially L5495769 during its military service and may have then worked for the GPO before acquiring the Northumberland plate. Keep an eye out for it appearing with pictures in a forthcoming Heritage Commercial Vehicle Magazine feature on the WOT-6 this year.

Hi Roy, If you have a spare £12k handy, you can have an Albion workshop from Legacy Vehicles currently being advertised in the magazine 'Old Glory'. This may be the one you refer to in your last post. It looks in fine condition from the photograph and appears to be on UK GSK plates. Regards, Mike.

Hi Roy, I can confirm that, indeed, 55 BD 01 was in the SEME collection when it was at Bordon, I photographed it in 2013. Follow up Richard's advice, Roger is a nice guy very helpful. Best wishes, Mike.

Hi Phil, Welcome to the forum, even though it is your second post. Great to see another Humber FV1600 and Champ have been saved. Would like to know chassis numbers for the pair when you have time. Stay safe , Best wishes, Mike.

Hi Bill, Welcome to the forum. Possible suggestion would be to contact the Mack Trucks Historical Museum in the U.S. by email. They offer a research service. Doug Maney is the Museum Curator, BUT not at the moment as they are in complete lock-down over there, no phones/email are being answered. Have a look at the site though until things go back to ‘normal’ whenever that may be. Good luck, Mike.

Hi John, I don’t think my praise will affect him. I have had the pleasure of seeing his work on the T ‘in the flesh’ and I am “stunned”. For me, it takes restoration of an ancient beautiful truck into a different world and I am impressed, s*d it, praise indeed where praise is due. Crack on and finish it, young man (before you become an old man). Watch your head though when you drive it around your field again! Cheers, John, Best wishes, Sam, Mike.

Sam, Just one word...stunning! Three years well spent, Stay well, Best wishes, Mike

Hi Kyle, I think that you may find that we are talking about the same vehicle as it was listed in their manifest a couple of years ago and I see from the new video that they have a possible replacement as they still have two. ( I am guessing, but this may be 37 RNM retrieved from Mains Yard ten years or so ago, but this is a guess!) Thanks for posting their new RAFFFM video, Richard, I haven't seen the new place yet, only having visited their old base at RAF Scampton on two occasions. Again, good luck with the restoration. Mike.

Hi Great vehicle. You say it is the oldest, do you have chassis or service number, please? I would expect you know that your first port of call is the very helpful team at the RAF Fire-fighting Museum, now in Normanby Enterprise Park, Scunthorpe. They have two of these Mark 5s there, 43 AF 31 and 38 AF 36 which they are restoring. The Geddington Volunteer Fire Brigade also run “Lady Eleanor”, a fully working example of the Mk5. Probably a very bad time to mention it, but the Museum is in desperate need of funds to keep their 36 fire appliances together, currently they have a great location, but only with the very kind help of North Lincolnshire Council who see the value in the project. Have to agree with MIKES on the style and functionality comment, trucks in those days were just so much more interesting. Watch out for a feature on British Airport Fire Appliances coming up in Heritage Commercial Vehicles Magazine sometime after the June issue. Good luck, Mike.

Hi Tom, Check your PMs, please. BW, Mike.

Hi Tom, First, welcome to the friendliest MV forum on the internet. Hope you enjoy all the posts on here. It is a great gesture that you are planning for your Dad, the T is one of the most beautiful trucks ever made. Perhaps you could tell the forum members where you are in the country as it could make a big difference to one of the many DT owners helping you out on this request. There are quite a few experts, both in the north and the south of the country. To make the post even more interesting, perhaps you can let us know where and when your Dad served with the TA and does he remember a particular DT that he used to drive. Regards, Mike.

...and there were large signs on every gate prohibiting all photography. My calculator was a piece of paper and a pencil...still is! Bw, Mike.

Lucky chap, new engine, new cab, wow. Can't tell you any more than just guesswork, if there is yellow paint, probably used as a snowplough, then pensioned-off due to it being too slow or the winter-work went out to sub- contractors with faster more modern kit. Bought up by travellers who were often very skilled mechanics and would do an engine /gearbox swop outside in the forest in the middle of winter if necessary. The picture you launched of it carrying Q520 AFG from a Ken Rimell article in CVC many years ago and your other traveller shots would strengthen that argument. You would have enjoyed a Ruddington auction. At that one, sadly the last, before private auctions took over, there was 2,302 very interesting vehicles of all shapes and sizes.

Hey, Andy, I have a good memory, but it was 36 years ago. However the Militant before that one 33 BM 80, I marked as a swb, so would guess yours was a standard lwb, only comment I made was an asterisk denoting it was in great condition and "open back, no tilt" and it was described as ditto against the main heading AEC truck (Diesel) 10 tons 6 x 4 which was printed against its sister 25 BR 75, the vehicles were lying on Parks 2 and 3 at Ruddington. Pretty sure it wasn't yellow on that day. Bw, Mike..

Hi Andy, I think the vote would be 99% green as generally you tend to find yellow paint over the green when they have been used as Council snowplough/gritters as many were. Bw, Mike.

Yes Andy, Probably climbed in the cab, but didn't write the mileage down. However a note against it said it didn't have a top on it, whether that was just no canvas or hoops too, not sure. Best wishes, go for it, Mike