Old horsebox lorries - who has one? Any photos?

[cp1980]

Is there anyone here who drives a horsebox (lorry) that is over 30 years old?

Although new lorries are probably more comfortable and use less diesel, offer grater payloads (probably) and a better standard of living, they don't have the character of the old Bedfords or D Series or Dodges and especially not as interesting as one of those hardwood bodied ones.

Any stories or pictures?

CP1980, Horsebox spotter

 

[bigboyrocky]

ours is 25yrs old, B reg Mercedes.. trying to sell it (pretty cheaply!) but no one wants an old lorry! Silly cause its brilliant! no good pics sorry, just this...

 

[Mike007]

Its getting spare parts that kills them off . Bedford TK,wonderfull beast,330 engine 20 mpg,try and get that with a ford tector twatmobile.I have a beloved seddon atkinson 400 series circa 1976 timber lorry, If I were to try and replace it with a modern lorry it would cost me a fortune and still be no better.

 

[Doncella]

I had a Leyland Terrier, 25ft, carried 4 horses, Redline bus engine that chugged and chugged and chugged, sorry no pics, couldn't get spare parts so it went for scrap. Cried??? I'm welling up now, it was the 'lucky lorry'. I still have horses and a smaller lorry but everything is s?$t and has been since the Leyland went.

 

[cp1980]

Thanks for your posts.

There are some very interesting classic horseboxes out and about. Some lorry enthusiasts like to restore them.

About 5 -10 years ago for a few years there was a classic Bedford lorry show at Cambridge called the "Bedford Gathering". I went along one year and met a bloke who had restored a early 1970s PETROL Bedford TK 7.5t lorry. It was a lovely coachbuilt and it was almost silent as it drove off the show ground. The chap clamed that he could get 17 miles per gallon out of it! His wife was occasionally allowed to use it for transporting her horse.

 

[*hic*]

1978 Leyland Terrier Redline 738

Originally NHS Blood Wagon


Delilah d'Lorry

Goodness knows who did the conversion but rather nice quality with aluminium I-beam floor, hard wood walkway in front of horses and Oakley style (and quality) partitions. Stalled for five or several and a carriage, with two ramps.

When we got her she was in this tasteful colour-scheme, handbrushed household gloss by Dulux I believe!

In this photo she is on a camping trip - so set up to carry two, plus partition for food / tack etc and has a caravan kitchen and cassette loo "installed" (ie held in with bungees). Beds were one army canvas camp bed and three foam squabs from a caravan.

Here she is getting a lift home after her first VOSA test with us. The tester threw me out of the cab because he though I was pratting around on the brake test. He then took over and went white, followed by green, as he realised that actually the brakes DID only have six seconds of braking effort. She had always had six-weekly checks on grease points etc but I just assumed the brakes were like that. I live in the Fens - no hills to try them on. The times I had met hills I'd had problems but I assumed it was a one off . . .

And looking very small next to the giant container lorry in the prohibition area of the VOSA centre yard, about to be collected by a lovely breakdown man who on this occasion managed to punch a hole through the rad which he repaired for me. He rescued us on a couple of occasions including our return to the VOSA centre for the prohibition to be lifted when not only did the "repaired" rad spring a leak but the clutch also died (traced to a broken plastic hydraulic pipe).

This was after her third VOSA test with us - there was corrosion on a steel brakepipe that the guy who checked her over for me had missed. VOSA insisted that not only was the steel pipe replaced but the rubber one leading to it - despite it showing no problems whatsoever and in fact being relatively new(less than five years old). That nearly took her off the road as finding that part was a nightmare.

Actually getting any work done was a PITA as no-one wanted to touch her. So when it came to replacing the governor valve we had to do it between us, ditto removing the brake master cylinder and bits to get them reconditioned and then refitting them bleeding the brakes etc. Most of the work had to be done by us - we are more used to motorcycles!

Engine

Brake master cylinder

Shiny reconditioned master cylinder - and dodgy but working brake pipes

Tilt cab!

(I got a *******ing for posting that on a forum - and had to hurriedly go and shore it up with a couple of scaffold stands and a ladder, in case it fell. Bless them they were only trying to protect me!)

My cat obviously overheard when i talked about "spraying the lorry"

Much used, much loved and much missed - we went all over the area in her and did more miles in her than I did in my car for two years on the trot. It sounds as though she was unreliable, she wasn't and was happy to start in the foulest of weather, it was just that getting new bits took a while and some ingenuity.

She was bought for just over £1k through ebay, didn't actually cost much to keep on the road because parts, although tricky to find, were cheap and of course no-one would work on her for us so labour costs were virtually nil and eventually I sold her through ebay for £860, keeping the shower and cassette loo that had been in her when we bought her, sufficient rubber matting to kit out a 12 x 10 stable, sufficient marine ply to do two walls of a stable, saddle and bridle racks and various other useful fittings that have been redeployed.

She made me smile every time I drove her

 

[Mike007]

Some leyland terriers had a truely scary braking system which relied on pressurising the brake fluid with an engine driven pump into an accumulator.Not the sanest of designs.

 

[cp1980]

What a great story and wonderful pics!

Fascinating!

 

[Spinal Tap]

My first box was a Beddie TL - not quite 30yo but not far off. Meet Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

We fell out after this and I scrapped her

I do love my stupid old vehicles though - this has been my runabout for nearly 14 years

(Excuse the dog getting in the way!)

If I could get a Moggie on steroids to turn into a limo for Mrs P I'd be well up for it!

 

[gunnergundog]

Have got a D registered Dodge 50 mark 1. Still going strong; had it from new. Perkins tractor engine in it, so no finnesse, but on the other hand so basic that there's not much to go wrong. If anyone else has one of these I found the following website invaluable for tips and tracking bits down.
http://www.dodge50.co.uk/

 

[cp1980]

If I could get a Moggie on steroids to turn into a limo for Mrs P I'd be well up for it!

I do think that the Bedford TK does have similar styling to the Morris Minor or old Mini - all vehicles essentially from the 1950s/early 60s.

I met a judge at a horse driving trials who had a 28 year old Bedford TK HGV. She bought it in the late 1980s to go to driving trials competitions in europe and got a mechanic she knew to pick/recommend a second hand vehicle for her. This TK had a powerful engine by TK standards and could easily cruise at 60mph.

Indeed, she was using it that weekend as a caravan.

 

[siennamum]

I've only got a picture of a part of my uber reliable, D reg lorry. It's a Roadrunner, no living, tilt cab, potentially woudl carry 5, but is comfortable with 3 large horses.

 

[mainpower]

If anyone would like a project I have a wooden Oakley 13' body that needs restoration looking for a good home.....

 

[WoopsiiD]

Wey Hey!!
I thought I was the only Ye Olde Horse Box Fan!!!
My dream lorry would be.....no laughing now......

 

[jhoward]

Bernard the bedford, 1981. lovely lorry horses travel well, we find were running it at around 45pence a mile, no more thanb our discovery and trialer cost to run, tax is also a bit cheaper,

I noticed another poster said about parts.. they are in fact easy to get, drop me a pm I have a list of dealers/compaines that supply bedford parts.

heres the beastie.. poor old bernie is now for sale

 

[mainpower]

Is Bernie petrol?

 

[charmeroo]

If anyone needs Dodge parts there is a good man in Poole who's really helpful! PM me if you need contact details!

 

[Jane_Lou]

When I had my old Bedford I had no problems getting parts - ok so these people are local to us but they sell part all over the country - they have lots of old MOD Bedfords and sell reconditioned parts and engines.

http://www.vass.co.uk/parts.asp

 

[Sanolly]

not mine but here is my friends 1972 Charles Clarke.

 

[jhoward]

Is Bernie petrol?

no bernie is diesle (sp)

 

[cp1980]

not mine but here is my friends 1972 Charles Clarke.

I think there is one of those for sale on ebay at the moment. Must be a pain getting hold of parts. At least Bedfords were produced in great numbers and exported world-wide AND are still used to this day by the British Army.

Here is a fantastic horsebox which was build from scratch, as new, on a Bedford VAL coach/bus chassis:

I understand from enthusiast websites that it was one of only three known to be built as new on a coach/bus chassis, rather than using a truck with a ready made cab.

Note the extra axle at the front. This was a distinctive feature of the VAL coach and you may have seen one before on the film, The Italian Job: http://wakefield-files.freehostia.com/alr453b-steveedmonds.jpg

 

[Goya]

No pictures I'm afraid, but I had an A reg ford Cargo (1983 ) We went all over the country with her and only had to call break down twice for starting problems. I sold her to a friend in my RC and she still has her. She is still going strong and has recently sailed through her test.
I actually found out today that she is now for sale.

 

[Sanolly]

CP1980 It's probably the same one, they are downsizing.

Mainpower I have a friend who loves restoring old vehicles, he may be interested so can you PM me some details?

 

[Oberon]

I share your love of old lorries - especially Bedfords.

Looking at the front grill of the Mini Cooper and comparing it with the Bedford TK - you can see where they got the insiration for the 'face' from.

My first and only lorry so far was Tonk, a 1988 Bedford AWD. Perkins engine.

She never let me down. Her cab was rotten though and I was intimidated by the upkeep of a lorry so I after a while I left her standing and had to sell her to an exporter.

She had been standing for over a year in a field. With a jump she started first time and almost leapt onto the back of the man's recovery wagon. There was a 1ft jump onto the back but she did it. I was gobsmacked - and so ashamed of myself.

She is in Africa now.

I would still love a TK - but can't justify it just now.

I still look on eBay every week though!

I love the Bedford music.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nTAaCHnsgg

 

[Oberon]

I would also love old American muscle cars.

If anyone has a 1968 Pontiac Firebird and a 1970s Chevy Chevelle going spare, I'll take em

 

[mainpower]

CP1980 It's probably the same one, they are downsizing.

Mainpower I have a friend who loves restoring old vehicles, he may be interested so can you PM me some details?

It's the body only, no cab/chassis, or partitions.

 

[mainpower]

no bernie is diesle (sp)

Shame as I'm in the LEZ!

 

[Spinal Tap]

I do think that the Bedford TK does have similar styling to the Morris Minor or old Mini - all vehicles essentially from the 1950s/early 60s.

I met a judge at a horse driving trials who had a 28 year old Bedford TK HGV. She bought it in the late 1980s to go to driving trials competitions in europe and got a mechanic she knew to pick/recommend a second hand vehicle for her. This TK had a powerful engine by TK standards and could easily cruise at 60mph.

Indeed, she was using it that weekend as a caravan.

I've heard good things about the TK but I've been somewhat put off Beddies by Priscilla She was deafeningly noisy, reversing made the engine want to leap into the living, the speedometer would only work about 5% of the time, she rolled about so much that I used to worry about tipping over on undulating lorry parks & I used to have to go into a trance and use the force to find 2nd gear I used to find driving to competitions considerably more stressful than actually competing in them! The Moggie, despite her age (42) and lack of any mod cons whatsoever, is a very easy car to drive

 

[perfect11s]

I would also love old American muscle cars.

If anyone has a 1968 Pontiac Firebird and a 1970s Chevy Chevelle going spare, I'll take em

stupid me ive had and sold 69 dodge charger hemi orange with 440 big block, 70 dodge super bee 383, 71 chevelle ss 454, various pick ups and other American cars wish i still had them most would be worth a fortune now .. going to get another truck once I have a little money left at the end of each month or get lucky with the lottery then its a 2011 f250 king ranch

 

[cp1980]

Thanks for the interesting contributions.