ROYAL MAIL MINI VAN SERIES

The Post Office returned to BL for its mailvans in 1979, buying Marinas and Itals from 1979 until 1983. However, a batch of 500 Morris Marinas was ordered for mailvan work in 1973. With the demise of the Minor and the fact that the Marina wasn’t ready to replace it immediately, the Post Office turned briefly to the Minivan for its small mailvan (see above). It was produced until 1971, when it was replaced by the Marina-based 7cwt and 10cwt vans. This example has a detachable roof-mounted extension to increase its carrying capacity.īased on the Austin A55 Cambridge, the ½-ton van sat above the ¼-ton Minor-based van in BMC’s commercial range, with both these models being available in Austin and Morris versions. Finally, a small batch of 25 Minivans was bought in 1981, although some of these were stock-piled, with the last of them not being registered until as late as January 1984.

When the Morris Minor went out of production, BL only had the Minivan available initially so the Post Office bought large numbers between 19, before adopting the Bedford HA between 19. Minivans were not popular as mailvans, as their low height made getting in and out of them tedious for postmen. The device on the back door is a locking bar to improve security, which was fitted to new mailvans up to 1971. The GPO’s first batches of 50 Minivans were delivered in 19, following the purchase of this prototype in 1959. Later deliveries, such as that pictured below, had red-painted, metal wings and one-piece windscreens. This view shows one of the original 1953 delivery, with its distinctive black rubber wings (which could shake off minor scrapes without the need for costly bodywork repairs) and split windscreen. Morris O-type (Minor) The post-war Morris Minor was the GPO’s standard small mailvan from 1953 until it went out of production in 1972.

ROYAL MAIL MINI VAN SERIES

Deliveries continued until 1953, when the Series Z was replaced by the familiar, post-war Morris Minor. In 1940, the long-serving pre-war Morris Minor mailvans gave way to the Series Z, which featured a larger version of the standard coachbuilt body grafted onto the Morris front end very soon, however, the factory-built panel van had to be accepted by the GPO. BMC’s breakthrough model, the Mini, also entered service with the Royal Mail in van form…

Though the Series Z van – based on the pre-war Morris Eight – was still in production when BMC was formed in 1952, it was soon to be superseded by the ubiquitous Morris Minor. The car-based mailvans have included the once-ubiquitous Morris Minor and rarely-seen Austin Maestro… Indeed, the Sherpa van remained popular with Royal Mail following the sale of the Freight Rover division in 1987, and its successors – the LDV Pilot and Convoy – can still be seen on postal duties to this very day… The General Post Office (GPO) had long-favoured Morris vans both for Royal Mail and Telephones duties, and this loyalty was maintained throughout the BMC era and right into the early 1970s.įollowing a brief dalliance with Bedford, BL products were again purchased for much of the 1980s.

Royal mail mini van