Another underdog van . Bedford Cf tales

[mercrocker]

D'Agostino in Portsmouth still run a good fleet of CFs, they always appear to be mint (but other flavours are available) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Felly Magic]

The last real bastion of mobile ice cream sales in Leeds, Ian Smith owes his business to the CF really, even thought it started with his dad's mr Softee franchise and a fleet of Commer BFs, through the 80s he operated a CF for Mario DiClamente in Mr Whippy livery, and when he started on his own, he had a Cummins bodied early CF petrol, and worked his way through many CFs, then Transits, and Mercs, and back to Transits, and Commer BF's. I remember helping out Ian, with his brother Pete who I went to school with during school hols at Canal Gardens and at Temple Newsham, soft ice cream vans are like ovens in summer due to the engine and soft icecream machine running constantly. Rupert Grint (Ron Weaseley)has a Morrison bodied ex Whippy CF I believe, and he'd always wanted to own one

 

[mercrocker]

Here is another little snippet from my decaying memory bank.... 

 

I quite clearly remember the first CF I ever saw.   It was 1969, unsure when in 1969 but well into the Autumn.   

 

I was ten.   My Uncle in Canada had sent me some 1970 GM car brochures but had posted them to my Grandmother's house with some other stuff so I had to walk up and get them.   As if the day was not already exciting (foreign car brochures were hard to get for free) I got to Granny's to find her milkman in attendance.   She didn't use the South Coast Dairies who had the vast majority of customers in our area, she used a little one-man retailer down towards the beach. 

 

Anyhoo, he turned up this day in a brand new blue CF which had replaced his CA Mk2.   It looked so American with its beefy width and bold intake slots - much more so than the Transits we had already become immune to seeing.    I didn't follow commercial vehicle developments as avidly as I did cars so to see a new Bedford model was a complete surprise.

 

I was pretty pleased with the brochures, too, particularly the 1970 GMC Light Truck range which confirmed my detection of GM DNA in the Bedford.   

 

Still have all of the brochures, but Granny's house, Granny and the dairy have long since gone along with Mr Webb and his brand new Bedford.    

[NorfolkNWeigh]

After more than 50 years as an ice cream and van enthusiast, I've only just realised that Bedfords, both CA and CF outnumbered TrNsits 10 to 1. In fact before about 1990 I barely remember anything but Bedfords, even the occaisional little van was more likely to be an HA than a Mini or Escort.

Anyone know why.

[barmatt]

Don't know if any of you can remember me buying this last spring...

 

 

Well we've still got it, we went away in it 3 times last year, the longest was a 5 day jolly to a family wedding with stops each night at sites on the coast, averaging 100 miles a day we had a great time, the van performed brilliantly keeping up with traffic and has enough oomph to get past trucks on the m'way. The only squeezy bum cheek time I had was going over the dartford crossing on a windy day but that was actually not a problem at all.

 

When I got it the engine would run hot sometimes, one day after much buggering about and flushing of the cooling system my local mechanic was passing and saw the old bus so he stopped for a chat, I mentioned it running a bit hot and he said "yeah, they all do that, I had a fleet of these in the 70's and 80's and we always took the thermostats out in March and put them back in when the weather got cold". So I whipped the stat out and she kept perfect temp even in the screaming heat we had last summer and it didn't seem to make any difference to OMGMPG! which averaged out at 22ish. Not bad for a 2.5 ton petrol powered bungalow.

 

There's much fettling to be done especially to the interior which is all original (fifty shades of brown and biege) but fotunately it is mecahnically and structurally pretty solid. It's just the camper bit that needs work.

 

I really can't decide what to do with it, we both love it and it has a great layout inside especially for 2 peoople, the bed above the cab means there's no farting about making a bed up every night and inside is big enough that we're not tripping over one another but I really haven't got the time to devote to restoring it properly.

 

If anyone knows someone that does this sort of thing I'll happily pay for some stuff to be done.

 

Have another pic for reading this far.

 

[twosmoke300]

Cheaper to buy - otherwise the total cost inc conversion would be too much . That's why there are so many fiat Ducato motor homes compared to transits / sprinters . Although I suppose rwd counts against the sprinter in that example .

[Felly Magic]

I think the Bedford/ice cream van connection goes back to early CA's and operators used to the Bedford marque, plus they were as mechanically complex as a knife & fork, and Stewart Whitby's direct drive system was developed on the Perkins diesel powered CA, so a natural progression would be the CF as no new parts really were required, whereas Ford had the bigger York donkey, and I suspect the CF was cheaper for a chassis cowl than the Transit. To further cut costs, many operators chopped the body off the CA chassis, and fitted them to Bedford CFs, Masserella of Wakefield did this with a load of ex Neison/Lyons Maid liveried 'hard' vans that were bodied by Smith's of Gateshead, and fitted them to new CF cowls, this still goes on even today, and loads of Morrison full cowl bodied CFs were butchered and the bodies fitted to slope nose Transits in the 80s & 90's, as a brand new coachbuilt van was eyewateringly expensive.

[mercrocker]

Until the Transit came along there were few rivals to the layout that Bedford offered - the 400E Thames, Standard Atlas, BMC J vans and PB Commers all took the power unit well into the cab - less ideal for driving/serving cycles.    The CA's layout also lent itself more easily to chassis/cowl layout for supply direct to body builders - the Bedford brochures I have include a vast array of special body types from Martin Walter, Kenex, Smith's etc.    

 

The ice cream trade seems more conservative than most, presumably owing to the high cost of the bodywork and perhaps greater longevity from a comparatively short season.   The 1965 Transit probably wasn't considered until the mid 1970s in any number.     

 

I recall as an ice-cream obsessed kid that most of the vans we saw were larger Commer/Karrier BF series - it was only Tonibell that came round in Bedfords, usually with Picador bodies.

[Jon]

Looking back at the photos now, I'm wistfully regretful about not buying this for a smidge less than £2k, just over a year ago:

 

 

I'm usually not one for a modded CF but this was standard enough to buck that trend for me big time. It was admittedly very careworn but came with the advantage of a Ford 302 (5 litre) Cleveland V8 Aussie engine and slushbox, which made it bowl along very nicely. It also benefited from an interior decked out in blue fake fur, hence the hand drawn Cookie Monster motif on the side,which I had plans to get rid of, as the van rendition was really quite bad.

 

 

See what I mean? You'll also notice a bit of rust there, which it seemed to have in various patches all over the body. In fact, the passenger side of the cab roof showed daylight, which was one of reasons why head ruled over heart, even though the seller had offered to weld it up for the asking price. 

 

Still, on the test drive, the sound of the lay V8 was very alluring, as was the pick up in speed, which was acceptably rapid but not mind blowing; certainly better than the 2.0 Hiace we had before, which was very much a plodder. It had an unassisted rack but that caused no issue with overly heavy steering effort and I reckon all 45kgs of the missus could've piloted it no problems. The lower profile tyres at the front, coupled with the aftermarket seats and that jaunty steering wheel angle gave a very comfortable driving position, where I could see easily out the windscreen (even with its sun visor thing) and my hands could hold the wheel whilst resting on my lap - an ideal set up, especially with an auto box. 

 

Mrs_Jon couldn't get over the interior, despite it being easily removable and despite her liking everything else about it, along with a desire for a swb CF (not a CF2). in her defence, the interior was pretty dire and was at best half arsed in it execution. Since we're both in our mid 30's and are thus boringly sensible, we bought a rather nifty 2005 camping trailer for a bit less, which has the advantage of being cheaper to have sitting on the driveway 11 months of the year and also being bought for an absolute song, should camper trailer prices on Trademe be anything to go by.

 

Still, a V8 CF.....

[Shep Shepherd]

It would have to be that, I bet you can't name another of their songs. I know I can't.

 

"The Night, The Wine And The Roses" 

[Junkman]

AMC Rebel, on 23 Jan 2017 - 10:19 AM, said:AMC Rebel, on 23 Jan 2017 - 10:19 AM, said:

CFs appear to have been sold in Germany as the "Bedford Blitz Kastenwagen" - clearly the term/name Blitz didn't have the same negative connotations as it had here.  Looks like they had an Opel badge too despite being called a Bedford.

Formula Autos, on 23 Jan 2017 - 10:34 AM, said:Formula Autos, on 23 Jan 2017 - 10:34 AM, said:

Is Blitz not German for lightning (as in the symbol on an Opel badge)?

 

I might have this wrong, mind. It comes from a vague memory of watching a war film one rainy Saturday afternoon, and someone (possibly Kenneth More or James Robertson-Justice) explaining that Blitzkreig was "Jerry for lightning strike".

 

Blitz is the German noun for flash of lightning, but also used to boost adjectives, e.g. blitzschnell - lightning fast.

Most Germans are unaware of what the term is used for in Britain, thus it indeed does not have any negative connotations there.

 

All Opel lorries were called Blitz and there were merely four generations prior to the Bedford CF:

 

1930 - 1954 

 

1952 - 1960

 

1960 - 1965

 

1965 - 1975

 

 

The "Blitz" moniker wasn't entirely unjustified. They were always fitted with the straight six petrol engines from the corresponding big saloons,

making them the fastest lorries on the market by default. The last one of them could be specced with the 2.8 CIH twin carb from the Commodore/Admiral,

which in combination with suitable rear axle gearing could make it a genuine 100 mph lorry.

Thus Blitzes were always popular with express freight haulers or as incident response units, where performance takes precedence over running cost.

 

However, in the early Seventies, GM decided to clearer assign the range of vehicles built by its European branches and Bedford was put in charge

of making light trucks, thus replacing the legendary Opel Blitzes with some half arsed piece of shite per corporate dictate.

The success of the Bedford in Germany was consequently dismal, since it had no real USP and couldn't hold its own against the already well established

Transit. And what hitherto had been traditional Opel Blitz territory was predominantly done with yank chod from then on.

[Dirk Diggler]

All the ice cream van pictures made me think of this old gent; think he finished up in 2014

 

http://www.herald.ie/lifestyle/the-talented-mr-ripple-27876444.html

[barmatt]

All the ice cream van pictures made me think of this old gent; think he finished up in 2014

 

http://www.herald.ie/lifestyle/the-talented-mr-ripple-27876444.html

 

Nice article, a little melancholy but nicely written.

[eddyramrod]

D'Agostino in Portsmouth still run a good fleet of CFs, they always appear to be mint (but other flavours are available) 

 

 

 

Capture.PNG

 

Danthecapriman, FPB7 and I enjoyed our 99s from this very van last year when we took Dan's Mercury for a spin.  Didn't know there was a whole fleet of the things!

[barefoot]

In 1984, I hired a 2.3 litre CF from Boydens, the local Vauxhall dealer to use as a changing room for the delightful Nikki and her mate whose name escapes me but who had bigger tits. I was photographing lingerie and swimwear for a Contour fashion degree show thing.

CF was OK.

[panhard65]

After searching through some old hard drives I found the ex ice cream van I owned about 10 years ago.

[barefoot]

In 1984, I hired a 2.3 litre CF from Boydens, the local Vauxhall dealer to use as a changing room for the delightful Nikki and her mate whose name escapes me but who had bigger tits. I was photographing lingerie and swimwear for a Contour fashion degree show thing.

CF was OK.

It was Yvette.

[TripleRich]

I've been working on a CF recently.  Story goes it was originally a standard builders van until it was bought by a chap who wanted to convert it to a camper.  It sat in dry storage for about 30 years while he worked on it.  Sadly he never managed to finish it.  His granddaughter was keen to see it on the road and brought it into us.

 

We were asked to sort the gearbox which had been changed to a 5 speed from a sierra.  You couldn't really use it as the gear stick was behind the handbrake.  The steering was also too heavy, so we were asked to sort that.

 

Nice to work on really.  So high off the ground you don't need a jack and plenty of room inside.  The engine is a bit of a bugger to get at though.

 

Fitting electric power steering to a CF isn't exactly straight forward but I did enjoy doing it.  Changed the box to a 5 speed transit one with much better gearstick placement.  Nice and easy to drive now, but its still bloody loud though!

 

 

 

 

  

[Felly Magic]

Another ice cream van tale, Keith Waller of Castleford went under the name 'Wally's Ices', and started off with a very basic converted C reg CF2 high top, basically a van with a serving window on the nearside and a basic fridge and sink, bizarrely the van was a 2.0 Pinto/type 9 conversion too, a real lash up van, replaced it with a very similar D reg example, both vans were pure shite, he replaced the 2nd CF after a few years with a Transit diesel with the body from an aged Cummins Bedford CF that he fitted very badly himself, but spent a fortune having it properly signwritten & Where's Wally graphics

[Inspector Morose]

Let us not forget the Bedford CF electric.

 

My dealings with this fine cul de sac of General Motors began when I was at secondary school. The school was in partnership with Lucas and along with Lucas aerospace (I was thought to wire lock things properly) Lucas chloride came along to give a demonstration of their wares. This was a couple of Beford CF electrics as they were the electrical side of the partnership that created the most silent of CF.

 

The minibus (a CF2) was positioned in the playground and in turn, everyone in the class was invited to drive the beast around the playground for a couple of laps. I must have been 14 at the time.

 

Fast forward to a number of years later. I had dealings with a, erm, dealer of unusual vehicles based in Birmingham who phoned me up one day saying he had just the thing for me. I turned up and was confronted with three (count 'em) Bedford CF2 electrics, two vans and the very same minibus I encountered as a child many years before. One of the vans still held a charge and between the three, a working van was soon created for shits and giggles. The whole shebang was offered to me for £700 (rece vans, spare batteries and chargers) so I took it up. I used the van for a few short trips around the city but soon became bored and put it all up for sale. Big losses later rid me of this encumberance and the replacement Berkeley T60 was much more practical. I last saw the minibus in a Dudley scrapyard. Shame really as the shells were rust free too.

The CF electric was a weird thing to drive at the time. 50mph was achievable and the sense of pulling up to the light in complete silence was a weird one back in the 90's. Range was about 50 miles too even with the 2 tons of lead acid batteries mounted in a cradle under the floor. Heating was supplied by a seperate diesel burner unit mounted under the bonnet and was toasty warm but killed the battery life.

Good fun.

[Felly Magic]

I think Prince Philip had a CF2 electric bus on his royal 'fleet' too

[Mike D]

I spotted this beauty out and about when on holiday in Australia the other year - I reckon it looks fantastic, nicely worn, and it sounded extremely beefy when it burbled through the bottle shop

 

[Joey spud]

My first garage job was at the now long gone Vauxhall dealer G.Wells and sons in Strood back in '84.

 

The workshop had its own CF a 2.3 N reg swb wooden sided pick up in white with hand painted signage on its bonnet,doors and wooden flanks.

It was a typical slightly scruffy Bedford the sign writing after ten or so years had faded badly in places and it hadn't seen any polish for years but it had so much character that everyone wanted to drive it.

 

It was used for towing in any dead stuff or collecting spare parts from the nearby dealerships and once a month it was loaded up with any scrap metal the workshop had and driven the short distance into Maidstone to weigh it in.

My first trip to Maidstone was a laugh as the clips that held the engine cover down had long since busted so as you sped down Blue Bell hill the cover would start to lift letting the roar of the engine and the waft of oil fumes rush in,so the co pilots job was to hold the cover down with their boot.

 

Back then the CF2 had just came out and the Cavalier 2 litre engine was an all round better engine but a healthy 2.3 slant four was way more gutsy it just bloody leaked oil all the time.

 

I recall we looked after a small fleet of CF's,Chevannes and new out Astra vans for a local plumbing firm called Dixon Heat and their two new twin wheel big CF pick ups were suffering with severe propshaft vibrations that new props and gearbox/engine mounts had failed to cure and in the end a cure was found by running them up to speed on a four poster ramp and applying jubilee clips to the prop shaft in a trail and error fashion until the vibration subsided.

 

Years later i borrowed a 15 year old 2.3 CF luton van from a local furniture shop to help move a friend from Kent to north Wales.

It was a van i knew well and was a reliable old girl but it only did short journeys and as soon as it had been running for an hour it started missing and running on three cylinders after stopping and checking it over it turned out it was fouling its spark plugs up with oil deposits and the sump was near empty.

 

As we were fully loaded and had also hired a large Sprinter van to take the rest of the load we pressed on having to stop every 40 or so miles to clean the plugs and top the oil up but it got us there and back using three times as much fuel as the new fangled Mercedes.

[Joey spud]

 

 

 

I spotted this CF in Mottingham SE London a year of so back i think it was either a H or J reg and at the time was taxed and tested but full of old junk.

[worldofceri]

Here's my old CF Autosleeper I bought to take the new Mrs_WoC on honeymoon.

 

 

Loved the old 2.3l slant four; it was quicker than you'd expect.  If it had had an overdrive it would have been perfect.

 

Sadly, some bell end (me) crashed it, otherwise I reckon I'd still have it.  Luckily the new owners are serial CF botherers and it got fixed up and gently restored.  I still know where it lives and if I ever have a few quid in my back pocket I might go and knock the door and offer to buy it back.

[Cavcraft]

A mate of mine had one and converted it to a diesel. Iirc, he said the Opel (car) 2.3 Diesel engine dropped straight in, but you had to use a CF sump.

 

Someone local (who used to work at Halfords) had a really really tidy 1979-ish single wheel pick up.

[Felly Magic]

I have a rather nice diecast Opel-Bedford Blitz as they were called over there from the Eaglemoss Opel Collection

 

 

 

[eddyramrod]

That does look gorgeous, much better than the old Dinky casting.

[Ghosty]

Spotted at Chumley last year:

 

[Inspector Morose]