1982 Bedford HA Van Brochure Scan

[inconsistant]

 

 

 

[wackywacerwill]

These are THE small van.

 

Here's a clip of my all time fav vehicle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3t0z_En4TI

[twosmoke300]

Due to my dad being a van dealer from 76 to 1995 I have been n hundreds of HA vans and I love em.

 

Can you find a dodge/commer van one?

[beko1987]

I bet the 28.1bhp 'economy' engine was painful when loaded up with cement and yorkies!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

My Dad had a 1965 HA, DTS173D, with a Morris Traveller back seat and running on re-drilled Minor wheels, presumably for cheap tyres,but it also made it a. Distinctive B. Potentially a death trap . We'd have been ok in the back as although we( me and 3 brothers) weren't strapped in there were no windows to fall out of. It had more chrome and a more car like interior than the these later ones. Don't know if it was a mighty 1256 or did the early ones have an 1100 of some sort?

[RedSparrow]

Were they still making these in 1982?!
I guess they didn't have a replacement until the Astra.

[Stixy]

Ive seen A reg     

 

What finished production first  the HA or Chevanne ?  

 

and were both still in production after the Astra van had started ?

[Richard]

These prehistoric vans (HA, Spacevan, EA etc) survived because buyers for utility companies couldn't be arsed to look into alternatives, just signed the same order year after year.

[mercrocker]

Not only could  they probably not be arsed they probably had a shit load of stores of spares and fitters that  could  fix them in their sleep....Even that brochure shows the HA in Postman Pat red with biff-em black bumpers and mirrors.   Always meant to score an HA van but left it too late now they are KLASSIXM8.

[RedSparrow]

Oh yeah, forgot about the Chevanne. Wrong shape for postie I expect.

 

Man I remember as a kid thinking the BT Spacevans looked old fashioned.

[chaseracer]

I like the idea of the 'tuned for economy' HA110 with 24.1bhp. Such exquisite misery.

[HMC]

Thanks for posting! Says a lot about the true povo spec ness of these relics that the brochure boasts about the 'all synchomesh gearbox", and this was 1982!

 

Ive always liked them, and remember some retired old school woodbine smoking workmen pottering up to my parents house in 1988 in a rusted out, smoking, ex BT one to crazy pave the patio for cash in hand.

[twosmoke300]

I seem to remember that bt had the economy ones and could run on 2 star fuel(remember that! )

British gas had the full power ones.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

As a benefit of the HA Viva being under styled, these things don't really look all that out of date for 1982. Stick some square headlights, fat plastic bumpers and larger rear lights on it and I reckon they could have gone on longer. 

 

28.1hp version though, LOL 

[warren t claim]

Getting out of one of these and into something like a Maestro van would of felt like a sizeable promotion.

[cort16]

I remember the 2 star thing being a big selling point at the time.

[warren t claim]

2 Star wasn't really much cheaper either.

[Richard]

I don't think I've ever seen decimal places in an advertised power output before.

[garethj]

Some top brochure scans recently!

 

Let me get this straight, you can load up one of these vans with 350kg, including driver and passenger.  I know people weren't as obese in the '70s but the obligatory fat bloke plus skinny mate takes up 150kg, leaving you an allowable load of 200kg.

 

I bet most of these were just loaded up until they couldn't close the doors any more and fuck the weight limit.  Unless you had the economy engine, then you'd have to be extra careful with the weight - only keep page 3 and the back pages of The Sun, the small transistor radio on the dashboard, no Yorkie Bars in the glovebox etc

[Richard]

We have a Transit that can't take much more than that. I think 600kg sees it overloaded.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

These are mega shit aren't they, I'd love one. 28.5 BHP - Brilliant. Whenever you see one on the bay nowadays theyre megabucks!

[inconsistant]

Some top brochure scans recently!

 

 

Surprising how easily you can be distracted while in the loft looking for the xmas decorations!

Plenty more where they came from...

[warren t claim]

"Optional passenger seat!"???????????

[sheffcortinacentre]

my mate has an X reg ex BT one with a 1256 car eng fitted & its quite nippy but screams at 60 on motorway.

[Joey spud]

I love these little vans.

I was a YTS at the now long gone VX dealer G.Wells and sons in Strood and can remember a couple of white A plates being pre delivery inspected and liveried with Philips electrical logos on their flanks.

 

There was also a local plumbing company called Dixonheat that had a mix of blue HA's Chevannes and CF's

 

Because the HA was so dated you got longer work times to service them so there was more opportunity to go on a ''boney run'' and get your bonus money up for the week as they usually needed new front shoes and four wheel cylinders every 12,000 miles.

 

I remember one that came in complaining of a poor turning circle and when we looked one of the transverse front springs sections had broken and wedged against the front hub.

I also remember that the gearbox crossmember fixing bolts were four small unf threaded things and if you were in a rush (chasing boney) it was easy to cross thread the buggers and wreck the threads in the chassis rail.

 

They also could do a wicked back fire out the exhaust if you turned the ignition off while still in gear (coasting down Frindsbury hill) and then swiched it on again.

Trouble was the service manager out on test caught me one day and went mental...

[garethj]

The place I work now started off as Pye Electronics, then moved to Pye Telecom, then Philips, then Simoco and now Sepura.  Here's an HA van from (I think) an 1973 company brochure with the company address on it.

 

 

There's no date on the company brochure, but the van has no door mirror so must be an early one.  And there's a photo of the toolroom with a bloke who started in 1972 but not someone who started in '73.  It's like the Autoshite version of Time Team

[rml2345]

These brochure scans are the business! Keep them coming please.

Knew these things went on past their sell by date but didn't think they made it to 1982! A 28.5bhp HA must've seemed like an anachronism compared to a newfangled Maestro or Escort van.

[londonm]

Love these vans, used to see them everywhere in the eighties then they just disappeared. They looked prehistoric back then, but I bet they fetch good cash now. I find it hard to think of passenger seats and rear mirrors as options, these would still only be bringing it up to poverty spec after all. Does anybody here own one? Any good?

[Wilko220]

Don't remember them having black bumpers and hub caps - I suppose it was a run-out thing to make them look a bit more modern.

[scruff]

My dad had an ex Gas one as his first van, he loved it and I'd love one day to buy him a really smart one.