Sherpa Freight Rover LDV alert

[barrett]

God I love Sherpas. I think a really early panel van is actually my dream vehicle, and I keep kicking myself for not being brave enough to buy one (actually a minibus) a few years ago when I had the chance. Oh well. Here's some of the better ones I've seen over the years.

I think this might be my favourite thing on planet earth (sorry Ms Barrett!) and I genuinely think about it quite often. Tundra green!

This was mental. It's from 'the 80s', geddit? Dead now, I assume

This is an oddball – an electric jobbie, which was apparently a proper factory thing. This was a wreck when I saw it a decade ago so if it's still there I doubt there's much left. Shame.

 

[Snipes]

@barrett I thought the blue/white was the old NORWEB colours but I only found this 

[dean36014]

Years ago I had a bright yellow convoy, lwb, with single wheel back axle so only 3.1t gross weight. It had the old Peugeot 2.5td engine in it. Ex city link and pretty bloody straight. I did a full camper conversion on it. Insulated, proper caravan wall boarding, seitz windows, cassette toilet and shower, and a decent oven and hob. I've racked my brain so many times to try and remember the number plate to see how long it lasted after I sold it. I absolutely drowned it in cavity wax so hopefully it didn't rust out. I'm pretty certain it was over weight when I'd finished, should really had found a twin wheeler.

[neil72]

LDV seen in Surrey.

[500tops]

8 hours ago, barrett said:

 

This is an oddball – an electric jobbie, which was apparently a proper factory thing. This was a wreck when I saw it a decade ago so if it's still there I doubt there's much left. Shame.

 

That looks like a British Gas wagon

[neil72]

And another, i think this was ex- BR

[Dave_Q]

In-house LDV ALERT!

 

 

[grogee]

12 hours ago, barrett said:

electric jobbie, which was apparently a proper factory thing.

Yes, I saw something about works EVs, I thought it was an old brochure on ebay but I can't find it. 

Edit: found it, AR Online of course. 

I imagine an electric Sherpa was one step up from that converted Rover R8 we saw a few months ago, which was made out of lunchboxes and Halfords battery chargers. 

[grogee]

8 hours ago, Snipes said:

@barrett I thought the blue/white was the old NORWEB colours but I only found this 

Round my way it was SWEB but same principle applies. I wonder if they were centrally sourced by UK Govt? It would have fit in with the Seventies socialist utopia. 

[neil72]

Here's another, last taxed in 2007!

[warch]

I'd forgotten how wonderfully boxy and compact they were. I'm sure I saw a very smart late model Convoy pickup or tipper the other day, possibly around Shrewsbury, they're still around if not exactly common. 

It's interesting that they were never popular with travellers, presumably they wouldn't be seen dead in anything other than a Transit. In fact LDVs always had that slightly reassuring feel about them, you'd associate them with schools, local authorities, councils and other putatively trustworthy sorts. If that sounds a bit far fetched I've often noticed how people react to what you drive, turn up in a white Transit to do a survey and people are immediately suspicious, do exactly the same in a brightly coloured Berlingo and their reaction is rather different. 

[BorniteIdentity]

Ipswich Buses very famously ran one of those electric Sherpas - I think as a maintenence vehicle.  Check out this very evocative picture of my much maligned hometown.  I know I'm a nostalgic fool, but I can literally hear 1980s Ipswich with its Leyland Atlantean soundtrack.

Looks like there was a day out there back in 2012 with @trigger on camera duties.

Wonderful.

[Snipes]

7 hours ago, 500tops said:

That looks like a British Gas wagon

Yes , maybe that's what I was thinking of with NORWEB. 

[warch]

35 minutes ago, Snipes said:

Yes , maybe that's what I was thinking of with NORWEB. 

When did they stop using that colour scheme? I can remember it from when I was a kid in the 80s but can't remember when it changed or what it changed to.

[Rustybullethole]

17 hours ago, barrett said:

God I love Sherpas. 

I think this might be my favourite thing on planet earth (sorry Ms Barrett!) and I genuinely think about it quite often. Tundra green!

 

Not sure that could be beaten. Uncle Kevs was that shape just with sliders up front and in beige  which is defo topped by tundra green. 

Another pic from work with bonus LDV.

Edited September 11, 2025 by Rustybullethole

[warch]

Back when MI6 didn't have loads of money to spunk on Aston Martins. 

[grogee]

I've ordered one of these. It ended up being £25 by the time the postage was added. 

I'm happy to share the design (!) if you all want to get your own one ordered up. 

[barrett]

Here's a recent photo found on facebook, proving that they're still out there. I'd love to bring this one home and give it a big old cuddle

[quicksilver]

1 hour ago, warch said:

When did they stop using that colour scheme? I can remember it from when I was a kid in the 80s but can't remember when it changed or what it changed to.

They became Transco and changed to an allover pale blue livery in the early 1990s I think. Some of the later LDVs wore this colour scheme, like this one with a Transit in the old livery so this must have been during the transition period.

 

[TMP_319]

7 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

In-house LDV ALERT!

 

 

I did consider posting that in here but I wasn't sure if that was "the done thing". I recently-ish paid an inadvisable amount of money for a 200 Series and unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to afford both at the next insurance renewal (plus neither of them are getting any more reliable with age).

[Matty]

1 hour ago, quicksilver said:

They became Transco and changed to an allover pale blue livery in the early 1990s I think. Some of the later LDVs wore this colour scheme, like this one with a Transit in the old livery so this must have been during the transition period.

 

Double of the one I had that.

[Joey spud]

I've always had a big soft spot for these vans as I left school in the summer '84 and my best mates older brother had just got a job as a courier for Interlink parcels and his boss was very laid back and Mick was allowed to use the van for personal use as long as he didn't take the piss.

I tagged along with Mick most days that summer mainly because his van was so cool.

It was in my eyes the ultimate Sherpa a T reg single axle panel van with a 1800cc B series engine mated to a four speed overdrive gearbox (overdrive switch on the gear lever the same as a MGB). And it had sliding front doors and a big lpg tank behind the black plastic seats.

I seized the engine on my Yamaha DT50M late one evening on the A2 and the Sherpa rescued me from the hard shoulder with me balancing on the bike in the back of it.

My wife even remembers driving the Sherpa back from the local pub when Mick was too incapacitated one night,she had only just passed her test and only driven a Metro prior to this.

The Sherpa was so much more fun than his bosses B reg LWB single wheel Transit Di.

And the big song that was everywhere that long summer was Stevie Wonder with I just called to say I love you.

[andy18s]

Spotted.

[Snipes]

If I had an ideal spec it'd be a Leyland Daf grille with sliding doors and tailgate - can't say how practical they'd actually be but the novelty would be fun. The sliding door does make the side look busy, though.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Snipes said:

If I had an ideal spec it'd be a Leyland Daf grille with sliding doors and tailgate - can't say how practical they'd actually be but the novelty would be fun. The sliding door does make the side look busy, though.

If you're on a collection or delivery round, slides make perfect sense.

[AnthonyG]

5 hours ago, barrett said:

 I'd love to bring this one home and give it a big old cuddle

That is lovely, a proper J4 with a snout like the Tundra green one you posted above.

Is my memory playing up, or were early Sherpas ever sold as ‘Austin-Morris’, like the last J4s? I presume this was so they could be sold out of either franchise without bothering with different badges. 

[AnthonyG]

16 hours ago, neil72 said:

And another, i think this was ex- BR

This reminds me, when did ‘British Rail’ as a brand die post privatisation? I ask as at the weekend I saw a N or P registration Astravan in that colour above, and ‘British Rail’ in that black font (Helvetica?) they had between circa ‘65 and the end.

I just wondered if it was a genuine vehicle that had survived unchanged for the last 30 years, or a pretty good replica by a BR fan. It looked in good condition but was obviously used as a van and not a showpiece. 

[AnthonyG]

On 11/09/2025 at 00:50, barrett said:

 

Even from the photo I can tell the patina on this is superb. The sticker in the top left of the rear window is for a period rust-proofing treatment ( Tuf-Kote Dinol I think) and is probably one of the reasons why it was survived so well!

[warren t claim]

19 hours ago, Snipes said:

 

 

That looks like it started life as an undertaker's collection van.

[Yoss]

Just found this whilst trawling my photos looking for something else. Taken from our front room window in November 2017.