Sherpa Freight Rover LDV alert

[warch]

14 hours ago, Dan302 said:

No photo unfortunately but just seen a 54 plate twin wheel tipper liveried up for a local builder look tidy (other than being filthy) good to see one still earning it's keep.

I know more a couple of tradespeople who have opted for a classic work truck rather than something new, very expensive and potentially troublesome. 
 

The distinct lack of warning lights is a definite attraction as is a proper run forever old fashioned pre common rail diesel motor.

[Noel Tidybeard]

17 hours ago, R Lutz said:

I owned the last of line one of those XLWB. 

winnah in life!

[R Lutz]

If you want heritage and lineage, the the chassis engineer for MG RV8, MG ZT 260 and MG SV also did chassis development on Sherpa. He's a good friend, he set my MG TF chassis up for me after I bought it. 

[warch]

1 hour ago, R Lutz said:

If you want heritage and lineage, the the chassis engineer for MG RV8, MG ZT 260 and MG SV also did chassis development on Sherpa. He's a good friend, he set my MG TF chassis up for me after I bought it. 

I've read some quite uncomplimentary things about the handling on the various Sherpi derivatives but for what they were* they weren't too bad. I got a fully loaded Convoy properly sideyways on a rain sodden roundabout in Durham but it wasn't too shit scary.

*A 1950s design usually shod with ancient budget ditchfinders.

[R Lutz]

I've driven quite a few Convoys with various bodies and powertrains and I enjoyed driving them all. In fact, I preferred driving the Convoy to the Discovery TD5. I should note that I've never driven a 200/Pilot. 

[Matty]

44 minutes ago, R Lutz said:

I've driven quite a few Convoys with various bodies and powertrains and I enjoyed driving them all. In fact, I preferred driving the Convoy to the Discovery TD5. I should note that I've never driven a 200/Pilot. 

I briefly had a pilot when I was on the powerlines till one of the hi top transits came free (they were kitted out as rolling workshops). I thought it was absolutely hilarious. It'd cock a rear wheel on any tight bend taken with any verve. Quite sprightly as well with expectations adjusted for a van with a DW8 in it. All in all not a bad little thing. I was quite fond of it.

[Yoss]

I got my old Royal Mail one a bit sideways every day. It was so easy. On any ninety degree turn you just dropped it in to second approaching the turn, turned the wheel and floored it and it just went round in what felt like quite a controlled way with the back slightly out. 

The Transit that replaced it was technically better in every way but not nearly as much fun. 

[barrett]

On 22/09/2025 at 14:07, Heavyspanners said:

Fresh in on FB Marketplace, an early Sherpa panel van. Not a camper conversion - a plain old van, as far as I can see in authentic Not Mucked About condition.

Rusty, of course, but repair panels are now available (van comes with a couple, apparently). B Series engine, so mechanically it's pretty easy.



Price is possibly a bit steep for a non-runner, but it's a genuine rarity. It really is a case of 'find another'.

Best thing about it - it's a double slider!

This is so good! I'll be spending the rest of the day daydreaming about rescuing this one. That plate must be worth most of the asking price, no?

Just thinking out loud, but what's the repair panel situation like for these? Are there LDV bits that fit, which are still easily available? Might give something like this more of a fighting chance if so

[grogee]

13 hours ago, Yoss said:

I got my old Royal Mail one a bit sideways every day. It was so easy. On any ninety degree turn you just dropped it in to second approaching the turn, turned the wheel and floored it and it just went round in what felt like quite a controlled way with the back slightly out. 

The Transit that replaced it was technically better in every way but not nearly as much fun. 

Tut! All that money I've wasted on stamps, and all the while it was feeding some young hooligan's anti-social driving. 

(Keep up the good work BTW) 

[Yoss]

3 hours ago, grogee said:

Tut! All that money I've wasted on stamps, and all the while it was feeding some young hooligan's anti-social driving. 

(Keep up the good work BTW) 

I was just making sure I got the mail delivered on time. 

[R Lutz]

My uncle drove 200s for decades delivering for Littlewoods catalogue and Federal Express. They had to monitor tyre and brake wear as the drivers with rural rounds became apt and sliding them and taking them up to the limits and beyond. I cannot recall any crashes in Fright Rovers but heard tales of crashes in smaller vans.  The only incident was when one of his caught fire in Durham City Centre at a set of traffic lights. It was rumoured it was the dodgy aftermarket stereo in it that caused it to catch. 

[R Lutz]

In fact Freight Rover responded to Littlewoods security concerns and changed the stale air extraction from stamped holes in the rear side panels (covered in a black plastic grill the size of a fag packet) to then be incorporated in the rear light clusters. The Mackems had figured how to open the rear doors through these vents. 

[warren t claim]

10 hours ago, barrett said:

This is so good! I'll be spending the rest of the day daydreaming about rescuing this one. That plate must be worth most of the asking price, no?

Just thinking out loud, but what's the repair panel situation like for these? Are there LDV bits that fit, which are still easily available? Might give something like this more of a fighting chance if so

Surely LDV Pilot panels can be made to fit?

[R Lutz]

20 minutes ago, warren t claim said:

Surely LDV Pilot panels can be made to fit?

'Birmingham Engineering'

[mk2_craig]

Absolutely terrible photo taken this afternoon (sorry) but I think this was BMC badged and had four doors. 

[mk2_craig]

Also:

Facebook ad. Sounds alright eh?

Yeah that MOT exemption has a lot to answer for. 

https://www.facebook.com/share/16LPaZ3ttC/?mibextid=wwXIfr

[Heavyspanners]

On 01/10/2025 at 11:00, barrett said:

This is so good! I'll be spending the rest of the day daydreaming about rescuing this one. That plate must be worth most of the asking price, no?

Just thinking out loud, but what's the repair panel situation like for these? Are there LDV bits that fit, which are still easily available? Might give something like this more of a fighting chance if so

Some repair panels are available, for the bits that are most likely to go rusty (door steps, wheel arches). Apparently they're made in Turkey, where the local BMC company (an offshoot of the British company which went its own way) built its own version of the Sherpa. They're sold by the one and only specialist Sherpa parts supplier: https://www.seanturnbull.co.uk

LDV panels will fit models from the Freight Rover era onwards, but not necessarily earlier versions. The Sherpa bodyshell was completely redesigned in 1982, and although the later vans look similar, there are lots of differences (a bit like the Austin Princess/Ambassador - they're more different than they look). Having said that, the sliding cab doors stayed the same right into the LDV era, probably because they weren't a popular option in later years so there was never an incentive to redesign them.

Otherwise the spec changed so frequently it's easy to get caught out. I've just bought a new clutch slave cylinder,  and discovered it's the wrong sort. I think I've got the version for 5-speed gearboxes, not 4-speed gearboxes - but there's nothing anywhere to tell you that there are two different types (the Haynes manual mentions two different types of clutch, but doesn't say a word about the slave cylinder).

I think an early Leyland Sherpa - from the B Series era - would be a lot easier to live with than the later versions, because a lot of the parts are going to be common with much-loved classic cars like the MGB and even the Mini. Later Sherpas were arguably better, but once we're into the O Series period you need to be a kind of double-detective: first to find out what parts it should have, and then to find the parts!

[Cavcraft]

I wonder if you could find a decent early Sherpa camper and convert it into a van? 

[Heavyspanners]

I mentioned the Turkish Sherpas above - I don't think these have cropped up here so far.

It's a bit like Santana Land Rovers in Spain. They started out just like the UK version, but over the years the designs diverged until they became distinctly different. But the Turkish Sherpas always retained the original-shape doors, with the 'lean forward' trailing edge.
 

 

[Yoss]

23 minutes ago, Heavyspanners said:

I mentioned the Turkish Sherpas above - I don't think these have cropped up here so far.

It's a bit like Santana Land Rovers in Spain. They started out just like the UK version, but over the years the designs diverged until they became distinctly different. But the Turkish Sherpas always retained the original-shape doors, with the 'lean forward' trailing edge.
 

 

Well that's something I never knew existed. How long did they make them for? Those front sidelight/indicators look like they have been lifted from something else. 

[captain_70s]

On 02/10/2025 at 17:14, mk2_craig said:

Facebook ad. Sounds alright eh?

As soon as I see lights/horn/a replaced hazard light switch being touted as selling points I'm out...

[Rustybullethole]

LDV in my home town. 

Post office long gone. Much sadness.

[Heavyspanners]

4 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

I wonder if you could find a decent early Sherpa camper and convert it into a van? 

I'd say it's possible....but possibly not easy.

It might be difficult to weld in sheet steel to cover the side windows without it distorting. But I think the biggest problem would be the big hole in the roof where the pop-top used to be. Low top Sherpa roofs had a criss-cross rib pattern pressed into the panel (a feature carried over from the J4 van) which would be an absolute pain to fabricate.

The rib pattern can just about be seen on this van:



Later Sherpas with the high(er) roof would be easier to deal with, because there were no fancy pressings in the panel. Both roofs were available for a while - I think one was standard and one was an option, but I don't know which was which. The low roof was discontinued around the Leyland Daf era, and with that the last remaining link to the J4 van was severed.

 

[Rustybullethole]

[Yoss]

7 hours ago, Heavyspanners said:

I'd say it's possible....but possibly not easy.

It might be difficult to weld in sheet steel to cover the side windows without it distorting. But I think the biggest problem would be the big hole in the roof where the pop-top used to be. Low top Sherpa roofs had a criss-cross rib pattern pressed into the panel (a feature carried over from the J4 van) which would be an absolute pain to fabricate.

The rib pattern can just about be seen on this van:



Later Sherpas with the high(er) roof would be easier to deal with, because there were no fancy pressings in the panel. Both roofs were available for a while - I think one was standard and one was an option, but I don't know which was which. The low roof was discontinued around the Leyland Daf era, and with that the last remaining link to the J4 van was severed.

 

Our old high tops, the ones with the flip up vynil bench seats had a translucent fibreglass (?) panel in the roof. This was the only light we had if travelling in the back, there were no windows. 

The later high tops from after the point that was considered too dangerous, even for a postman, didn't have this. I assume the whole roof panel is fibreglass on a high top anyway, I don't think they could make that shape in steel. 

[Heavyspanners]

12 hours ago, Yoss said:

Our old high tops, the ones with the flip up vynil bench seats had a translucent fibreglass (?) panel in the roof. This was the only light we had if travelling in the back, there were no windows. 

The later high tops from after the point that was considered too dangerous, even for a postman, didn't have this. I assume the whole roof panel is fibreglass on a high top anyway, I don't think they could make that shape in steel. 

It never occurred to me that the later high top roofs were fibreglass, but I suppose they must have been. They weren't really all that high, but they were higher than the older version.

(I like the little kick-up in the swage line, just visible above the gutter to the rear. Now who says Sherpas aren't stylish!)



 Picture from here: https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/the-history-of-ldv-vans/   That's not a bad overview in a skim-the-subject kind of way, but there are a few bits that will make the dedicated Sherpist go "Huh?"

Like this: 

Within a few years, the Hi-Loader variant of the LDV 400 became Britain’s largest van, perfectly accommodating many an antiques dealer, postman or removal firm alike. Powered by a pair of 2.5-litre Peugeot engines (one with a turbocharger) these robust units added to the ‘Sherpa’s’ image as a rugged workhorse, helped initially in no small part by a silver screen appearance in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.

Powered by a pair of Peugeot engines? I've never heard of a twin-engined Sherpa before!

And, as any fule kno, the van which appeared in the Bond film was not an LDV 400 - that model hadn't been invented in 1977, when the film was made. It was a plain old Leyland Sherpa, which at that date must have still had the B Series engine.

I've read that the grinding of gears heard in the Sherpa sequence was real. Barbara Bach was used to driving automatics, and wasn't at home with the Sherpa's manual gearchange. There were several takes of her putting the van into gear, and in some of them she did it faultlessly. But the take that was used was the one with the grinding (and Roger Moore making sarcastic remarks). 
 

Has anyone ever made a replica of the Bond Sherpa? It's been around as a model for years, but you'd think someone would have made a real-life version. 


 

[Snipes]

I imagine my gearshifting might get a little ragged if I had a metal toothed psychopath eating my van as I was attempting to escape in it.

[R Lutz]

22 hours ago, Heavyspanners said:

I'd say it's possible....but possibly not easy.

It might be difficult to weld in sheet steel to cover the side windows without it distorting. But I think the biggest problem would be the big hole in the roof where the pop-top used to be. Low top Sherpa roofs had a criss-cross rib pattern pressed into the panel (a feature carried over from the J4 van) which would be an absolute pain to fabricate.

The rib pattern can just about be seen on this van:



Later Sherpas with the high(er) roof would be easier to deal with, because there were no fancy pressings in the panel. Both roofs were available for a while - I think one was standard and one was an option, but I don't know which was which. The low roof was discontinued around the Leyland Daf era, and with that the last remaining link to the J4 van was severed.

 

You know that roof never, ever fitted correctly? Hence how they all leak in the front corners. I think the semi high roof came about because the J4 tooling was worn. In fact, I think that's how all stying changes came about - necessity. 

[High Jetter]

Didn't British Gas, and maybe others, spec ultra high tops, fibreglass allowing standing upright. Some RM too, with shutter rear doors?

[Snipes]

I hadn't noticed the difference in the roof before.