Modern Commer Replacement

[Lord Pig-Pen]

FFS PP, could you crop that one a little? So all the white around it is gone?

Sumpin' like this :

Cheers dude... still gettin used to my new lap top and scanner... all very hard to work out at the times I use em!! Has the pony tail got better yet??

[Lord Pig-Pen]

.........just leaving the rust   

Del

Rust! where?? not a bit of it.... all hidden by acres of filler as will be shown in the next pic to be posted (as she was, not is now!) I am only having new front steps fitted because its cool, nothing to do with the fact there is f**k all left to mount the cab steps to! he he

[mgmark]

No picture I'm afraid, but when we were racing in Wales last weekend, we had the dubious pleasure of staying in a hotel in Llandindrod Wells, which now rates as one of those places that, having been to once, I have no desire to re-visit. 

However, if you happen to be passing through, in the centre of town, is what was originally a lovely car showroom building, now in need of a little TLC.  Near the railway station and probably built in the 1950s, it is now used as a bric-a-brac shop, but it started life as a car showroom with acres of curved glass on the frontage, and blue and white pillars and boards above the glass, which still retain the original signs/lettering of the manufacturers' products sold when it was a car dealership - Humber, Hillman, Sunbeam and, most importantly COMMER shine out proudly in letters of blue from the frontage....aahh.

MG Mark 

[mgmark]

Google normally comes up trumps - here's a picture of part of that frontage.

MG Mark

[Andy Zarse]

A fantastic find Mark! One only wonders though how long it's all liable to last once one of the go-ahead Llandindrod Wells proprty speculators gets his grubby hands on it. It ought to be listed. It's great spotting these relics of a faded age. Some years ago in Penang I found a Vauxhall Motors sign opposite the E&O Hotel and also a famous TRIUMPH motorcycle logo set in mozaic in the doorway to a now-grotty shop doorway. I bet they once looked splendid!

[vqdave]

on my family trips from the hustle of the south east we go to our favoured spot in the roseland in cornwall and one of the closest large(ish) settlements is that of St Mawes who still have a Leyland sign on the garage as you come into town.

Always raises a smile.

[mgmark]

Forgot to post this one up after our return from holiday a couple of weeks ago - a bit like nopanic's picture (btw what make is that one?) - a small, German registered, Tata coach in Paris - not as preetty, but still jolly nice and a worthy contender

MG Mark

[Lazy B'stard]

Looking at the shield on the grille I'd guess at an Alfa Romeo F series which I believe was a badge engineered Saviem built in Italy from a kit of parts. Both very nice little buses though Mark.

[mgmark]

Looking at the shield on the grille I'd guess at an Alfa Romeo F series which I believe was a badge engineered Saviem built in Italy from a kit of parts. Both very nice little buses though Mark.

Spot on that man!  A little search reveals an Alfa romeo Romeo2 -
http://www.prewarcar.com/pre1966/show_postwar_car.asp?car_id=5094

Mind you if only 3 were produced, it's going to be a bit difficult finding one......

MG Mark

[Lazy B'stard]

I really do need to get out more often!

[Lord Pig-Pen]

Thats a beauty!.... I must sneak into the old timber yard in Bashley and get some snaps of old Mr Rivers collection of rusting relics. There are a couple of similar british built and very rusty old girls decaying in the brambles. Not seen em since I was was a nipper but they are still there, as are all the old army vehicles and the big shed full of Austin 7 type thingys.

[Andy Zarse]

There's been a shocking developement. No doubt there have been infidels and unbelievers in the "mystical Commer" business. But what happens next was a little surprising even by our own standards.

There was a recent post on the Classic Camper Club forum. I look in occasionally, it's useful for tips etc. I saw there was a post from a chap in Japan.....

Hi, I am from Japan. I am an enthusiast of Mini, have Rover Mini
> Cooper
> > S5, Mayfair and Riley Elf.
> > I now want classic camper, I am interested in VW Type2 or BMC JU.
I
> > like BMC JU better because it's British!!
> > However, it is impossible to find JU in Japan, loads of VW though.
> >
> > Anyway, if you have any info on these vehicle, I am very happy to
> hear.
> > pre '68 BMC JU with pop up roof sounds good to me!!
> >
>
---------------------------------
So I sent a short reply explaining the Commer's Japanese connection......

> Hi Yamana San!
>
> I've got a Commer PB Wanderer camper, there are pictures of it in
the
> Photos gallery on this website under Le Mans Commer or something.
>
> Anyway, the reason I mention this is because I bought it off a guy
who
> had himself bought it some years previously off a Japanese man in
> Croydon UK! I understand it is the only Commer van ever to have
been
> owned by a Japanese man in Croydon! He loved it by all accounts and
> only sold it as his GB visa had expired and he needed the money to
fly
> back to Narita.
>
> Good Luck,
>
> Andy


He replied thus......

Andy-san,

Thank you very much for your reply, this story actually becomes quite
interesting.
My friend and me were in UK, we were there for 9-10 years. During our
stay in UK, we became British car nuts. I like BMC cars, he likes
Roots. Now, I have asked my friend about you and your commer, he can
confirm it was him who sold the van to you!!
He is driving Mini Cabriolet and Berkley (3 wheeler) at the moment.

He said he is going to join this group later.


Well, wow! An ex-owner traced the Commer from Japan. I know the internets a wonderful thing but I can't help thinking there's a pinch of karma in here somewhere.

PS A Barkley and a Mini? He sounds suspiciously like a cross between Robbo SPS nd MGMark to me

[garyfrogeye]

That's just doubled the value then.
A great story.

[BigH]

Blimey,
A Berkeley, he must be clean off his Japanese rocker to be driving one of those around. It was after a drive in a Berkeley that I vowed to rely on public transport for the rest of the forseeable future. My proud mate had described it to me as being a bit like a Lotus Elan Sprint, but much more reliable. And a wheel short.
I think some pikeys had given it to him...
Hats off to him though, bonkers or not (and I'm giving him the benefit of an ever so slight doubt) he's what I'd call an enthusiast alright.
H

[Lord Pig-Pen]

Cool Story
The bloke I bought my VW camper off of appeared on the front page of my local paper a few weeks after I got her..... for kidnapping his children from his extranged wife!
If he had still had the VW he would not have managed to get so far in such a short time!!