Although Bedford as a company celebrated its 75th anniversary of existence in 2006, in 2007 we are marketing its 75th anniversary in Ireland instead. Though the name of Bedford came in to being in 1931, Bedford Lorries did not reach our shores until 1932. Bedford was a subsidiary of the general Motors Multinational which prior to 1931 offered the Chevrolet range of commercial vehicles in Britain and Ireland. These Lorries were made at the Vauxhall Motors Factory at Luton in Bedfordshire from about 1929 for about 1½ ton capacity, for about a year or so whereby a market was identified for a larger 2 ton lorry. This lorry was developed and marketed as the first Bedford model, the Bedford name reflecting the British origin of its design and development. These early Bedfords were developments of the Chevrolet range using Bedford designed petrol engines, 6 cylinder units of 44 horse power with electric starter motors being fitted as standard.  These 2 ton models were known as WH models and were available in a number of wheelbases with a bus chassis also being offered. It was this range of models that was first offered in Ireland being assembled from CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits supplied though McCairns Motors, Dublin.

Timmy McCairns, a Scottish man in origin, was General Motors representative in Ireland who was asked to establish assembly facilities for its products in 1932, the year in which the Irish Government imposed severe 33% import duties on the importation of fully built up motor vehicles. In order to get around these duties most motor manufacturers established assembly facilities in Ireland for the supply of CKD vehicles kits usually through local agents or representatives. This had the desired effect of creating employment around the country, which was much needed in an industrial contest seeing as our economy was otherwise heavily reliant on agriculture at that time in order to sustain itself. All General Motors facilities at Dublin’s North Wall which included Vauxhall cars, Bedford lorries, Chevrolet cars, vans and lorries etc.. As in the UK these early Bedford Lorries were a success being used for a variety of applications and being competitively priced.

In 1934 Bedford introduced its first 3 ton capacity models, the WT range. The WT’s 6 cylinder petrol engine produced 64 horse power, but more striking was its more purposeful appearance which was the result of adopting a semi-forward control layout, which moved the cab forward slightly, with the rear of the engine intruding in to the cab. There was the usual range of wheelbase options on offer and a bus chassis, the WTB. The WT chassis was found to be quite rugged which led to many operators overloading them, putting more than the designed 3 tons payload on. The WT Lorries were very popular and received a more rounded nose in 1938, to be used later also on the O Type chassis. Chassis left McCairns Motors with bonnets and wrings only with local coachbuilders building the cabs and required bodywork on them. In 1938 a more powerful 72 horse power, 6 cylinder petrol engine was offered by Bedford in the WT model. All of these pre-World War II Bedford were used by Great Southern Railways in its road freight department which operated over 200 examples of the Bedford marque.

In 1939, just before the onset of war, Bedford launched a new range of lorries, the K. M and O types, all featuring the rounded nose to the grille and a pressed steel cab. The K type was for 1 ½ ton  payloads, the H for 2 to 3 tone payloads and the O type was for 3 to 5 ton payloads. Very small number of these models appeared before the war. The British armed forces came to rely quite heavily on Bedford products during war. Among the lorries developed for the war was the 4x4 forward control QL type along with militarized versious of the M and O types known as MW’s and OW’s. For essential civilian use the OW’s were produced these had flat noses and sloping bonnets. Many ex-military Bedfords found willing new owners after the war who put them to work on less arduous duties!

The K. M. and O ranges re-emerged in 1945 and were extremely successful. The O type used the same 6 cylinder petrol, 72 horse power engine as the WT, which was raised to 76 horse power in 1949. The gearbox was a four speed crash gearbox with a trigger under the knob which needed to be presses in order to select reverse. O types were very popular on general haulage work with flatbed or dropside bodies. They were particularly popular with coal distribution companies such as Heitons, Donnellys and Dohertys. CIE rang many O types in its fleet. Guinness Brewery ran O types as tankers and as articulated flatbed lorries. The short wheelbase tipper shared its chassis with the Artic Tractor Unit.

The O type range received some improvements around 1950/51 namely a four speed synchromesh gearbox and hypoid differential instead of the spinal bevel one, 12 volt electrics also replace the 6 volt systems used up until that point. The O type range was extremely popular for Bedford and was discontinued in 1953. 1951 also saw the opening of McCairns Motors new facilities at Santry, Dublin.

In 1951 Bedford entered the market for larger lorries with its S type range for up to 7 ton payloads, these were known on the “Big Bedfords”. S types featured a stylish, if somewhat bulbous, forward control cab which sat directly over the front axle. Access to the cab meant stopping up the front wheel and climbing in through a short door, with the seating position being somewhat cramped, due to the narrowness of the cab design. S Type Bedfords had the new 300 petrol engine as standard, this being of 300 cubic inch or 4.9 litre capacity with a 6 cylinder unit developing up to 94 horse power.

In 1958, Bedford introduced a range of lorries that were to remain in production not only until the company’s collapse, but even beyond that, by a few cars, the famous TJ range. Outwardly, the TJ range looked like a fact lifted A or D type with its single piece windscreen and slope to the front of its bonnet.

In 1980 Bedford replaced its forward control S type range with the now famous TK range of lorries. The TK was quiet revolutionary for the time as the cab was set forward on the chassis, allowing access through the doors ahead of the front axle. The cab also featured a large windscreen for the time. The set forward cab also meant that 3 people could comfortably be accommodated in the cab. The TK also featured cab heating and de-misting as standard. Engine access was through two hinged panels behind the doors, at the rear corners to the cab. This was fine on the smaller models but proved to be inadequate on the larger engined models. As with the TJ range, the smaller TK’s were on 6 stud 16 inch wheels, these were the KB for 3 ton payloads, KC for 4 tons, KD for 5 tons payloads with twin wheels at the rear. The KB and KC featured the 4 cylinder 220 diesel or 214 cubic inch petrol engines as an option. The KD model featured the 300 diesel initially and fro 1962 the 330 diesel, the 300 petrol was an option. Models from the KE up featured 8 stud 20 inch wheels, with the KE itself featuring the option of 17 inch wheel rims from around 1971 or so, for those operators requiring a low loading height. The KF model was for 7 ton payloads with the 300 petrol or diesel engine and from 19062 the 330 diesel.

Initially, the KG model had the Leyland 350 cubic inch diesel. The KH model for 8 ton payloads was introduced in 1962 and used the larger Leyland 400 power plus diesel of 130 horse power. In 66 the KH was fitted with larger 10 stud 20 inch wheeled axles and had Bedfords new 466 cubic inch 5 cylinder diesel producing up to 130 horse power coupled to a Turner 5 speed synchromesh, direct drive top speed gearbox, an overdrive various of this gearbox was also available. 2 speed Bedford rear axles were also available on all models from the KE upwards. All models up to the KE featured a drum type transmission handbrake with the KG and KH having a disc type system.

What can I say about Bedford TK’s; they were everywhere. CIE had probably the larges fleet of TKs in the country. They had very early KH flatbeds with Leyland 400 engines. Around the same time they had a fleet of KH tippers to deliver lime to farmers. CIE also ran KG artics and in the 1970s had KE flatbeds and box lorries. Guinness ran KD and KG artics and TK rigids during the 1960s and 70s. Coal Distribution Ltd ran a fleet of KD flatbeds on house delivery work. Dublin County Council ran short wheelbase KG tippers with Thompson of Carlow steel bodies as well as road sweepers. Dublin Corporation ran TKs as tippers in various departments with its Waterworks Department also having unusual long wheel base crew bodies with short dropsied body section at the rear. TKs were very popular with manufacturing companies for delivering their products, companies such as Cadburys, Tayto, C and C, HB Ice Cream, Irish Ale Breweries, Esso, Irish Shell, the list is endless. TKs were also popular among licensed Hauliers and farmers, coal men and builders. The Post and Telegraphs ran TKs with gang bodies as well as dropsiders.

Just as Bedford had moved up the weight class in 1951 with the S type, the company moved further up the medium weight class in 1966/67 with the introduction of its KM range of models for 16 tons gross vehicle weight. These lorries featured the TKs cab using twin headlamp clusters and distinctive double bumpers and had wider front mudguards to accommodate a wider front axle with 10 stud wheels. KMs had the 6 cylinder, 466 engine up until 1975 when they received the 500.

In 1975, Bedford launched its TM rang of heavyweight lorries on to the market. The TM featured a new tilt cab which was quite tall and boxy in appearance. There were also two distinct versions of the TM cab, a narrow one and a full width one. The narrow cab, or “D” cab, was only available as a “day” cab, whereas the full width of “F” cab was also available as a sleeper cab, or “H” cab. The engines used initially in the TM range proved to be somewhat controversial, these being the General Motors Detroit Diesels from America.  Two versions of these Detroit Diesels were available in the TM both being 2 stroke V form engines, the 6 cylinder 6V-71 and the 8 cylinder 8V-81. The 6V-71 produced 215 horse power and the 8V-71 pushed out 196 horse power, both engines delivered very poor fuel economy, somewhere in the region of about 5 miles per gallon. In order to get the best from these Detroit Diesels, in terms of torque and power, it was necessary to drive these engines at the higher end of the rev scale, thus these lorries were usually heard “screaming” along the road with their distinctive 2 stroke tone from quite a distance, their wound never appealed to me however!

In 1981 Bedford at last addressed the problems of not having a tilt cab on its light to medium weight range of trucks when it brought out the TL range which was to replace the cab. The TL cab still had TK style engine access flaps behind the doors and the headlamps were located in a steel bumper. The TL range matched the TK and KM range model for model, some having turbocharged versions of the 220 and 330 diesels with the larger TLs having turbocharged 500 engines.

Besides producing different ranges of Lorries down the years Bedford was also a major producer of light vans. The most significant van model produced by Bedford was a CA between 1952 and 1969. When it came on to the market the CA was the ultimate in modernity for vans, with its sliding doors, and steering column gearshift for its 3 speed gearbox. The engine was a 4 cylinder 1.5 litre petrol unit from Vauxhalls car range.

Sales of Bedford commercials had been dwindling since the late 1970s, not helped by the fact that the TK in particular was showing its age and the TM with its Detroit Diesel engine options were not favoured by operators. European and Japanese manufacturers were offering more modern designs with better refinements plus the recession in the early 1980s did not help matters much either. Here in Ireland, by that time most customers for Bedfords were state or semi-state bodies. General or Licensed Hauliers had moved on to larger lorries other manufacturer with the sales pitch of Harris Hino salesmen being particularly hard to compete against. In 1986 it all came to an end when the British Government blocked General Motors bid to take over Leyland in order to strengthen Bedfords position.

If you are thinking of restoring a lorry yourself, I recommend that you start with a TK or TJ, as most of the parts that you will require are still available and they are simple uncomplicated designs that make for a good starting point in our hobby. I also recommend that you visit the National Transport Museums premises in Howth if you wish to see a good selection of Bedford Models as used by Irish operators. It is located at Howth Demesne and the opening times are:

1. September to May 14:00 hrs to  17:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays;
2. 26th December until 1st January 14:00 hrs to 17:00 hrs daily; and
3. June to August, Monday to Saturday 10:00 hrs until 17:00 hrs.

Well worth a visit.

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