Bedford Vehicles
Bedford was a subsidiary company of Vauxhall Motors which was the provider of commercial vehicles for the UK and export markets.
The origins of Vauxhall Motors can be traced to 1857 when Alexander Wilson founded the Vauxhall Iron Works and set up business as a marine engineer in Wandsworth Road, Vauxhall, London. By the turn of the century Wilson had left the business and the remaining board directors became interested in the "horseless carriage" after the company had constructed a petrol engined launch - one of the first in marine engineering. In 1903 a 5 h.p. single cylinder car was offered to the public at a price of 130 guineas. In order to expand the company, it was necessary to move out of London and a suitable site was acquired in Luton, Bedfordshire where the company moved in 1905. The company adopted the Griffin as its badge which is still in use a century later. One of the original 1903 cars is at the Vauxhall Heritage Centre.
Car production continued apace and in November 1925 Vauxhall was acquired by General Motors. Chevrolet trucks had been on sale in Britain since 1923, but were costly owing to import tax. In 1925 GM set up an operation at Hendon to prepare imported vehicles introducing Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, La Salle, Marquette, Oakland, Oldsmobile and Pontiac car; and Chevrolet and GMC trucks.
With the country in the grip of a world-wide recession there was public hostility to imported products with over two million people unemployed in the UK so it was decided to build a complete British truck using the under used capacity at Vauxhall's Luton plant.
In 1930 and 1931 assembly of the last Chevrolet and GMC trucks and vans was completed and the first true Bedford was on the road. The "W" series featured 30 cwt trucks and a 2 ton version. There was also a bus version offering 14 seats or 20 on the longer 2 ton chassis. By 1937 Bedford's sales had reached 30,000.
During the war production of civilian vehicles was suspended, as it was with many other firms. The British Army had lost many of its tanks at Dunkirk, and Vauxhall was given the task of building the Churchill, which was completed from drawing board to proving trials in fewer than 3 months. There was other production in the form of MW and OY types, with a modified tractor adapted by Scammell. Bedford brought out the QL 4x4 for military use, the most numerous British marques.
Production resumed after World War Two using the tried and trusted K, M and O types introduced in 1939, and these gave way in 1951 to the new S type and later it's 4x4 relative the R type. This was chosen by the Armed Forces and was to be the standard 4 ton truck for many years, finally being superseded by the MK and MJ types. Another milestone in 1955 was the opening of the Dunstable truck plant, all large commercials being assembled there with some van building continuing at Luton until the transfer to the new Halewood premises.
Normal controls were not neglected with the A type appearing in 1953 and followed by the D and J types. These were still being sold for export well into the seventies when all British trucks were virtually all forward control types.
The CA van gave way to the CF, and eventually to the Isuzu inspired Midi range. A subsidiary company IBC Vehicles was formed and operates to the present day, though production now is Vauxhall-badge Renaults the Vivaro and Movano range.
Recession during the eighties, and foreign imports took their toll and GM announced its closure. The Dunstable plant was sold to AWD, who continued the MJ and TL ranges for a couple of years, chiefly to export markets. With no large contract coming forward from the Ministry of Defence (It went to Leyland) AWD itself was forced to close. The TL range was adopted by Marshall of Cambridge who continued it for a while before introducing their own SPV design.
