BEDFORD TM

Here is another photo of GTP 400N, as featured in Truck magazine IN 1975.

DPP 245Y was another Bedford press vehicle, roadtested by Truck magazine in 1983.

What would you have chosen in 1983, a Bedford TM or a Scania 112?.

Another TM from the Truck magazine archives. This one was tested against a Dodge 300, also known as the spanish Dodge.

OVS 676R being roadtested by the late Pat Kennett. What Pat didnt know about trucks wasnt worth knowing. He was also the founder and editor of Truck magazine.
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Trawling throgh the web i came across these Bedford tacktor and trucks. (4)

Salut, Oldtimer Trucker

They made good Tankers as well, farthest 1 was my old mans, last new wagon he had before he retired. They had 5 of them at the Oxford depot.


Another wagon out of Oxford Depot, SAN was the 1st TM ever adapted to Petrol Regs. she had a Detroit Diesel lump in her & she went like a scolded cat! You had to drive her on the rev. counter & chase her, very few wagons could stay with her, & with that Big old Detroit snarling away you could hear her coming 2 miles away!

Great pics adr : Can’t remember if you said, but was this depot at the Oxpens site? :confused:

Hi Big-G,
These were taken in the Home Counties depot which was down Lamarsh Road just off the Botley Road. You turned into Lamarsh Road went down to the end, swung left through the gate, went up past all Percivals coaches that were parked either side, just before you went into Percivals main yard you went left into City Motors Commercials, all their workshops were on the left & the offices/tea room/locker room etc were in front, the fuel depot was over on the right. My dad did 23 years there for Home Counties (Mobil), as I put, the farthest one was dads, the one with the Detroit powered TM, SAN 293S, she was my brothers wagon, he worked on there for 9 years before they closed the depot. The Oxpens Depot you mention was Flitwick Oil (Esso), when Mobil closed my brother went onto Flitwick, (the old man got a nice big wedge becaise of his length of service, so after a lifetime on the wagons it was like getting early retirement for him, he was chuffed to bits!) I did a few years on Flitwick with my bruv, both cracking jobs & great places to work, dead mans shoes & knowing the right people was the only way on there!

adr a question was the TM san293 s a demo at first i remember that reg , i remember jwq having a demo at reading i remember the reg as they had san292s , and who on home counties parked in there yard at reading

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Hi daf3300,
Yes SAN 293S was an ex-demo, l think she was tried by a couple of other fuel companies but they obviously were not that taken with her, but Home Counties loved them, SAN hadthe Detroit lump in her but all the later ones they bought had ■■■■■■■ E290s in them, they were real flyers! The Home Counties wagon parked at Reading was dven by Terry O Shea, bit of a boy was Terry, he used to start at about 2 o clock in the morning, fly up to Buncefield, load up & deliver to whichever garage he had & he was parked up & finished mid to late morning, my ol man said he used to do a bit of coach driving then during the day, bit of a law unto himself really but a good bloke, & he always got the work done & looked after his wagon so Home Counties left him alone! The last wagon Terry had was a Leyland Buffalo AFC 627R if I remember right.

We ran a narrow cab 500 version ex BOC at 28 ton gross. It had the 500 turbo engine which was a pig to start but went well when it was going coupled to a 9 speed crash box.

A TM was the first wagon I drove after doing my class 2 at Leconfield, damned big tyres on the army version, rugged as hell and the gear stick even unscrewed allowing you to sleep over the seats.

i worked for smith of maddiston in the 70s and we had to buy 6 32ton tms because we done a lot of work out of vauxhalls at toddington doing the car spares to scotland and the north east. 2tms had the small v6 detroit 2tms with the big ■■■■■■■ 290 and 2 tms with the mighty v8 detroits these must have been the best sounding engines ever built on full thottle pullin hard they sang to you also they were flying machines but fuel consumtion was terrible

Twoninety88:
I remember driving a rental Bedford TM long ago. It was fitted with a Detroit Diesel and made a hell of a racket!

Several years later, when the Bedford truck plant at Dunstable was being pulled apart, I got into conversation with one of the senior Bedford engineering blokes. He told me that the Chinese had bought the production line lock, stock, and barrel. He also said the chinese were going to produce the TM under their own mark for the Chinese domestic market.

Never did find out if the chinese ever got around to building their version of the TM though :question:

I’d like to see what they did with the tooling?

fryske:

Twoninety88:
I remember driving a rental Bedford TM long ago. It was fitted with a Detroit Diesel and made a hell of a racket!

Several years later, when the Bedford truck plant at Dunstable was being pulled apart, I got into conversation with one of the senior Bedford engineering blokes. He told me that the Chinese had bought the production line lock, stock, and barrel. He also said the chinese were going to produce the TM under their own mark for the Chinese domestic market.

Never did find out if the chinese ever got around to building their version of the TM though :question:

I’d like to see what they did with the tooling?

Which might explain this photo of a TM in China…

The front axle seems a long way back.

I lernent and took my test in a TM with a training company in witham Essex, can’t remember they name, may 1984 straight six gear box could play some merry tunes on that, but passed anyway never drove one again, shame really a good truck …