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Another Fordson van appears on the scene.
News of this E83W 'find' came through in June 2005.
Thanks to Des for sending me information on this 1944 van that he turned up, acquiring it from the original 80yr old owner who got special dispensation during the war to buy a brand new 10cwt Ford van, in order to supply neighbouring villages with Esso Blue paraffin. He only did 3 miles or so each day, bouncing down rutted farm tracks with I'm told loads of upto 2 tons in the back. The van came off the road in 1965 having failed its MOT with dodgy brakes, and was left in the building shown below, with just 12,000 miles on the clock.
Des hopes to get the van roadworthy in the very near future. This example has features found on the earlier examples, such as non-flared rear wheelarches, windup windows and no bonnet badges. This one also seems to have come with 5cwt style ring pull bonnet catches, and the white steering wheel also found on the other recent 10cwt van discovery featured on this site.
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Fordson 'as found'
Very dusty but a real time warp find, this Fordson has a lot of potential either preserved 'as is', or else stripped and fully restored to new condition.
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Fordson gets hitched out
Despite its age the body on this 10cwt looks to be very straight, despite having hauled some heavy loads in the past. The low mileage has helped this van survive more or less undamaged. The front wheels had no tyres when found, so the vehicle had to be hoisted out on a recovery crane as shown here - careful with that grille!
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Inside the van
The hefty paraffin tank used to sit directly over the rear axle, the recess cut into the rear floor was used to carry tools and such like that were used during deliveries. The all white steering wheel can be seen here too, as can the different positions of the door furniture when compared to later examples. Although not visible, this wartime van has the central throttle pedal arrangement, so a driver would need to have their wits about them if jumping in from another 'normal' vehicle. The fold down drivers seat is correct for this era of E83W.
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One owner from new!
Here is the original owner of this van, having bought it new in 1944. The van is now in new hands, and is being checked over prior to being made roadworthy once more. Thanks to Des for sending these pictures over.
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