TV rental van's

[kevwag]

On 26/07/2020 at 10:15, divibandit said:

Hi all,

I remember a rental firm using Viva HB or HC estates with the rear side windows being opaque and their logo on the panel. I don't know if they were just ordinary estates or factory produced vans. I can't remember if it was one of the big boys (RR, Granada) or a local firm. I've seen Escorts done the same way.

 

Steve

My Dad worked for Granada and I can confirm that the vehicles were Viva estates (not vans). They were later replaced by Chevette estates. These also had opaque panels covering the rear side windows displaying the brand logo, but that's about all I remember about them, other than helping my Dad clean his up for the annual inspection which earned you a cool £100 bonus (a lot back then) if you had kept it in good order.

The Chevettes were replaced by Austin Metros (much to the distaste of most of the engineers) and Granada had attempted to make up for the lack of boot-space by building a kind of wooden underfloor "secret" storage area for components and small tools that partly occupied the spare-wheel well whilst raising the floor level of the useable boot-space. This was totally impractical in reality as you had to empty the boot first to lift the lid. Since vehicles emblazoned with TV rental logos had started to attract a lot of vehicle thefts and break-ins, the Metros abandoned the branded window panels and the Granada logo was instead embedded into an inch-wide white line running the length of the car and the engineers were issued with two magnetic strips which could be used to complete the white line and cover the logo so as to appear as an ordinary, not-so-appealing family car when you weren't at work.

[kevwag]

On 25/07/2020 at 16:38, crompton 33 said:

Back in the 1970/80s when you went down the high street there where many TV rental shops . The Thorn group Der/ Radio rentals /multi broadcast . plus Rediffusion /Granada /Visionhire/Telefusion.  Just to name a few.  Looking for Vehicles in OO the only one i can find is a MK1 transit by Trackside in DER  livery.  Most TV rental companies had Ford Escort Vans or Escort estates and Bedford HA vans. There must be a call for these models. 

I've seen these advertised a bit. Even AliBaba had them at one point, which I though was surprising as Spectra were UK based and have faded into obscurity. China must have really done their homework!
These are 1:43 scale but I thought the picture might be a useful reference if you wanted to try and re-create the livery. It's made by Oxford diecast - maybe they could even re-scale the artwork and supply 00 scale transfers if you ask them nicely

[64F]

My parents used to rent theirs from the Co-op, and as TVs of those days always seemed to be on the blink the repair man was often out.  I seem to recall a smallish van (Escort sized) in the usual blue/white co-op livery of the 1980s.  The Trackside Bedford HA would do as a starting point, maybe with a bit of extra lettering added:

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklistdatabase/22646/lledo_dg209005_bedford_ha_van_in_co_op_blue_white_livery_/stockdetail

 

Trackside also did a Morris Minor van with Co-op Television lettering:

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/355764/corgi_trackside_inc_lledo_diecast_vehicles_dg211000_po_morris_1000_van_co_operative_non_limited_pre_owned_like_new/stockdetail

 

 

[w124bob]

I knew I'd seen a picture some where, there are at least two Viva HB's with Granada logo's here, Flickr image from the Manchester town hall archives(1972 album). The hole site covers several years, some cracking period stuff! 

You can zoom if you click to go the Flickr page.

Edited June 10, 2022 by w124bob

[BernardTPM]

Those are the later HC Vivas (1970-79).

Interestingly, in that picture there is only one car (Riley/Woseley 1500 on the far right behind the buildings) that is more than 11 years old.

Edited June 11, 2022 by BernardTPM

[64F]

On 11/06/2022 at 12:01, BernardTPM said:

Those are the later HC Vivas (1970-79).

Interestingly, in that picture there is only one car (Riley/Woseley 1500 on the far right behind the buildings) that is more than 11 years old.

One of the Super Minxes is doing a good impression though!  BMC kept making the 1500 until 1965 so even it's not necessarily older.   It's easy to forget how quickly cars of that era used to rust out.   

 

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by 64F

[BernardTPM]

Yes, perhaps I should have said 'could be'. It is definitely the oldest design, but only possibly the earliest built.

Agreed, cars at that time (of pretty much all makes) did rust out quickly.