For those interested in old cars.

[PhilJ W]

I'm not sure if they still survive, but Kirby & West Dairy in Leicester used to have a fleet of milk floats which were antique, I'd guess 30s- 40s maybe. They were around when I was in Leicester regularly in the late 1990s but may have finally been pensioned off by now.

 

Update - evidently they are still around although some of the floats aren't as old as they appear, something of a retro exercise.

Electric vehicles such as milk floats and trolleybuses had long lives and were rebuilt as many as four or five times. Right into the 1990's my local dairy operated milk floats with what many assumed were 'cherished' registrations when they were the originals dating from the 40's and 50's, they had all received two or three new/updated bodies over their lifetime. Some of Bradford's trolleybuses had three bodies during their lifetime.

[bluebottle]

I'm not sure if they still survive, but Kirby & West Dairy in Leicester used to have a fleet of milk floats which were antique, I'd guess 30s- 40s maybe. They were around when I was in Leicester regularly in the late 1990s but may have finally been pensioned off by now.

 

Update - evidently they are still around although some of the floats aren't as old as they appear, something of a retro exercise.

 

They certainly are still around - lots of them! They only date back to the early 1950s, though, designed by their chief engineer and built in-house.

See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8050359@N07/3485369675/

 

Shipley Model Railway Society's magnificent "Leicester South" has a few miniature ones tucked away in a corner -

 

Edited July 24, 2013 by bluebottle

[RJS1977]

I'm pretty sure I've seen an electric milk float in Reading in the last few days.

 

One of my RSME colleagues used to be a milkman. At the dairy, there were 10 or so floats all lined up alongside each other at the charging point, but there was only one loading bay. So whoever got to the loading bay first could be out on their rounds fairly quickly whilst the last one to join the queue had to wait best part of an hour. Since one of the charging bays was closest to the loading bay, whoever parked in that charging bay overnight was usually first out the next day. Consequently they were usually first back and having choice of which charging bay to use, chose that one again to be first out the next day. So my friend managed to be first back from his round (and thus free to go home) for something like a month in succession. Needless to say, some of the other milkmen got rather fed up of this so one day after my friend had gone home, one of the other milkmen got into my friend's float, unplugged it, wrapped the lead round the gear lever several times and plugged it back in again. Next morning, my friend jumped into his float, unplugged the lead and threw the plug off the float (as he always did) and set off for the loading bay at speed, towing the wall-mounted charger behind him...

[PatB]

I'm not sure if they still survive, but Kirby & West Dairy in Leicester used to have a fleet of milk floats which were antique, I'd guess 30s- 40s maybe. They were around when I was in Leicester regularly in the late 1990s but may have finally been pensioned off by now.

 

Update - evidently they are still around although some of the floats aren't as old as they appear, something of a retro exercise.

 

I remember those from when I (very occasionally) passed through Leicester in the late 1980s.  Archaic looking beasties with solid tyres (although Bluebottle's link shows that at least one has pneumatics).  Even the early 50s date is reasonably impressive.  Not too many commercial vehicles (road vehicles, obviously, before anyone in the cheap seats shouts "Beattie Well Tank" ) have a service life of 35+ years in the hands of the original owners and so a large fleet which has is noteworthy.

Edited July 25, 2013 by PatB

[uax6]

Sadly Pete there is a ridiculous law that allows very old cars (and more polluting as a result) to travel around paying no road fund licence, yet a structure exists (albeit shallow and ineffective) that larger cars with higher emission rates pay more. It is a paradox but understandable when one examines the cockeyed priviledges 'motorists' still enjoy from laws passed when the car could do no wrong ( and the road lobby had real power) in the 50's and 60's. Thankfully times there are a changing...

 

I think you will find that actually 95% of all pollution from a car comes from it's manufacture, so therefore the older a car gets the <less> polluting it becomes! Also older cars tend not to have the plastics that modern cars (I call modern in this context post 1970's!) have which add up to huge pollution, both in manufacture and disposal.

 

My Moggy van (which I drive everyday) will always be hugely more 'green' than any modern striaght petrol/diesel car, and thats not just on the age front, but down to the fact that I can fix it and it was designed to last longer than 5 years.

 

Andy G

[PhilJ W]

They certainly are still around - lots of them! They only date back to the early 1950s, though, designed by their chief engineer and built in-house.

See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8050359@N07/3485369675/

 

 

The OJF registrations were issued in May 1956.

[PatB]

I think you will find that actually 95% of all pollution from a car comes from it's manufacture, so therefore the older a car gets the <less> polluting it becomes! Also older cars tend not to have the plastics that modern cars (I call modern in this context post 1970's!) have which add up to huge pollution, both in manufacture and disposal.

 

My Moggy van (which I drive everyday) will always be hugely more 'green' than any modern striaght petrol/diesel car, and thats not just on the age front, but down to the fact that I can fix it and it was designed to last longer than 5 years.

 

Andy G

 

Not to mention that the tiny proportion of the UK vehicle fleet that is over 25 years old their overall contribution to air pollution is negligible.  Don't blame a tiny but easily identifiable group for a problem that is really the responsibility of the non-enthusiast majority.

 

It's also worth pointing out, I think, that an awful lot of RMWebbers are very enthusiastic about burning large quantities of fairly grubby fossil fuel in an inefficient device with no emission controls, resulting in a filthy exhaust, full of carcinogenic particulates.  And we do this not for practical transport but entirely for recreation, often in otherwise pristine rural areas.  And that goes for both steam and heritage diesels .

Edited July 25, 2013 by PatB

[RANGERS]

I remember those from when I (very occasionally) passed through Leicester in the late 1980s.  Archaic looking beasties with solid tyres (although Bluebottle's link shows that at least one has pneumatics).  Even the early 50s date is reasonably impressive.  Not too many commercial vehicles (road vehicles, obviously, before anyone in the cheap seats shouts "Beattie Well Tank" ) have a service life of 35+ years in the hands of the original owners and so a large fleet which has is noteworthy.

That's true, it's a bit of a rarity but if you allow for the changes of ownership of the original business, there are one or two examples, not least of which was the Routemaster fleet, some of which saw 40+ years. I know of one coach operator who ran a coach from new until it finally went for preservation in 2009 at the tender age of 36. Specialist vehicles are usually the most numerous, we've a few tractors around here which comfortably exceed 40 years and one which is now in it's 64th year. There's a Coles crane with a local steel fabricator which is now approaching 40 and still road legal, although I can't say if they've had it from new but it is a local plate so quite possible.

[lyndonsdad1]

Whilst on the subject of milk floats, there was a manufacturer in Market Harborough, Leics by the name of HARBILT whose milk floats featured in a Norman Wisdom film in the 60's, the name of which escapes me. Any ideas?.

[Horsetan]

The sight of a milk float reminds me of "Speed 3", in which Father Dougal made the mistake of going over 4 miles per hour....

[RJS1977]

Whilst on the subject of milk floats, there was a manufacturer in Market Harborough, Leics by the name of HARBILT whose milk floats featured in a Norman Wisdom film in the 60's, the name of which escapes me. Any ideas?.

 

That would be "The Early Bird".

 

One of my old English teachers appeared in that film - she was one of the children in the "showdown" scene (possibly the baby in the pram!).

 

Film also features a cameo appearance by a Blue Pullman....

[45669]

I saw a milk float in Farnborough a few days ago.  No idea where it came from though.  There must be a depot somewhere round here.

 

Going back a bit, I can remember my disappointment when milk floats were first introduced.  This is because, as a kid, I used to like seeing the milkman's horse come round every day and I was most upset when it dawned on me that horse drawn milk floats had become a thing of the past.

[ELTEL]

I have quite a picture collection of British Road Vehicles of the 40s to the 70s so if any one is looking for a particulate vehicle I will see if I can help with a image

 

Eltel

[PatB]

That's true, it's a bit of a rarity but if you allow for the changes of ownership of the original business, there are one or two examples, not least of which was the Routemaster fleet, some of which saw 40+ years. I know of one coach operator who ran a coach from new until it finally went for preservation in 2009 at the tender age of 36. Specialist vehicles are usually the most numerous, we've a few tractors around here which comfortably exceed 40 years and one which is now in it's 64th year. There's a Coles crane with a local steel fabricator which is now approaching 40 and still road legal, although I can't say if they've had it from new but it is a local plate so quite possible.

 

Oh, I agree, they do happen.  I grew up in rural Somerset and remember quite a number of AEC Matadors operating as recovery vehicles, logging tugs etc. into the 1980s (by which time they were pretty decrepit), and several early post-war tractors in daily use.  Some of the buses and coaches which took me to school were bordering on the classic even then too.  Like I said, not unique but certainly worthy of recognition.

 

I'm not sure if it counts, but one local garage had a recovery hack which was a Rover P4 with all the rear glass removed and a crane built from old scaffold tubes protruding from the rear seat and boot area.  Sort of Mad Max 2 with tweed .

[RJS1977]

I think Caters Steam Fair still use a couple of Mk 3 AEC Mammoth Majors.

[iL Dottore]

I've always wanted a Classic Car. First on, and top of, my list is a 1956 Bentley S1 (why?, let's say it's because I read a lot of Ian Fleming when I was an impressionable youngster [bond in the books drives a matt battleship-grey Bentley]), followed by the Jaguar Mk VII, the Wolseley 15/50 and the Mercedes Benz W120 "Ponton". Unfortunately, such cars  with left hand drive are hard to come by at a reasonable price (except the Mercedes of course).

 

However, the Jaguar S Type (1998 - 2008) does seem to recreate the feeling of a classic Jag without the complications of keeping a 50+ year-old car going. I've seen clean, relatively high mileage examples, for as little as CHF 4800 (£3,400.oo) and a nice example can be had for CHF 14,000 (£9,700) with 82,000Km on the clock. I'm very tempted.....

 

Alas, some years ago, Mrs iD made an ultimatum either a Classic Car OR Model Railways, but not both...

 

Women can be so cruel....

Edited July 26, 2013 by iL Dottore

[Danemouth]

I saw a milk float in Farnborough a few days ago.  No idea where it came from though.  There must be a depot somewhere round here.

 

Going back a bit, I can remember my disappointment when milk floats were first introduced.  This is because, as a kid, I used to like seeing the milkman's horse come round every day and I was most upset when it dawned on me that horse drawn milk floats had become a thing of the past.

 

or were you like a friend of mine who as a lad had to go out after the horse drawn milk float with a bucket and shovel to collect the you know what for his father's garden?

 

Met him again recently; he was amused when I asked if he still shovelled sh*t

 

Dave

Edited July 26, 2013 by Danemouth

[lyndonsdad1]

Just a thought lads, as lorries and buses feature in this thread, can we include BRITISH motorcycles as I've owned my BSA DBD34 Gold Star Clubmans since June 1961, and may I add, spent a few years building milk floats!

[trisonic]

Somewhat surprisingly (or maybe not) there are several owners of of Gold Star Clubman's on here - sadly not me......Maybe a seperate thread on "Old" Motorcycles is in order?

 

Frankly I would like to see early Japanese Imports and American/European bikes included. Wanna start one?

 

Best, Pete.

[DonB]

I was offered in 1962 an Aston Martin DB2 for the same sum as we were about to spend on our first house deposit, the furniture and the Honeymoon!  Guess which option SWMBO opted for ???

[BG John]

Strangely enough I woke up one morning and realised I had the cash to buy the newly launched Escort XR3. A bit later I realised I had enough to buy a Porsche 924 (not that I would have bought one), and decided I may as well buy a house instead! I bought a secondhand XR3 a bit later, and an XR3i some time after that when I'd got back my no claims bonus after having the XR3 written off by an uninsured driver hitting me head on!

[DDolfelin]

A couple more (poor picture) in full rig:

 

[skipepsi]

Unfortunately Pete I never took pictures of my bikes. If I wasn't mending them I was riding them. I was the last of those allowed to ride a 250 at 16, trouble was at 16 I had no cash. 

[edcayton]

Mick, ISTR that you could ride a 250 solo, or unlimited with sidecar, at 16. As soon as you had passed your test you could ride anything. At least one lad at my school passed his test on his 16th birthday and rode his Bonneville straight away.

 

Ed

[PhilJ W]

At one time a learner could ride any size of bike. The 250 cc regulation came into force in 1962 or '63, my brother who was 66 this year was one of the first to be affected by the change.