Classic ex-Post office vehicles find new homes

We report on the recent sale of a batch of interesting ex-Post Office vehicles sold recently by Anglia Car Auctions.

The collection of Post Office vans formerly owned by the late Ken Bennett was sold at the Anglia Car Auctions classic sale on June 23rd. A founder member of the Morris Commercial Club, Ken had amassed a collection of ex-GPO telephones vehicles. All four vehicles on offer had previously been restored and rallied by Ken, though they had all been out of use for some time and all were in need of recommissioning and, in some cases, re-restoring.

Ken’s 1966 Ford Anglia van made £10,052 including ACA’s 8% plus VAT buyer’s premium. This was a good result; more than £2,000 above the top estimate. Restored by Ken in the late 1990s and fitted with a 1,500cc engine in place of the original 997cc unit, it’s thought to be one of only 10 Post Office Anglias to survive. It also looked to be the best of the quartet, condition-wise, though it, like the other three, was sold as a non-runner.

The highest price, unsurprisingly, was paid for Ken’s 1961 Morris JB Telephone Planning Van, which he bought in 2001 and restored. Sold with some ‘Post Office paraphernalia’ this one is thought to have been on the road as recently as 2022, though it, too, was sold as a non-runner. It went for £15,660 including premium, and the buyer was actually a previous owner who had sold the van in 1987.

There was, of course, a Morris Minor Telephones van, though being 1960 and thus older than most in preservation, this one had a few unusual features, including an 803cc engine and roof-mounted ‘pigs ear’ type direction indicators. Off the road since 2013, the hammer fell on this one at £6,048 including premium, a price which we reckon leaves plenty of margin for recommissioning and improvement.

Finally, the 1947 Morris Commercial LC3 was, it would be fair to say, the roughest of the quartet and probably ready for its second rebuild. On the positive side, however, it was complete and came with all the special GPO specification present. It sold for £3,240, including premium.

Away from the Bennett collection, other light commercials were on offer here and some made strong prices. There were four vans from a ‘retirement sale’ of a supplier of film vehicles, including a stunning 1961 Bedford CA with a stack of film credits including as a main character vehicle in Call the Midwife, Endeavour and Prime Suspect 1973. This made £15,930 against a pre-sale estimate of £10,000-£12,000. At the other end of the condition spectrum, there was a 1945 Morris Eight Series Z van which had originally been a Royal Mail engineering van but was presented in a typical, latter-day guise for such vans, as a rather scruffy chimney sweep’s van. It was, though, a marvellous period piece with again numerous film credits and sold mid-estimate at £6,480, including premium.

ACA’s next classic sale takes place on August 24-25. For more details go to angliacarauctions.co.uk

This feature comes from the latest issue of Classic & Vintage Commercials, and you can get a money-saving subscription to this magazine simply by clicking HERE