Modern Commer Replacement

[Snoring Rhino]

How about this beauty, could well suit Robs Sex van asperations....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1973-COMMER-MOTOR-CARAVAN-MOTORHOME-CAMPERVAN-TAX-MOT_W0QQitemZ230229405439QQihZ013QQcategoryZ14256QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Lord Pig-Pen]

Its not rusty enough... or horrid looking enough for his purposes!
Is that current on ebay? Would make a useful addition to my fleet of crap.

I imagine crossing the Pont de Normandie on a very windy day would be intersting with all that side area to catch the wind
PP

[Snoring Rhino]

Its not rusty enough... or horrid looking enough for his purposes!
Is that current on ebay? Would make a useful addition to my fleet of crap.

I imagine crossing the Pont de Normandie on a very windy day would be intersting with all that side area to catch the wind
PP

Yes as of this morning, i think a hair dryer would pose a danger, never mind the Pont De Normandie on a mild day.

[Andy Zarse]

yep, worthy of a mention on this thread.

Meanwhile, other Commer news;

At the weekend I opened the Commer up to get some gear out to take to NZ. Being as I'd got the keys on me I popped them in the ignition to see what would happen. She hadn't been started since october so I'd no real expectations. She fired up first go, once the lift pump had done it's stuff with the fuel. Cool eh? The clutch plate is rusted to the fly wheel, easily sorted, and the handbrake has locked on again (Doh! Every year I forget to leave it off!). But I'll be digging her out at easter and this officially marks the start of summer!

I trust you will post pics of the annual event. Nothing better than seeing an old girl covered in dust emerging from enforced hibernation. My VW is blocked in the barn by loads of round bales of hay, Hay Baler, turners, cutters, dung spreader and my dads tractor and caravan... in that order
She wont be coming out this year as getting all that moved... and having to involve my dad..... just not worth it, I cant put him ... or me,  through that ordeal!
Long Live The COMMER.
(I still have a very shiny set of COMMER nose letters somewhere in my stores)
PP

Sorry Rex, snow stopped play, Commer not interested, I got growled at by the grumpy hibernating van. If the wx warms up this weekend I'll have a go at waking her up. Keep you posted. I still think you should bring your van, just fire the tractor up and get that sh-it shifted!

[Lord Pig-Pen]

I will see about the VW... the aggro of getting her out with my Dad involved really does not seem to make it worth it
The Silver 300C saloon was saying that she is bored after her black estate friend went so you never know.... especially as a mate will be a full up MOT tester by may .. its just the thought of driving something down to LM that has NO spares availability anywhere, an ECU and is auto and has been stood for 3 years..
It was fine last time I fired it up... drove fine and did 30 miles with no probs. Its just a big risk to take as I am (Hopefully) going to be there early on Monday.

Worth the risk as I will be carrying all our camp passes

[Andy Zarse]

Fair enough, I know it's jap so will like as not get you there, but it's always an adventure travelling in a slightly unknown quantity.

[Lord Pig-Pen]

Fair enough, I know it's jap so will like as not get you there, but it's always an adventure travelling in a slightly unknown quantity.

Keep us posted on the Commer... I think the big silver thing can be left slumbering in the nettles.
Chavalier it will be... with a striking paint job and all

[Andy Zarse]

I want a roof like this on my Commer. How Dan dare is that. From an article drawn to my attention in the Daily Mail last week regarding TV lLicence Detector vans, here's the link, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=468466&in_page_id=1770

but I quote (cos it's fantastic!):-

By 1955, fleets of new Hillman vans with twirling antennae were on the roads – stepping up the game of cat and mouse with viewers who refused to pay up. The Commer van, Britain's longest-serving TV detector vehicle, went into service in 1968 and heralded the age of putting downright fear into the public.

A classic public information film in 1970 summed up the approach. A bespectacled man in a tweed suit twiddles controls in his van as it crawls along a suburban street. Suddenly, he exclaims triumphantly: 'Yes, there's a TV set on at No 5. It's in the front room – and they are watching Columbo.' The excitement is palpable. The Commer survived until 1983.

Excuses officers report hearing on doorsteps have included: 'I don't watch it. It's on for my dog. He watches it, but I'm not paying for him', and, 'That's not a TV you can hear in the background. It's a tape of adverts I play to entertain the children.'

Pathetic excuses like that aren't going to cut much ice with a Commer I can tell you.

That is simply outstanding  You must have one!  Even if it means crafting one out of loo roll centres, papier mache, coat hangers and poster paints a la Blue Peter. 

Dan Dare meets fire truck, ski racks, roof box, death rays etc etc.  That would certainly bring a contemporary look to the old girl - much more Top Shop than M&S!  Awesome.  Do you think it could be tuned to detect pikeys and automaticallly blast them with the zillion volt invisible Commer curse?



MG Mark

The other day I found a great new Commer Van Fan forum

http://66.129.69.181/forum/default.asp?CAT_ID=3

It's held me in raptures for days. Mark you'll be glad to know there's a bloke restorung a TV detector van. Have a look at what he got to start with, now that's dedication!



More on it here:
http://66.129.69.181/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=108

[Lord Pig-Pen]

Sat rotting in a garden.... nice paint

[Lord Pig-Pen]

And a few doors up was this... the owner of a Droop Snoot .... rocking horse shiit.
OMG....thats a real one ;DQuestions??

[Andy Zarse]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCWLlPBGFho

Worth watching all the way to the end.

[Andy Zarse]

Sat rotting in a garden.... nice paint

Rex, where is this van mate?

[mgmark]

All this talk of other vans and chavmobiles.  Some weeks have passed since the first report of firing the mighty Commer's engine up, with stuck clutch and handbrake, followed by a tentative post 3 weeks ago about getting the old girl circulating once snow stopped stopping play.   

The world is on tenterhooks, and since her successful blast last weekend around the tarmac and concrete of RAF Marham (now with no overheating issues with a re-cored rad and racing water pump) the MGA keeps asking me forlornly whether the mighty Commer has taken to the road yet. 

A progress report is called for please Mr Z, particularly as judging by a post elsewhere today
http://66.129.69.181/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1557
from someone appearing to be suspiciously like yourself, it seems that, as in the words of the song, "there may be trouble ahead....."         

MG Mark

[Lord Pig-Pen]

Sat rotting in a garden.... nice paint

Rex, where is this van mate?

On the Londod road, Riscombe near Twyford.
Terrace of council houses on left as heading east out of Twyford.
Beware of the owners and neighbours if you go to have a look.... Nasty!!!

[Lord Pig-Pen]

Another sleeping beauty around Wokingham... and it had moved about 2 feet since I last saw it!