Bedford bread van batman

• curbsideclassic.com / the-amazing-maltese-bread-van
• steampunkvehicles.tumblr.com / this-is-from-malta-see-also
• steampunkvehicles.tumblr.com / bedford-bread-van-heavily-modified-on-the-island

The Amazing Maltese Bread Van

(first published 4/16/2012) Now here’s a true gem, shot in the 1980’s on the island of Malta. It’s a custom bodied (duh!) bread van, built on an ex-Army Bedford truck chassis, using some vintage American car parts in the process. Bonus points to anyone who recognizes the front bumper. It’s from berresford’s motors limited’s Flickr page, and there’s quite an unraveling of its origins in the comments. Here’s the gist of it:


Commentator chairmanchad did the research:

I have now been able to find the file for this vehicle – and a very interesting story it is too ! 22056 (1958 to date) In April 1958 a 1-ton Bedford truck as purchased from the Army (lot 245). It had chassis number MW4193, and was fitted with Bedford engine number 112214. In October 1959 an application was made to scrap the existing body and to build a new body with side windows to sell bread. In September 1960 permission was granted to convert the vehicle from a truck to a closed van. The exam document at the same time gives the engine number as now being MW43828, and the authorised payload as being ¾ ton. The bodywork was probably built by a bus bodybuilder as it had the same stylish look as many buses being built at the time. In July 1968 a Perkins engine (number 3R253844) was fitted. In April 1980 local chassis number CHMP2655D80 was punched, and by November 1980 new registration K-2056 had been allocated. In December 1983 an application was made to convert the vehicle into a minibus, but it is not known if this ever happened (probably not). In October 1991 it was declared garaged. In 2011 it is believed to still exist tucked away in a garage.

There’s even a shot of it in its current resting place (photo by Johann Tonna). Now that would make an awesome camper van!