Motorised vehicles
The BPMA holds about 40 motor vehicles (excluding motorcycles) of various shapes, sizes and models. Our earliest original vehicle dates from the 1930s but we also hold a replica of a 1910 Dennis van.
Until the First World War, the Post Office relied on contractors to provide vehicles and drivers for transporting the mail by road. Shortly before the war the idea of the Post Office owning its own fleet of motor vehicles was mooted but dismissed. Improvements in the technology and reliability of motor vehicles during the First World War meant that the situation changed.
In the 1920s a fleet of Fords were acquired and became the first large-scale vehicle purchase for postal operations. Ford stopped manufacturing their T and TT models in 1927. The Post Office eventually turned to the British manufacturer Morris as their preferred supplier. Morris vehicles formed the bulk of the Post Office fleet from then onwards until after the Second World War.
Of course not all Post Office motor vehicles were simply for transporting mail. The first ones were in fact owned by the Post Office stores department.
Here are four examples of motorised vehicles in our collection:
Replica of a 1910 McNamara Dennis van, 1970, accession number: OB1997.232
The original Dennis van would have been used to carry fairly large quantities of mail over medium distances. McNamara were one of the five principal London contractors that the Post Office used to provide vehicles and drivers before they owned their own fleet.
Dennis vans like this would have operated out of the Mount Pleasant Sorting Office that The Royal Mail Archive in Freeling House is now a part of.
GPO2, trailer: 1937, tractor: 1954, accession numbers: 2003.0335 and 2003.0336 respectively
This is the largest road vehicle in the BPMA collection. It carries the registration index GPO2. It was introduced following the success of GPO1, which entered service in 1936. These vehicles provided full mobile counter facilities. This made them ideal for working at temporary sites such as shows and race meetings.
During the Second World War both vehicles were transferred to war service. First used as mobile recruitment offices, they were later used as emergency wireless receiving and transmitting stations. The exterior of GPO2 has recently been refurbished.
Find the tractor unit in the catalogue
Find the trailer in the catalogue
Morris Commercial LC5, 1956, accession number: OB1997.229
This is an example of the model that was introduced in 1943 as a medium-sized bulk carrier. It would have been used to carry mail between railways stations and sorting offices and also on short-distance journeys. The LC5 was one of the last Morris models to be built especially to Post Office specifications.
This particular example was used by the Post Office in Market Drayton and later in Shrewsbury. It was restored by Royal Mail who bought it back from a farmer who had left it rusting in a field.
Morris Minor Van, 1961, accession number: OB1997.230
This is an example of a type of van introduced in 1953 as the standard small capacity mail van. It was the main replacement for the Morris Z series.
It would have been used for delivery and collection of mail. The last van was delivered to the Post Office in 1972. Other small vans were utilised thereafter but this model is fondly remembered by many postal workers for its sturdiness and reliability.
