AROnline » Sherpa

The commercials : Leyland Sherpa and descendents

Keith Adams — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:42:33 +0000

We all know and love it from the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, but Leyland’s Sherpa had a vitally important role in life – to beat Ford’s all-conquering Transit. And given the resources available at the time, it was a fantastic effort. Leyland’s Transit BY the late 1960s, BLMC’s offerings in the [...]

The post The commercials : Leyland Sherpa and descendents appeared first on AROnline.

Unsung Heroes : Leyland-DAF/LDV 400 – vantastic success!

Mike Humble — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:32:03 +0000

A variation on a theme of our popular Unsung Heroes section. This time we pay respect to what was once ‘The biggest selling and biggest sized van in the UK’. Words: Mike Humble It’s Britain’s biggest van! Funny as it seems, but to feature a commercial vehicle in the ‘Unsung Heroes’ section actually makes perfect [...]

The post Unsung Heroes : Leyland-DAF/LDV 400 – vantastic success! appeared first on AROnline.

News : LDV ‘Maxus’ goes on sale in Oz

Keith Adams — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 12:49:28 +0000

They say Sherpa vans don’t quit… and neither do their drivers – well, here’s the proof. Vans from China’s biggest motor manufacturer are locked and loaded for launch in Australia in October after a formal sign-off ceremony in China this week.   Words: Ron Hammerton A shipment of 120 LDV V80 vehicles produced by SAIC subsidiary [...]

The post News : LDV ‘Maxus’ goes on sale in Oz appeared first on AROnline.

The Torcars Sherpa

Keith Adams — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:05:33 +0000

For those who wanted a home-from-home when they went on holiday, Torcars offered these two Sherpa-based campers. Suntor Sherpa Folllowing on from the success of their Marina-based models, Torcars introduced this full-size camper van, taking the Sherpa 215 as its basis. A fully insulated, fibreglass elevating roof, complete with side windows and ventilation grilles, gave [...]

The post The Torcars Sherpa appeared first on AROnline.

BMC Sanayi TM 30 Kapali / Kamyonet

Keith Adams — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:01:33 +0000

In 1964 a Turkish truck-building company (BMC Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.) was set up at Izmir (birthplace of Alec Issigonis, incidentally) in partnership with BMC to build Austin and Morris trucks under licence. The company later became independent of British Leyland, but has retained its BMC name; indeed, its recent establishment of a distribution network [...]

The post BMC Sanayi TM 30 Kapali / Kamyonet appeared first on AROnline.

Purpose built vans and pick-ups

Keith Adams — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:51:32 +0000

Following the 1952 merger, BMC rationalised its van range by concentrating on the Morris models. However, in order to keep their spearate Austin and Morris dealer chains supplied, they turned again to badge engineering, with certain vans being offered under both marques with just the badges and grilles differentiating them. In August 1968, the fledgling [...]

The post Purpose built vans and pick-ups appeared first on AROnline.

Concepts and prototypes : LDV 201

Keith Adams — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:58:15 +0000

The Sherpa/LDV 200/400/Pilot Convoy was a perfect example of British industry make-do-and-mend. In an ideal world, the boxy JU/J4-based van would have been replaced sometime in the early 1980s, but it ended up going on a whole lot longer… Here’s the fascinating story of one aborted attempt at replacement, and how it went on to [...]

The post Concepts and prototypes : LDV 201 appeared first on AROnline.

Sad times

Keith Adams — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:58:21 +0000

Keith Adams So, it looks like it could be the end for LDV and I, for one, can’t help but feel that these are increasingly looking like desperate times for the automotive industry in the UK. I suppose that cash-strapped vehicle makers looking after their bottom lines are always going to close overseas operations (just [...]

The post Sad times appeared first on AROnline.