A Morris Commercial J-Type van was spotted in a corner of an industrial yard in the Western Australia country town of York. Pictures taken Jan this year!
I have been e-mailed with these images of a J van, now I don't know the sender but have posted the pictures he sent. I hope that is OK.
Could somebody in Oz do a few thousand miles and see if they can find this van and it's owner? Or do you guys out there already know about this one?
A second unknown sender e-mail also turned up today, with a picture of a Dutch J type van, who can tell me more about this vehicle?
Within a couple of hours I gained this translation of the history of the van.
Arabic white, Bergen grey and lemon yellow.
The Grandpa of Marc Bischoff Tulleken was a master painter. "In short it meant that he was skilled in painting and hung pictures from homes and public buildings with additional knowledge of the reclameschilderen". (I think it may mean he was also a decorator but one who actually painted pictures/murals on the walls)
Marc’s grandfather and his brother had a business together, and in 1953 bought the Morris van “ Brothers Gorter” it was a new van with a 600 pound payload.
The van had to be a rolling advertisement for the business, so he sprayed and sign wrote it himself.. The van received the first provincial registration GZ-82069. In 1955 this was changed to NS-27-98.
The van was sold to them by J.J. Moolen Automotive Company N.V. a local forge annex repair shop for automobiles in Amersfoort in the Netherlands. The van could at that time be levied by the Ministry of War if they felt they had reason to do so. The van then had to go for public registration, with a full fuel tank to the church square at Hippolytushoef for assessment.
But the van was not only used for the business It was also the family car.
”For the weekend all the paint brushes were taken out of it and the ladders were lifted from the roof," says Marc. "The van was then ready for outings. Sometimes with the whole family on the road, for example: a few days to Terschelling. There was only a driver and passenger seat, I know my mother still remembers it. In between was the engine under a lid. That could not be otherwise with a flat nosed van. The radiator cap sat in the middle of the dashboard.
For trips my grandfather had created a kind of wooden bench that could be fitted in the back. If more people went along there was a mattress. All in all we covered so many kilometers, with pleasure and in comfort)
"During the clearing of Grandpa's House I found this picture, which I had seen often, but also a design sketch for advertising on the van. Compared with the van in the photo there are differences. It may be that he had the van adapted later on to the fashions of that time. "
"After nine years, Grandpa bought his first Volkswagen Splitbus. Because of the many kilometers he drove, he changed them approximately every two years."
"After the dissolution of the business, grandpa’s brother still drove the van for a long time. My grandfather drove all Volkswagen, still a class better. Much later, the Morris was bought back by the dealer and continued into the 1980s behind the garage area, rusting. It was advertised as in the picture when it was still there. Unfortunately, I have here no more photos of it. "
Even the wheels and Hubcaps were painted in matching colours.
Thanks to B.F. of the MO and 6/80 club for the above information.
