4) What will she look like when finished?

This entry was updated on 31st March 2009

Purists will no doubt be shocked to know that I have no intention of returning my 101 to the road as a milk-float. It seems to me that there is so little left of my van that I am entitled to make whatever I can of her. She is not being restored to be a museum piece but a working vehicle and, like any commercial changing its role, she will be made fit for my purpose. I have every intention of getting rid of my cars and running her daily when she is ready.

Above is what my float would have looked like at one time, albeit that when it was a commercial vehicle it would have had a roof over the back. Below is a work-in-progress notion of what my van could look like when finished. You will see that I will still have concertina doors, about which, more here. However, it is based on an illustration of a van, which is why the back of the cab is so abrupt and ugly. I plan on making the roof rounded at the back, like the chariot at the bottom of the page.

That said, the front panel is wrong. I do like the Morris face but actually the Austin 101 has a different face, like this example (below) and I may well simplify and speed up the restoration by having a simple back like this one with drop sides....

or simpler still with a flat-bed like this one...

with the option to add corner stanchions to hold drop sides, like this:

But I also like the idea of building a motorcycle chariot like this one by Harvey Pitcher of the J Type Register, which he sent me with a "how about building something like this"

I liked it in principle, but fancied doing it slightly differently. It would be designed with Francis Barnett livery to carry my FB Fulmar, a 1962 150cc; sort of a poor man's Ariel Arrow, and as it would have a comparatively more modern load, thought I might beef up the side and remove the hand rail.

(I include Harvey's original drawing and my modification of it with his permission.)

Though not nearly as elegant a rendering as Harvey's, my later alternative, photographed and modified above, has a rail line which follows the van's original swage line faithfully. Purists might prefer this idea?

Right now though, I am not worrying about the back at all. I am just concentrating on returning it to the road with restored cab, restored engine, running gear etc.

To read about my struggles to build a dry, safe and sturdy place to restore the van, click here