Stately van for home and abroad
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The Ford-based Asquith is a vintage replica in twenties style that makes for cheap advertising at a small operational premium
IT WAS perhaps fitting that the last vehicle to complete the Beaujolais Run from France to London in November was an Asquith. For the Asquith is a throwback to the twenties and thirties when delivery vehicles moved at a more stately pace. Their drivers were not on a goslow; they had no option because the vans weighed around 35cwt unladen and yet had no more than 20-30bhp on tap.
This is not the case with this Asquith.
Despite its aged appearance it is only a year old and is not to be judged purely on looks. It is made by the Asquith Motor Carriage Company of Braintree, Essex, and was conceived almost by accident. The company's previous line of business was the manufacture of reproduction furniture.
Company chairman Bruce West has long been interested in old vehicles and restored a vintage Austin to make a local delivery van in keeping with the reproduction furniture. It was apt but unreliable, so he set about converting a modern transit van into a replica vintage van.
In the past few years the reproduction furniture business had been taking a hammering owing to the recession hitting the all-important export markets. Countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Germany that had previously been eager customers for reproduction English antique furniture no longer wanted it.
That is why the company took the bold move of pulling out of the furniture business altogether and decided to tackle the pro duction of replica vintage vehicles on a commercial basis. The first roadworthy example was completed in November 1982 and orders for production models started last January.
Some of the skills used in the reproduction furniture business were transferable to the new activity, but it is no fairy story — there used to be 85 employees making furniture whereas now there are just 15 at the Asquith Motor Carriage Company. The name Asquith is a revival of a small and short-lived vehicle manufacturer that started life in 1901. The 1983 Asquith is not an exact copy of any particular van but is typical of those that could be seen on Britain's roads in the late twenties and early thirties. It most resembles a Clement Talbot that first saw the light of day at the end of 1927. But it is also similar to a Model AA Ford and because the Asquith is based on a Transit chassis it is this Ford similarity that is highlighted.
Asquith has two replica van variants; the Shire which has an overall length of 5.6m (18ft 6in) and the Hackney, which is 46cm (18 inches) shorter but othe identical. So far, all the c have been for the longer Si' The basis of the Shire short-wheelbase (2,69C Ford Transit 120 or 100 ct cab. Customers can ch whichever of these two cl cabs they prefer — the 120 gvw of 2,550kg while the rated at 2,400kg — and ti' ferences are confined tt ferent back axles and springs.
Asquith buys the chassi: from a Ford dealer since it small to deal direct with The chassis cab rather thi ;sis cowl is chosen because ludes various parts such as iscreen wiper motor and inal door handles that are utilon the Asquith Shire. The aining unwanted parts such he windscreen, cab panels wheels are sold back to the er.
;quith's marketing director in Reed told me that the neering modifications that ; to be carried out to Transit sis are surprisingly minor: wanted to keep it that way
hat the strengths of the sit are not affected." The ;alteration is the movement le front axle ahead of the ne to achieve the authentic ige look. This entails sliding welding a 60cm (24 inches) -ision frame to the inside of nain chassis members and g the necessary steering ges. Apart from this, the set of Asquith clothes fits
the Transit chassis with endable neatness.
loorpan including the wings running boards are ded and laid up from very tantial (10oz) glass-reind plastic (grp) and this is in conjunction with an ash ar framework to support the grp side panels and roof. a side panels are doubleed and have timber tie-rails to the interior. A timber with steel rubbing strips ad to the floor and there is a Ir half-height bulkhead be) the cab and loadspace.
; only steel panels in the are the rear doors and the ad bonnet side panels; other part of the body is Transit's raked and curved creen is abandoned in r of a completely flat and vertical screen of laminated glass in a mahogany frame. Asquith retains the standard wiper motor but moves it up to the header rail instead.
Inside the cab the two individual front seats can be trimmed in leather, fabric or vinyl — this is one area where the upholsterers from the furniture business can continue their art. The Transit's steering wheel is replaced by one of a slightly smaller diameter to suit the narrower cab while the Ford instruments are retained but moved to a central position in the Asquith's burr walnut dashboard.
Specially cast alloy artillerystyle 16-inch diameter wheels are used instead of Ford's 14inch pressed steel examples; the lowest of the Ford final-drive ratio options is ordered to compensate for the larger wheels and keep the gearing similar. A splendid stainless steel radiator grill and shell hides the standard radiator. The Shire is finished in a two-tone scheme as standard and customers may choose their livery and colours; signwriting is extra.
Once the Transit chassis cab has been delivered to Braintree it takes Asquith six to eight weeks to build a Shire. Provided each van is at a different stage of production, there is room in the small factory for seven to be in build at once.
For Type Approval purposes the Asquith is regarded as a Ford and users should also register it as a Ford. This reflects the fact that Asquith's work is really extensive bodybuilding rather than vehicle manufacture.
The Shire looks pretty and undoubtedly serves a promotional purpose, but is it really a practical proposition as an everyday working vehicle?
Crispin Reed called it "a delicate compromise between looks and a striving for greatest practicability". In terms of performance the Shire is marginally slower than a standard Transit — its upright style and inferior aerodynamics are to blame — but in its role as a local delivery van this will not be a serious deficiency.
The extension of the wheelbase inevitably me,..ns a deterioration in manoeuvrability and the overall length increases from the Transit's 4.55m (14fit 11in) to 5.6m (18ft 6in). The benefit of this is a longer loadspace; 2.5m instead of the Transit's 2.29m. Its internal width is 1.575m and height is 1.450m, slightly higher than the Transit. The sides are flat and perpendicular and unimpeded by wheelboxes.
The loadspace volume of the Shire is quoted as 6.3cum (223cuft) compared with the Transit's 5.4cum (191cuft). However, Asquith customers are hardly likely to opt for the Shire purely because of superior loadspace. If that is all they want then the long-wheelbase Transit models will comfortably exceed both sets of figures.
Although scoring on loadspace, the Asquith loses out in the cab. Pedals and steering column stalks are original Ford so that drivers accustomed to the Transit will soon feel at home, but the Asquith's cab is less spacious because of a pronounced forward taper in the 1920s style. Rearward visibility through the small oval windows is restricted.
During the transition from Transit to Asquith, weight is both gained and shed. Extra weight is added by the steering extension and the ash body framing, although the grp body panels save weight. As a result, the petrol-engined Asquith tips the scales at about 1,420kg kerb weight, 90kg more than the equi valent Transit 120 van.
Because the standard Transit chassis cab plate is retained this gives the petrol-engined Shire a payload capacity of 1,130kg (22.24cwt) on the 120 chassis or 980kg (19:3cwt) on the 100 chassis.
The Shire can be supplied with the two-litre ohc Ford petrol engine, developing 57kW (78bhp) at 4,500rpm, or the 2,360cc Ford diesel which produces 46kW (62bhp) at 3,600rpm. Typical of the UK light van market, the majority of Asquiths sold so far have been fitted with the petrol engine. Automatic transmission can also be specified although this would be most out of keeping with the van's vintage aspirations.
With a hinged bonnet and removable side panels, engine access on the Asquith is excellent. All the Ford mechanical parts are covered by the usual Ford warranty and the odd few parts that are not pure Transit (such as the windscreen and headlights) can be supplied from Braintree.
List price of the Shire on the 120 Transit chassis with the twolitre petrol engine is £11,650. It is £900 mOre for the diesel option and £200 less if the Transit is 100 used.
Although nobody has yet bought the shorter Hackney van, this is £300 less than the Shire on the 100 chassis.
These prices mean that the Asquith Shire or Hackney is around £5,000 to £6,000 more than the equivalent Transit model. Can the extra cost be justified?
Asquith's Crispin Reed suggests the cost is split between the customers's transport and marketing departments; the additional cost should come from the advertising budget on the grounds that the van turns heads wherever it goes. On this basis, Crispin Reed says the Asquith is a cheap form of advertising. He also believes that its resale value will be higher that of a standard Transit, if because of its corrosion-r grp bodywork.
To date, after almost a yei the market, Asquith has sol Shires, of which 25 have delivered. Most customers been high-class, up-ma small retailers such as Ix and butchers. Scottish and I castle Breweries is the la customer; it has five Shires.
The recently opened Lo restaurant Maxim's de Pad, one, as does Express Dein( the delivery of pâtés and chi to delicatessen and restaur The Italian importer of Fl man's Friend throat lozE uses one in Rome and Cr Reed reports that a lot of int has been shown in o European countries.
A couple of months ago uith added a third model tc the Shire and Hackney. Thi chassis-cab version calle( Cob and based on the T 120 chassis. It is the same as the Shire and Asquitt build a variety of bodies on in keeping with the late tw, style. So far only a pick-ul sion with a drop-side ti body has been produced.
For 1984 Asquith's targ( steady and regular outr four vehicles a month. C Reed says that potentia' tomers have approachel company and asked for E. age style minibus for us( courtesy vehicle by hotel clubs. Consequently, then eight/nine-seater on the dr board, based on the Shin windows and seats.
Asquith is intending to ( at the Birmingham Motor next October and an vehicle that could be app on the stand is a replica limousine. This is at an stage of planning and have not yet been finalisec With a production tarc 1984 of 50 vans, Asquith Carriage.Company is harc ing the commerical v( world by storm.
Ford has been help producing publicity mater so obviously feels that sales (about 42,000 this will not take a nosedi operators' clamour to rei the 1920s. But Asquith ha tified a worthwhile num buyers who are willing double for a van that look was already around 55 ye of date when it was built.
• by David Wilcox