Bedford name lives on
Page 11
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Marshall SPV has won exclusive rights from General Motors to use the Bedford name on its range of vehicles in the UK and Europe. The company will also use Bedford in the rest of the world but will not have exclusive use where General Motors still uses the name.
Marshall has also acquired the worldwide parts business from GM for all Bedford products over 7.5 tonnes GVW. Marshall SPV bought the former AWD truck operation from the receivers last year.
I I Marshall SPV is building a 17-tonne 4x4 prototype with the UK civilian market in mind. The model will be badged as a Bedford, following the acquisition of the name from General Motors. Power will come from a Perkins Phaser 210Ti engine mated to an Eaton 4106B gearbox. A Rockwell SVI two-speed transfer box provides fourwheel drive in high and low ratios with rear-wheel drive in high ratio only. The truck will use a modified version of the ageing Bedford TL cab.
"We're putting the specifications out to the public utilities and we should have the vehicle on sale late spring/early summer," says UK sales manager, Bob Cosby. "It's a new package for us. We've been building 4x4s, but they've been 12 to 15tonners mainly for military use and powered by either the Phaser 140 or 18(1" -Some 13-tonners have been bought by non-military customers, including East Midlands Electricity and the London Borough of Harrow. Marshall SPV has just finished a 6x6 TL-cabbed chassis for Gloucestershire County Council. It will be fitted with a gritter body.
The 6x6 has a 300hp Perkins, Peregrine engine mated to a Fuller nine-speed gearbox and Steyr two-speed transfer box. Housed in a converted aircraft hangar outside Cambridge, the production line is turning out trucks at an annual rate of about 500. Current export deals include an order for bonneted TJs from Sudan.