PRODUCTION OF FINELINE VANS BEGINS
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FHE striking Fineline van, designed and built by B. Walker and Son Ltd., iammons Lane. Watford, and first seen t The Commercial Motor Show last year, now going into production. This new an. which is of unusual appearance, is vailable in several versions including own vans such as the illustrated example or Sketchley-cleaners. The Fineline can e mounted on any BMC, Bedford, 'orrimer or Ford forward control van
hassis. • Before the body is mounted, the scuttle removed from the chassis and a new ront built which is incorporated with the ody. Slight variations of grille design re made, however, to retain some identication of the chassis manufacturer, hitst in the case of the Bedford the sill ne in front of the windscreen has to be xtended a little. The van employs a teldeil steel construction, whilst external anelling can be of steel, aluminium or lass-reinforced plastics. A one-piece lass-fibre roar is fitted, and is normally ranslucent to allow extra natural lighting Iside the vehicle.
The basic van is 9 ft. 6 in. long by 5 ft. in. wide and 6 ft. overall height, giving cubic capacity, of 325 Cu. ft. A pan:chnicon version is available, however, 1 which the height is increased to 7 ft. nd the cubic capacity to 430 cu. ft.
Special versions of the Fineline are to e Made available later, such as mobile hops arid ice cream vans, whilst a evetopment which sounds promising is le possibility of a 12-seater coach built )comply with the requirements for small .s.v,
One of the most notable features of the
Fineline is the visibility from the driving position, the cab containing 26 sq. ft. of unobstructed vision, • all achieved with completely flat glass, A ride round Watford in a Fineline which is being completed for the weights and measures department. of the City of St.Albans demonstrated this visibility to me. It was rather -like watching one's first film on the wide screen; a little Overwhelming at first, although one soon became adjusted to the degree of visibility available. My companion on the trip was a six-footer, but lhere was ample room for him to sit comfortably.
The standard cab seats three without any difficulty. Access via the wide, exterior-stung sliding door is excellent. So is accessibility at the rear, which can be fitted with a wide single centre door, two quarter or full width doors, a roller shutter over a tailboard, a full depth roller shutter or a tailboard and tophinged flap.
Price of the standard 325 cu. ft van body in primer is £.365: the pantechnicon is £410 in primer whilst the fully equipped gown van is £475. F.K.M.