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‘I don’t think there’s another programme quite like Heartbeat. I think younger people relate to it being a part of their childhood as many I talk to had to go to bed after it finished on a Sunday evening watching it with the family and it also meant school was in the morning. Us older people appreciate the vehicles and the music’.

Nathan Willmott is not just the owner of several fine classic police cars – including a Ford Anglia 105E and a Vauxhall XV2300 – he is the custodian of the Morris Mini Van once driven on screen by Mark Jordon’s PC Phil Bellamy. 

Heartbeat first aired on the 10th April 1992 and ITV screened the last of an incredible run of 372 episodes on the 12th September 2010.

Nathan came across BOA 430 B ‘on the 18th March 2019’ and he ‘brought her back to England to be shown at rallies and visit Yorkshire where she belongs rather than sat in a barn in Northern Ireland’.

The Mini has been treated to a ‘new fuel tank, new brakes all round and recommissioned her. She now starts every time the first time and in full driving order. We also did the bodywork and removed stickers, so she’s back how she was when she starred in Heartbeat’.

BMC introduced the Morris and Austin Mini Van (separate marque names were retained until 1969) in January 1960 as the light commercial with ‘Time saving performance’. Extras included a passenger seat, windscreen washers, a heater, front overriders and a radio.

The colour choices were limited to “Smoke Grey” or “Whitehall Beige” and your new Mini Van came complete with a driver’s sun visor, twin wing mirrors and even a form of “air-conditioning”. A vent on the roof boosted the through-flow of fresh air when the sliding windows were opened – ideal for summer motoring. However, donning a police-regulation greatcoat would have been essential for much of the year as the optional heater was not renowned for its efficiency…

The  Mini Vans offered, according to BMC, ‘far more payload in far less space’ and a compact vehicle with the ability to carry 5cwt was ideal for various public authorities.

The Post Office was one high-profile customer – we featured a 1962 ex-GPO Morris last year – and several constabularies used Mini Vans during the 1960s and 1970s.

Such was their fame that Corgi produced to a die-cast version of the London Metropolitan Police Mini – ‘for dogs and their handlers’. Production of the Mini light commercials ceased in 1982 and only one constabulary Van is believed to have survived -  Alex Lee’s 1978 North Wales Police Van.

Today,  BOA 430 B never fails to provoke a reaction from members of the public - we were going to say that it is quite an arresting looking vehicle – but we decided not to.

Nathan remarks that when the weather is dry ‘We drive her regularly around the quaint city of Wells and when people see her, they wave and point. If I leave it parked in the city or anywhere for that matter, there’s always a hoard of people taking photos’.

Cue Nick Berry singing the theme tune – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJy5xFenpVQ

WITH THANKS TO -  Nathan Willmott

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