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Few light commercials are an essential part of 20^th-century music and film culture – but the BMC J4 achieved this on two occasions. The first involved two out of work actors who went on holiday by mistake in 1969 and the second was when the London Metropolitan Police assigned two officers to rather special duty in Abbey Road. Their Black Maria was parked behind the zebra crossing, with one PC controlling the traffic and the other stationed behind the photographer Iain Macmillan.to control the crowds.

Of course, the ‘new style in local delivery’ debuted at a time when the Not-Yet-Fab Five (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Best and Sutcliffe) were an unknown Beat Combo.  BMC unveiled the J4 at the 1960 Commercial Vehicle Show as their replacement for the long-running Morris J-Type/Austin 101. Its main sales features were was the 160-cu.-ft. load space and mechanical familiarity, with its B-Series engine and strengthened version of the 1 ½ litre “Farina”  suspension.

The price of a new J4 was £470, and there was naturally a choice of Morris or Austin badges, to satisfy BMC’s chaotic dealer network. For the extravagant, there were the options of a heater, chromium-plated bumpers, sun visors, a radio and even a spare wheel and tyre. The vans left the factory in primer, but for an extra £10, you could specify one of four paint finishes: light blue, charcoal grey, light grey, or mid-green.

Commercial Motor of 23^rd September 1960 thought the J4’s ‘general handling was particularly good’ and ‘the gear-change action was a marked improvement on that of any other make of van in this category’. BMC  expanded the range with the Pick-Up – with ‘commanding’  frontal styling ‘to build your prestige’ – and by 1962 the coachwork gained those distinctive air vents either side of the front grille.

The J4 was also now available with a diesel engine option, and a CM test on 3^rd August 1962 concluded ‘this BMC van must present great appeal to operators of this class of vehicle’. However, the scribe also complained ‘the sliding windows and the vent flaps at the front of the van allowed insufficient ventilation to counteract the large quantities of warm air which entered the van through a wide gap at the rear of the engine cowl —which itself become uncomfortably hot.’. A further issue was ‘I also found it difficult to give hand signals due to the small opening left when either section of the side windows was open’.

In 1964 the 1.5-litre engine was replaced by the 1,622cc B-series unit. By this time, the J4 was a much a part of everyday life as Emergency Ward 10 on ITV. They would deliver your milk and post in the morning, and the minibus version could transport you to that thrilling school outing to the local iron foundry. For holidays, there was the Autochalet or Bluebird motor home. Who could forget the joys of a two-hour traffic jam on the road to Bournemouth as father outlined his plans to have every member of The Kinks transported to Baffin Island?

However, the following year saw the launch of the Transit, which revolutionised the British commercial vehicle market - and highlighted the drawbacks of the J4. They offered little in the way of crash protection, were extremely noisy and could not hope to match the Ford’s road manners. From 1968 all UK market J4s carried “BMC” badging replaced two years later by “Austin-Morris” logos but semantics could not disguise how dated the line-up seemed in comparison with the Transit and the Bedford CF.

The Sherpa replaced the J4 in 1974, but the older model remained a familiar sight well into the following decade. And it will always be remembered whenever you hear George Harrison singing Here Comes The Sun - or an irate police constable screaming ‘‘Get in the back of the van!’

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