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‘I restore cars as a hobby and intended to give it a makeover, but to be honest, it’s too original, and I love it the way it is like a time machine’. And Shane Fenton’s 1958 Bedford CA (it is one of the last of the Mk. I “spit screen” models) really does look as though it has strayed from the pages of a Ladybird book. It belongs to a world of skiffle bands, coffee bars, and films in which Ian Carmichael or Janette Scott uttered the word ‘gosh’ on a regular basis.

Today, the Bedford goes by the nom-de-CA of “Berty”, and Shane knows ‘everything about him and I have letters and notes about him going back to ‘60s’. The first owner was ‘a WW2 veteran from London who took his family to West Bay in it every year on holiday’. Martin Walter did not convert 716 PFP, and it was in 1961 that it acquired its side windows and duotone paint finish. The former was ‘just to reduce the taxation class; I have the original letter to the DVLA’ while the owner fitted ‘some old car seats in the back for his children to sit on. It currently has two front seats, but I do have another two to go in the back these then fold out to make a double bed’.

When Berty’s first custodian ‘decided to sell it in the ‘70s, he broke down and cried when the new owners came and took it home to Highbridge in Somerset. Julie and her husband Tim kept it up until 2001 and fitted some camper units in the back with cooker etc. and bought an awning to fit over the back doors’. A ‘gentleman from Plymouth’ then acquired the CA - ‘he was a collector and was going to use it to tow his Austin A35 race car to the track’. On his passing two years ago. ‘the van was sold to me, and the rest of his collection was disposed of’.

At that time Berty had apparently not been driven ‘for nearly 20 years, but with some new fuel and a set of points it fired straight-up’. Shane ‘replaced the whole brake system and had it totally rewired. A couple of weeks later we took it on car tour throughout the Cotswolds clocking up over 140 miles and were delighted to pick up a Third Place trophy. We have driven it many miles in the last year that we have owned it’.

Mr. Fenton even used Berty as ‘my daily driver throughout the winter’, even though it lacks a heater. ‘Apparently the method of demisting the window is to open the engine cover in the cab’. Shane also remarks ‘I nearly always drive it with the sliding door open as it seems rude not to. The three-speed column change takes a bit of getting used to as reverse is where you would think first would be, and you have to be very careful not to select reverse as you change to second’.

Naturally, Berty causes a sensation wherever he roams, be it at a car show or a run to the shops. He is a van that ‘brings a smile to everyone’s face. Everyone has a Bedford CA story I have heard “our baker used to own one” to “I drove one through India’. Shane regards him as ‘’one of the best original vans in the country. I paid just over 7k for him because I liked the originality and even have the original note pads from the first owner where he recorded every mile. A true classic with nothing hidden - it’s all there in front of your eyes. 62 years of motoring history that starts the first time and has never let me down’. And that is a proud legacy for any vehicle.

WITH THANKS TO – SHANE FENTON

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Here at Lancaster, we love classic cars as much as you do and we understand what it takes to protect them for future generations.

We have links with some of the top classic car clubs around the country and some of our policies even offer discounts of up to 25% for club members.

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• Historic rally cover
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