Bedford RL Fire Engine

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Bedford Vehicles, usually shortened to just Bedford, was a brand of vehicle produced by Vauxhall Motors, which was ultimately owned by General Motors (GM).

Established in 1930 to make commercial vehicles, Bedford became a leading international truck brand with substantial export sales of light, medium, and heavy trucks throughout the world. The brand took its name from the county town of Bedfordshire in which the Luton factory is located and was GM Europe's most profitable venture for several years.

The Bedford RL was the British military’s main medium lorry, built from the mid-1950s until the late-1960s and superseding the Bedford OY. The RL was based on the Bedford SCL, a civilian 7-ton truck, but being a military version had all-wheel drive and bigger wheels to increase ground clearance. Originally conservatively rated at 3 tons, all RL GS (general service) trucks in British military service were, at a late stage in their service lives, re-rated at 4 tons without any mechanical modifications (the weight referring to its rated cross country payload capacity).

The RL was powered by a 4.9-litre petrol engine producing 110bhp, although some were fitted with diesel engines. Many specialist variants were also built including recovery vehicles, mobile workshops, radio vans and cable layers. The Green Goddess fire engine was also based on the RL and similar specification vehicles were put into service as civilian fire appliances.

The RL and variants continued to serve alongside the later Bedford MK and Bedford TM trucks until well into the 1990s. The Home Office also purchased a large number of these vehicles, kept in reserve for any national emergency. All have now since been disposed of, many having less than 2,000 miles on the clock. The last RL rolled off the production line in the early 1970s after around 74,000 had been produced and the Bedford brand was retired in 1991.

This RL Fire Engine was first registered in London in April 1956 and while the insignia would indicate that it eventually saw service at Carlisle Airport, there is nothing in the history file to confirm its early history. A note on file states that in 1993 it was driven some 60 miles and that it ran and drove well, the V5C stating that it has had five previous keepers.

This lot will be available to view at Stondon Museum (SG16 6JN) on Friday 5th June. Although this vehicle will be offered for sale at Brightwells (HR6 0DE) it will need to be collected from Stondon.

Due to where the vehicle is currently stored, collection may not be possible for up to 4 weeks after the auction.