Stanislav Alexeyev shot a couple of vintage vans reincarnated as ice cream trucks in London. The first one, a Morris Commercial J-Type, looks like it might fall over in a gale. It’s short, narrow, but has a mighty tall roof. The J-Type was built between 1949 and 1961, was rated at 10 cwt (1/2 ton), and was initially powered by a 1476 cc side valve four, working though a three speed transmission. After 1957, it got the 1489 cc B-Series ohv four, and a four speed gear box. Sporty! The ones used by the Post Office had rubber front and rear fenders. Practical too!
The other one he shot is different in just about every way possible. It’s French (Citroen H Van), had FWD, independent suspension all-round, and is of course longer, lower and wider. Especially longer. This is a…long wheelbase version, one I’ve never seen before. Lots of ice cream hiding in this truck.
The H Van, which we’ve covered in depth here, was a rather revolutionary design when it arrived in 1947, unlike the profoundly traditional Morris. The H Van used the FWD drive train from the Citroen Traction Avant, but flipped front-to-rear, thus hanging the engine out front, Audi-style. Along with trailing arms for the rear wheels made for a remarkably low floor, so it really doesn’t need a high roof. I don’t think I’m taking much risk in predicting that these two vans have very different handling characteristics. But the real question is which one has better ice cream.
Hmmm… Cornish or French Vanilla? Decisions, decisions!
Anyone have opinions on national ice creams? I remember being very impressed by Greek; it may have had more cream than American.
I like the way post war Citroen vans and cars (especially the 2CV and its relations) did motoring in a minimalist but functional manner with looks be damned. And then, seemingly in one fell swoop, introduced the smooth and spaceship-like DS.
If I was driving that Morris J type, I be very fearful of cross winds, or even leaning out the window too far. It looks like it needs outrigger wheels.
Quite likely that Morris J was an ice cream van from new. They were quite a popular choice before soft ice cream appeared.
Both of those vans look pretty tasty! For some strange reason, I have an urge to go and check what’s in our freezer.
Those Citroen H vans look like the offspring of a 1927 Ford Tri-Motor aircraft and a… (Well, I don’t know what.)
The rugged Tri-Motor was only about twice as fast as the H. It was inspired by Junkers designs, via Wm. Stout.
What was that van they used in the series “Last Of The Summer Wine” ? It had a circus organ in the back. It looked a bit like the Morris above , but bigger.
Snapped this other H-van back in 2008. Marking translates as “Burgundy ice creams”… sounds delicious. I’ll have a red one pls…
That blue and white H van has a suspiciously long wheelbase, might have been stretched. Forward-hinged doors = Dutch production.
The H van was the post-war redesign of Citroen’s initial FWD van, the TUB (built 1939-1941). First forward-control FWD van, first sliding rear door. Very rare now of course, but they made an impression. The French “Joe Publique” still call the H van the “TUB Citroen”, only Citroen freaks call it the H.
Nice photo of the Morris. Cars in the UK used to be so much narrower! Photo was taken in London on the south bank of the Thames. You can just about make out the Tower of London beneath the bandstand, and the ship is WW2 light cruiser HMS Belfast, which probably merits its own CC one day! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Belfast_(C35)
I’ve seen a couple of H-vans here in Toronto pulling coffee duty, including one that appears regularly in my neighborhood during the good weather. The big Grumman vans and other similar vehicles are relegated to ice cream and other food-related jobs, but it would be great to see a few more H-vans here dishing out the frosty treats, especially this past summer. Still, I can’t complain. Our Steam Whistle brewery has its own fleet of classic trucks that it uses during the summer months. I’m sure they’d have room for an H-van at the Roundhouse. Speaking of which, time for a cold one.
This reminds me of my late father’s ’56 Ford pickup with a 390 and a 4 speed… he drove to work and back home on surface streets in Orange, Ca. for about 4 years during mid-60s. There was an angled, blind railroad crossing on what was Orange-Olive road where you had to depend on your hearing to make sure no train was approaching when you crossed. One foggy morning, Dad’s luck ran out and he got clipped on the left rear of the Ford’s bed, luckily spun him around and off the tracks… he survived without a scratch, but that sweet Ford F-150 lived out the remainder of its years as an ice cream truck plying the streets of Santa Ana.
The Morris J had an engine and gearbox lifted directly from the Morris Oxford MO no downsizing or gears removed during transplant, the operation was successful the patient survived a long time, These vans often called a Comical due to the proportions are quite sought after today Ive not seen one in use for some time and the later OHV model has disappeared altogether.
I remember Wall’s Ice Cream tricycles cruising suburban London streets in the late 50’s selling ice cream sandwiches (a ‘sixpence’ coin in old money / about 3.5 cents today). The ice cream and wafers were separate and you put it together yourself.
Gas/petrol at the equivalent of 65 cents a gallon at the time (twice what it was in Canada, and close to 3 times what it was in the States) was likely a factor, not to mention the cost of motor vehicles.
The CC effect – a late 1960’s Citroen H-van at a food truck festival this afternoon in Vancouver, BC.
The one-piece windshield and semi-circular rear wheel cutouts place it between late 1964 and late 1969, as far as I could tell from Wikipedia.
Guess this is the ONLY real ice-cream van you can have, Italian ice cream, Italian van….
Considering the vast majority of ice cream trucks here are repurposed Ford or Chevy full-size vans, nice to see these classics dishing out frosty treats. (I seem to remember SWB Step-vans being common ice cream trucks when I was younger, but those are getting rare nowadays.)
I think the only way we’ll figure out which one has better ice cream is a head-to-head taste test. It’s only a 10 hour flight…
Those Morris Js were all over the place when I was a kid. Both the local baker and the laundry used one for their deliveries.