1990 Bedford Rascal Van2
Discussion
My Grandad bought one of these in 1988 after a lifetime of Morris/Austin/BL cars. He was getting too old and stiff to get in and out of his Mini and at that time mini MPVs hadn't been invented yet. He absolutely loved it. He gave up driving around 2000 and handed the 12 year old 'washing machine'to my brother and I to use, we wrecked it in less than six months. It was relatively easy to get it onto two wheels on a roundabout and slightly harder but still possible to get the back two wheels off the ground under heavy braking. It was brilliant for 'stunt style' handbrake parking.
Yesterday I went along to pick this up. For those of you who are still reading this, apologies for all the earlier "guess what it is" posts.
First up, for a sense of scale, here's me next to the van:
I can fit, mostly:
I'm guessing these were a giveaway item back in the 90s sometime? I have never seen one before.
After a bit of time yesterday with the red T-Cut (I still have pink fingernails!) I got to this stage, its far from perfect, but it shines a bit more now and the old faded paintwork where the "Meals on Wheels" sticker was has nearly gone away. Might see if I can borrow a machine polisher to give it a proper go over, as there are a lot of blemishes on this paintwork that could be improved and ultimately will give us maximum opportunity to get a decent return on investment.
Final bit, got some roof bars fitted so I can carry my large gazebo poles on top.
Next steps to be taken from here:
- Respray the wheels to tidy them up, they've corroded a bit in some bits. So I have some hammerite silver spray to go on to tidy them up.
- Needs a service and an "italian tune up" I reckon as its a bit grumbly on accelaration. Will still hit 60 (eventually) but would benefit from fresh oil and filters and a bit of carb cleaner.
- Needs a new tyre, only 12" so won't be too pricey on that front.
- Tidy up the interior, just needs a spruce up mainly and I'll hunt down some generic seat covers to cover where they have split away.
Overall though, its hilarious to be in, and people do stop and smile when they see it, even if it is all clunky and slow.
First up, for a sense of scale, here's me next to the van:
I can fit, mostly:
I'm guessing these were a giveaway item back in the 90s sometime? I have never seen one before.
After a bit of time yesterday with the red T-Cut (I still have pink fingernails!) I got to this stage, its far from perfect, but it shines a bit more now and the old faded paintwork where the "Meals on Wheels" sticker was has nearly gone away. Might see if I can borrow a machine polisher to give it a proper go over, as there are a lot of blemishes on this paintwork that could be improved and ultimately will give us maximum opportunity to get a decent return on investment.
Final bit, got some roof bars fitted so I can carry my large gazebo poles on top.
Next steps to be taken from here:
- Respray the wheels to tidy them up, they've corroded a bit in some bits. So I have some hammerite silver spray to go on to tidy them up.
- Needs a service and an "italian tune up" I reckon as its a bit grumbly on accelaration. Will still hit 60 (eventually) but would benefit from fresh oil and filters and a bit of carb cleaner.
- Needs a new tyre, only 12" so won't be too pricey on that front.
- Tidy up the interior, just needs a spruce up mainly and I'll hunt down some generic seat covers to cover where they have split away.
Overall though, its hilarious to be in, and people do stop and smile when they see it, even if it is all clunky and slow.
TooMany2cvs said:
Vitorio said:
TooMany2cvs said:
Bugger that. Get it re-stickered...!
This, do a proper TG style comedy faux-builders van livery!Brought the Rascal to work this morning to show to our fleet manager, after last week where he was talking about all the new lorries he's been looking at I thought I'd give him something to be jealous of.
Next little foible to sort out - needs new front wipers, whilst they do a job, they're juddery and squeaky. The spring on the rear wiper needs re-tensioning as it doesn't exactly hold the blade against the screen.
I'd love one of these. My dad had 3 Suzuki Supercarry's as work vans. The last one he had was at the time is just got my driving license. Such a fun little thing to drive. 950cc engine which you could drive flat out all the time. Trying to get one away from traffic lights quickly was funny, you could be redlining it through 1st 2nd and 3rd gears before a big-engined car would even need to be in 2nd!
Great in the snow and ice too, and on a hot day, if the tires were warm you could slam on he anchors and it felt like it would do a forward roll!!
The reason they sell for good money is (I was told) that nearly all of them get exported to Malaysia and Thailand as they're really love those sort of vans.
Great in the snow and ice too, and on a hot day, if the tires were warm you could slam on he anchors and it felt like it would do a forward roll!!
The reason they sell for good money is (I was told) that nearly all of them get exported to Malaysia and Thailand as they're really love those sort of vans.
I'd love one of these. My dad had 3 Suzuki Supercarry's as work vans. The last one he had was at the time is just got my driving license. Such a fun little thing to drive. 950cc engine which you could drive flat out all the time. Trying to get one away from traffic lights quickly was funny, you could be redlining it through 1st 2nd and 3rd gears before a big-engined car would even need to be in 2nd!
Great in the snow and ice too, and on a hot day, if the tires were warm you could slam on he anchors and it felt like it would do a forward roll!!
The reason they sell for good money is (I was told) that nearly all of them get exported to Malaysia and Thailand as they're really love those sort of vans.
Great in the snow and ice too, and on a hot day, if the tires were warm you could slam on he anchors and it felt like it would do a forward roll!!
The reason they sell for good money is (I was told) that nearly all of them get exported to Malaysia and Thailand as they're really love those sort of vans.
sinbaddio said:
Excellent. Aren't these also classed as being mid-engined? A teacher had one at school and he used to proclaim it had the same layout as a Countach or Testarossa (the poster cars at the time), mid-engined and rear wheel drive.
Well, the engine is under the seats, in between the front wheels as opposed to directly in front of them or too far behind themBut yes it is RWD, which is nice.
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