The Commer FC was a forward-control commercial vehicle produced by Commer from 1960 to 1976. During its lifespan, it was developed into the Commer PB in 1967, and the Commer SpaceVan in 1974. After the Rootes Group, which owned Commer, was purchased by Chrysler, the SpaceVan was also sold under the Dodge, DeSoto and Fargo marques. From 1976 onwards, the van was only sold as the Dodge SpaceVan, and it remained in production until 1983.
This vehicle was purchased new in the summer of 1969 by Mr J. Hasell of Kent Nursery’s in Bromley, London. It was registered in central London with a restricted licence only permitting travel within a limited radius from its base (Special Farm Licence). It spent most of its life travelling from the nursery to Covent Garden with freshly grown flowers.
When the vehicle was purchased new, to save money, Mr. Hasell ordered this vehicle without passenger seats and without a body and in factory primer; it was then brush painted. A body from a previous vehicle adapted for transporting flowers was fitted to the bare chassis cab.
The vehicle was used in this business until around 2000; then it was laid up in a barn for many years. A colleague of Mr. Hasell Junior persuaded him to sell or give the vehicle to him to restore it. A man from Cannock then bought this vehicle in 2009 and restored the chassis cab bodywork to a very high standard over several years. Business commitments prevented him from finishing it, and the current owner bought it.
He carried out a mechanical overhaul, including brakes, head gasket, exhaust, tyres, and a service. He then built a body from the frame supplied with the vehicle.
When these chassis cabs left the factory, a drop-side body (or special body) was built by a specialist body builder. So very few were the same. Therefore, the owner had artistic licence to build the body, although he tried to remain with a period body as much as possible.
Classic commercials were used, destroyed, and scrapped; very few exist in the pick-up form of the Commer PB.
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