Great little vans and trucks in their day - dad used to have one in late 1970s and used to haul fish in London for his stalls - rotted away but boy did he used to have that truck loaded. He had custom paint, sunroof and chrome side rear mirrors, looked a treat.
Amazing! My Mum (Anne Marie Varley) used to play piano with the Cy Laurie Jazz Band! Probably didn't feature in this film as a piano is just TOO big for the van and, in 1958 she was expecting me!
wonderful to see Stan Leader on Bass,used to follow the band in their prime which kind of dates me. Stan was always generous with his time for fans during breaks and after gigs, and a witty raconteur as well as a very talented bassist. ' Up the Chimney' was his feature number, Stan with the fingering and the drummer on the strings. fhs
My father had one of these Thames Van in the early 70's, I was one of 7 kids and it was like an old school people carrier, In fact one of us would sit on top of the engine since it was between the driver and passenger. Even remember for some reason the Reg Number 151 DTM
Did you grow up in Luton? It's just that I have bought and read a much reduced book about British number plates, and it mentions TM being Bedfordshire, and I when I sometime travelled for work Bedfordshire usually meant Luton
back in my misspent youth I overhauled the engine in one of these. The parts availability in the USA was iffy at best. It was a tough go, to say the least.. However, I did prevail, and the engine ran well. The college girls who owned it were greatful. For that matter, so was I. This is what memories are made from.
I think this is about the most fun one could have with an ad for a van, although it must have gotten loud in there. One would be hard pressed to find an American truck/van ad this fun........ Great music too! thanks for sharing this.
I can safely say that this, Dagenham Donkey, was yet another pile of rubbish churned out by the British Motor Industry; and is a classic example of why the UK has no real homegrown motors anymore. They were Hell on wheels to drive. Dodgy suspension, hence inherently unstable. So little power that a decent head wind knocked their speed back into single digits. The pathetic vacuum driven wipers stopped dead just when you needed them. They started rusting BEFORE they left the factory door and the rust never slept after that. They were unstable and dangerous in side winds. I once caught a huge side gust that blew me right across into the opposing lane - luckily no oncoming traffic!
I love this film. It's like a acted Merrie Melodies, with jazz. My favourite bit is the woman (is it Ronnie, Cy's wife?) changing the wheel; with one of the band has jacking up, the rest fiddling with their instruments, and Cy sits inside seemingly looking for the big end!
@aikiAshley Thank you for your kind comments about my late dad , Stan Leader. What a character and a wonderful Daddy.Do you know of anyone who has a copy of ''Up the chimney ''.I heard him play it many times when I was a youngster but don't have a recording of it. Cheers Marilyn.
Ford Thames was alright pottering round towns. But when the motorways came, it couldn’t handle them. Did you notice way the driver also played the trumpet as well, with the bench seats and lack of seatbelts as well, if they’d crashed it would been a bloody mess. They didn’t take Health and safety seriously in those days.
Sorry to disagree but this music is awe-inspiring to me anyway!.... & in this case very well arranged technically & musically to fit this film. Similar to how Classical music is used also for effect in films!
I had a 1960 Thames 400e (no side windows, left hand drive) van in Sacramento, California in the late 1960's and into the early 1970's. It had been repainted, but underneath the red and white paint could be read "Coca Cola", probably used by the local Coke distributor when new.
hola amigo compre una con motor de maveric el 6 en linea 250, la estoy restaurando, y modificando el tapa maquina ya que se lo hicieron de metal con tubos 2 X 4 y calienta una barbaridad, corre , hay que arreglarle unos detalles
to trevor arnold not good on computor please send e mail address i have got pictures of you in daddy s scrap books cheers marilyn farrant nee leader daughter of stan leader cy laurie jazz band
This was a poor bit of kit,poor Beatles,If they did anything other than bring on new era of pop music,which may have galvanised Ford GB to get the Transit out and operational.(joke) but the Thames van / truck / minibus was an awfull think
the music so amazingly recalls the period, and is nice too! And in THOSE days, vehicles were designed by REAL DESIGNERS, ( not the woke idiots of today), so when the van got a flat tyre - unlike vehicles today - IT HAD A SPARE WHEEL!
