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JM005 - Edition 2,000
1:43 Scale
The Post Office only ever used Morris badged vehicles and the stepped roof version came from a time when the GPO was prepared to invest and modify vehicles to meet its specialist requirements. The need for standing room meant that the roof had to be raised, so a translucent fibre glass panel was created to give an extra 3/4 inches, these however soon weathered. For security reasons the side panels were not pressed out and the side doors were shortened to allow extra storage room internally. The rear door was two part (fibreglass), to allow easier opening and closing and the ladder rack was placed centrally across the roof; this made it difficult to remove.
While the adaptation of the J2 van produced a much cheaper vehicle than the previous larger coach-built 25cwt vehicles, it was still nevertheless, expensive in comparison with other conversions of commercial vans for engineering purposes. By utilising double side door variants, which later became a standard BMC optional extra, it was felt that the easy access to the front end eliminated the need to clamber into the body - hence the fibre glass roof was removed, the rear doors reverted to a one piece and the ladder rack could be mounted on the side of the roof.
This is the second Post Office version, the JM001 is sold out, which was based on the Stores-Carrying vehicle. No doubt at some time in the future we will release the third variant with the side mounted ladder rack. A big thank you to Ken for supplying the information which has allowed us to produce this variant - the JM005.TAFF
