Description
This lot will be auctioned via Iconic Auctioneers, The Iconic Sale at the NEC Classic Motor Show 2024 - Cars on Saturday the 9th of November, NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT. Succeeding the popular AVH, the Austin AVJ Van arrived in 1935 and featured Girling brakes, a three-bearing engine and a redesigned flatter roofline. They were the last vans to be made before the more rounded, Ruby-style vans appeared in 1937.
On offer here is #AVJ1814, first registered on 24th September 1936 and originally finished in blue. Little is known of DGH 327 until it’s recorded as being purchased by the Post Office-owned Bamber Bridge Central Workshops in 1981 prior to its restoration.
Between 1981 and 1982, DGH was recreated as a 1936 Royal Mail postal delivery van with particular attention to detail including the complex interior letter racking which suggests that the work was carried out by Post Office fitters such is the level of accuracy. The little van was allocated its own fleet number, 00-00-01, and entered service from 1982 onwards to be used as a promotion vehicle at a time when postcodes had just arrived and very few people used them. With the vehicle is a copy of a theatrically staged postcard in Toad Lane with a friendly postman leaning out the window of DGH and a request for your ‘postcode’ support on the back. We understand that it remained on the Royal Mail ‘fleet’ until its purchase by the previous owner in 2004 and was used sparingly attending shows etc., until his passing in 2022 when it became part of a private Collection.
It's still delightfully presented in Royal Mail livery and colours, finished in Post Office Red with painted Royal Mail logos, black wheel arches and black painted wire wheels. The inside appears period correct in black vinyl, cream paint and black carpets in the front.
A rare sight on the roads today and with a fascinating history, we believe this charismatic little Austin would be a welcome addition to any Collection.
