Commer WrT MUR 530 with Hertfordshire Fire Brigade placard, sub-noted 'Watford', converted into a mobile coffee and hot sandwich vendor. Seen today in Livingston, West Lothian.
It seems that all - or nearly all - of the Alfred Miles bodied appliances built on Commer chassis cowls during the fifties and sixties had no front doors.
The chassis incorporated an underfloor slant six pentrol rngine, which permitted an almost flat cabin floor, so access to the front seats from the single set of rear cab doors was not too troublesome. Unless, of course, it was the practice to accommodate BA sets and/or other small gear on a bulkhead between the two rows of seats.....
But it does seem odd that a chassis designed from the start for easy access via front doors for the driver and OIC should be "improved" in this way!
This practice of abolishing front cab doors on Commer chassis spread to other bodybuilders and lasted well into the 1970s. It may have saved a few pounds, but it does seem daft from any other perspectove.
The chassis incorporated an underfloor slant six pentrol rngine, which permitted an almost flat cabin floor, so access to the front seats from the single set of rear cab doors was not too troublesome. Unless, of course, it was the practice to accommodate BA sets and/or other small gear on a bulkhead between the two rows of seats.....
But it does seem odd that a chassis designed from the start for easy access via front doors for the driver and OIC should be "improved" in this way!
This practice of abolishing front cab doors on Commer chassis spread to other bodybuilders and lasted well into the 1970s. It may have saved a few pounds, but it does seem daft from any other perspectove.
Added by Rob Johnson on 10 August 2014.