Morris-Commercial D-Type.
Roger sent over the following photograph of a 6x4 Morris-Commercial D-Type ambulance, in the livery of the RAF, as he was hoping that the lorry shown might be identified. The well-crumpled photo clearly meant a lot to its owner, and has the look of spending its life tucked away as a cherished item within a wallet, and carried everywhere, than simply left in a drawer. It's amazing that it has survived at all, and I'm grateful to Roger for allowing me to share it here. Long-term visitors to OCC may remember that a few years back, I added in a photo of an amazing ten-wheeled shooting/hunting vehicle, based on the Morris D-Type chassis (it can be found on this page), and it's great to now have a photo of a more conventional example of the 6x4 to feature on the site for comparison.
|
|
As already said, this example is with the RAF (Royal Air Force) serving as an ambulance. The civilian (rather than military) registration isn't entirely clear, it could be MP-8211. If so, that London registration series ran from August 1927 to the same month in 1928. I thought that it might be MR-8211, however that's a Wiltshire series that ran between Jan 1924 and Jan 1927. The tri-axle Morris-Commercial D-Type was produced between 1926 and 1932, so my initial suggestion of it being MP-8211 appears to be correct. If someone could add information regarding the gent's uniform, that'd be welcome, thanks, and I'll add it in here.
|
| (Please click the thumbnail to view the full-size image.) |
|
|
|
If this is a wartime photograph, then the Morris was already getting on in years at the time of its taking. It could be from early in WW2, equally it may also be from the inter-war years of the 1930s, especially as there are no signs of military unit lettering or insignia on it, apart from "RAF", nor are there any signs of blackout regulation headlamp masks, or wing edges painted white etc. The D-Type was put into production at the behest of the War Office who specified a requirement for a 6x4 30cwt commercial vehicle. Both military and civilian examples were built, the latter usually having a fully-enclosed cab, while the former had open cabs with canvas fold-back roofs. The engine used was a 15.9hp (RAC) sidevalve four-cylinder unit. A number of fire engine variants (FD) were produced, as were staff cars (6D) that utilised a six-cylinder engine.
|
|
Return to Page 21 in the motoring image archive, or visit the main index of vintage & classic photographs here.
|
