BigLorryBlog

Good question. I reckon this version of the Bantam (with a Commer derived cab) first saw the light of day as early as 1948, and although it's difficult to say when production finally ceased, they are documented well up to 1978 which must be some kind of record for a British Truck.

Hi Will and Richard,

That's an interesting question. Normally I would never dare to query you, Richard, but I think that in this case you might be slightly wrong. That cab was first produced in 1948, as you say, but I believe it was only fitted to Commer trucks in that year, and was not fitted to the Karrier Bantam until 1951. If you have a look at http://www.automobileadshop.com/commerkarrier-93-c.asp you will see there is an advert for a 1950 Bantam still using the original Karrier cab, and a 1951 model using the new "Commer" cab.

I'm not sure about the final production date though; I have seen photos of late 1970s Bantams, but never, as far as I remember, any from the 1980s.

According to Geoff Carverhill, in his excellent book "The Commer Story" the cab lasted exactly 30 years. There is certainly a photo of the Karrier Bantam with the new QX cab in the 1950 Commercial Vehicle Show. The last Karrier was assembled in June 1978 - assembled on one of the two lines at the Dunstable works - known as the '4 cylinder' line for obvious reasons. The cab actually went through three style changes with the original one featuring a two-piece windscreen, which changed to the one piece screen at the same time as the Commer Mk IV in late 1958, and there was a final change in the early 70s with the headlights sticking out on nacelles, rather than being sunk into the bodywork. Hope this helps
H in NZ

Good work guys!!

I was stationed at RAF Sutton Coldfield 216 MU in 1949 as a DMT,
and we had the Bantam's there,my favourite vehicle at that time which was assigned to me was a Canadian Dodge 3 tonner.great days!
Cheers,Terry Read.