Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rootes75]

So, with us finishing our Commer my mind has very much now turned to taking on and saving another wartime Commer. Main trouble is that they are super rare, our Q2 30cwt is the only one in the country.

Yes, Commer produced a lot of vehicles during the war but nothing like the numbers of Bedford, Austin and Ford. So, finding the next project I've thrown the net far and wide, contacting all my friends with military interests.....

I've been given two leads so far and to be honest I am following both of them up, something may come of them, something may not.

Firstly, a Commer in Denmark....
Secondly, a Commer in Belgium....

How far would you go?
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Ray White]

[Rootes75]

That was a very good contact to make Ray.

I did many years back find a rare grill for my 1937 Ford 7W, trouble being it was in New Zealand. But, it was a local Ford club over there and they packaged it and posted it to me at minimal charge, very nice helpful people.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Rick]

I'd buy from anywhere if the process of getting it back home for tolerable £££ stacked up, and it was rare enough to make the effort worthwhile.

RJ
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[Rootes75]

I must admit that is my thought Rick. At the end of the day we are in it to save vehicles not for profit. So, if its feasible to transport it back to the UK and the vehicle is rare and needs saving then we will try it.

Its surprising transport costs from the continent aren't as high as we may think, lots of hauliers are looking for back loads into the UK from European trips and that brings the price down dramatically.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[badhuis]

"How far" - Could have two meanings.

Far in the sense of the geographically distance. My furthest away car was from near Los Angeles - I live in the Netherlands. Easy to arrange transport for it, even though it did not run and had no brakes. If you cannot view the car, then the owner should be willing to cooperate, providing detailed pictures and answers on request. I have cancelled buys because the owner was too hesitant in replying to me.

Far in the sense of condition. A car or truck may be too far gone for some, or most, but if you are an enthusiast this may be different. We all know some amazing resurrections/restorations "from the death", it all depends on the owner.

There used to be a Commer Club in the Netherlands, which now has morphed into the Commer Vrienden Groep (Commer Friends Group). It consist of around 60 members, the main vehicles are the Walk Tru and PB (camper) vans. But there are trucks as well, usually fire trucks. Some of the hardcore members know everything about existing Commers so maybe can help in finding a Wartime Commer (if there are any survivors here).

For the car in Belgium, if you want I could have a look for you - if it is not too far away. I live just over the north border of Belgium.
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[ukdave2002]

We have a customer who flew from in from Israel for the sole reason of purchasing parts for his Morris 8.

Having pre ordered his parts, he arrived at Heathrow , hired a car and drove up to our Spares unit in Hinckley collected his spares, he was booked to fly back the evening of the following day, so had some time to kill ad he asked us if there were any car shows with autojumbles on, unfortunately there weren't, I casually commented there there is a trader that we direct people to for used parts, he breaks pre war Morrises and deals in second hand parts..but he was located in the Lake District, after we checked that the Trader was going to be around, our Israeli customer jumped in his hire car, drove the 200 miles up to the lake district, booked into a hotel, the next day bought a load of used parts, drove back to Heathrow and flew back to Israel .

He is coming over again to buy some more parts, he has apparently bought a case that will fit 4 wire wheels!

And before anyone asks, yes we do ship to Israel!

[Rootes75]