Inside Bedford CFCampervan and Motorhomes

 Beatles tour vans 1960-66...

and other famous band-vans

An Austin van, similar to this one, also with two-tone pantwork, was owned by the first Beatles manager Alan Williams, and used by them in the UK and on their journey to Hamburg

As a freelance writer, author of four books, and historian on the subject of campervans and motorhomes, I also have an avid interest in classic light commercial vehicles/vans of the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Another of my interests is music (listening not playing), and in particular the music and bands of the 60s and 70s. I was fortunate to see many great bands play live during those decades, some at the height of their popularity and some much later on the cabaret circuit. My two interests came together after I began to research which tour vans some of the 60s bands had used, The Beatles in particular as I was/am a huge fan, but this did lead me to go on the hunt for info relating to other UK 60s bands, and how and what they used to cover every corner of the country, well before a full UK motorway network was established. 

After my own detective work relating to The Beatles tour vans, and the labrynth of mis-information dotted around the internet, this is my account of the vans they used;

Beatles Tour Vans; 1961-1966

Austin 152/J2

 The first van, owned by the Beatles manager Alan Williams, was an Austin 152/J2, which he had purchased secondhand from someone in Liverpool. This was used extensively in the early Beatles career for transporting both the Beatles and their gear around the UK, and for their time in Hamburg. There are several photographs of this van on the internet, some of it being loaded onto a ship bound for Hamburg, and some of it parked outside the Cavern in Liverpool, with the Beatles (including Pete Best) standing in front of it. If you do an internet image search for ‘Beatles Tour Vans’, you will see several pictures of the Austin. I did find a reference to the early Austin van on a Facebook group, as someone remembered their grandfather selling a used van for use by The Beatles in their Hamburg days. This must have been the Austin 152, sold to then Beatles manager Alan Williams.

I have no idea what became of that Austin van after Alan Williams turned over the management of The Beatles to Brian Epstein. As Alan had other business interests in Liverpool, it could well have continued in use.

The first Beatles tour van was an Austin 152/J2, identical in shape to the example pictured above. The Austin-Morris J2 was badged individually as both Austin and Morris. The Austin version (used by The Beatles) had the slatted front grille as above, plus the Austin badge on the front panel.

Commer 1500/2500 3/4ton

Their next tour van was a Commer 1500  minibus, with several seats removed to enable storage of the Beatles gear. The Commer was mostly driven around the UK by either Neil Aspinall or Mal Evans, but it is known that Paul McCartney and George Harrison also took turns driving on long journeys. According to several sources, Mona Best, Beatles drummer Pete Best's mother, and owner of the Liverpool Casbah club, purchased the Commer, or at least gave her partner Neil Aspinall the money to buy the Commer, so that Neil could ferry The Beatles around to gigs. Neil would charge the Beatles money for driving them to gigs around the UK in the early days. I did find one quote from George Harrison who remembered the van being hand-painted in red, which is a huge bonus, as all existing pictures of this van are obviously in black and white! There are also several references on the internet to this van, which is often referred to as the Beatles ‘Old Commer van’, which it most certainly was not. I believe that this Commer was registered in 1961, and the Commer 1500 FC model was only released in 1960, so far from being ‘an old’ van, it was in fact almost new! Although I have seen pictures of individual Beatles standing beside a Commer in the 1960s (probably not their own Commer van), I have only seen two pictures of The Beatles with the van purchased by Neil Aspinall. One well known picture with Neil in the driver's seat and Ringo sat in the middle front seat, and the other picture taken by a fan in Mathew Street, outside the Cavern, with the van being loaded with The Beatles gear.

The Commer 1500FC was a British light commercial van range introduced in January 1960. 

 

Present day Mathew Street, Liverpool, home of the famous Cavern Club, with a superimposed picture of The Beatles Commer being loaded with their gear, possibly around 1962. The registration number of their Commer was 208 UFM.

 By the spring of 1963 (their first Worcester appearance) I believe that the Beatles were using their own cars to travel around in, with just the band’s gear being transported in the Commer van. I am quite certain that they arrived in two separate cars for their first Worcester concert, possibly Paul and Ringo’s Fords. Paul owned a Ford Consul Classic and Ringo a green Ford Zodiac. (George bought his first car in 1962, which was a 1959 Ford Anglia 105e in blue; John did not pass his driving test until 1965). *The Commer van would most likely have been the van used to carry the Beatles gear to their appearance in Tenbury Wells, but I’ve been unable to corroborate this from people present at the time, but the latter part of 1963 saw them using a Ford Thames van.

I do recall reading an interview with Shane Fenton (later to become Alvin Stardust) who remembered being in the Ford Thames van with The Beatles, and they were appearing at a prestigious venue in London (Possibly the 'Pop Proms' at the Albert Hall). Embarrassed by the scrapes and writing over the van, The Beatles asked Shane if he would park the van a couple of streets away from the venue. I suspect that this was when The Beatles and Shane Fenton & The Fentones were appearing at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and there are picturesof the Thames van parked in a London side street with girls writing, in lipstick, on the sides of the van.

Shane Fenton & The Fentones appeared on the same bill as The Beatles

, at the Great British Pop Prom, and I suspect that this was the event where The Beatles asked Shane to park their van around the corner from the venue.

 

There are only a handful of photographs known to exist of the Commer, and what happened to the van once the Beatles stopped using it after early 1963 is unclear. As the Commer was owned by Neil Aspinall/Mona Best, it is possible that it continued to be used for Casbah Coffee Club business, but I have been unable to substantiate this.Very often these touring vans used by bands in the 60s were sold on to other up and coming bands and were quite often in a very poor condition with extremely high mileage. Though the Commer example was only two years old when The Beatles stopped using it, so I can't believe it was scrapped at that point.

Neil Aspinall in the driver's seat of the Commer used by the Beatles . Often referred to as the 'old Commer van' by many people on the internet, when in fact I believe this is a 1961 model, and the Commer was only released in 1960!

*The Rootes/Chrysler Commer was a firm favourite with bands from the 60s, and was used by The Who, The Rolling Stones, Gerry and the Pacemakers and the Soul Agents (featuring a young Rod Stewart), who used to practise his autograph on the van’s headlining! Gerry Marsden always spoke glowingly about his old Commer van, and how it carried him and the Pacemakers down to London from Liverpool to record their first No.1 hit record. A Commer van did feature in the Beatles lives during the latter end of their time together, but this was during the Apple years, and the Commer at that time was a larger ‘Walk-Thru’ model; some pictures exist of that van online, featuring a large ‘Apple’ logo on the rear doors.

Ford Thames 1500e

Their next, and final tour van was a white/cream Ford Thames 1500e, which Brian Epstein purchased on behalf of NEMS, though money was deducted from The Beatles earnings on a weekly or monthly basis to pay for it! The van was bought from the salesman Terry Doran (more about Mr Doran later) at the Hawthorn Garage in Warrington, though it was probably a used vehicle at that time, as it carried a Luton registration plate. Once again, the Ford Thames was used for touring the UK, and several photographs appear online of this van, seen covered in graffiti by adoring fans, usually writing their names on the vehicle in lipstick, which Mal Evans had to constantly keep cleaning off. The Ford Thames van was present, and seen parked outside the theatre in London when the Beatles made their appearance at the ‘Royal Variety Show’. It was also photographed several times parked close to venues throughout the UK in 1964. This was most likely the van which they used until they ceased live shows in 1966, and what happened to the van after this remains a mystery. Corgi released a toy diecast model of the Thames, but got the colour wrong, using maroon and grey instead of white. It was the first Beatles van owned by Alan Williams in 1960 which I believe was maroon and grey.

The Ford Thames van, similar to the van above, was used by The Beatles from 1963, however their van was off-white in colour. A similar van was used in the original 'Italian Job' film starring Michael Caine, when the gang are making their getaway in the City.

 

The Beatles white/cream Ford Thames van, registration number 6834 KD

Once the Beatles had experienced ‘Beatlemania’ from late 1963 onward, they took to being chauffeured around the UK in luxury cars, the ‘Austin Princess’ model, of which two examples were regularly used, they bore the registration numbers WYO 898 and SST 626. Their main driver became Mr Alf Bicknell from 1964.

Above; One of the Austin Princess luxury cars used by The Beatles from late 1963.

There are several 'fan photos' on the internet of a white/cream Commer van which was seen parked in front of the Abbey Road recording studio after 1966. I haven't been able to obtain further info about that particular Commer van. It could well have had a Beatles connection, still used for transporting the bands gear between the studio and their homes, or it could have been owned by someone working at the studio in the latter half of the 60s. My research into that van is ongoing. There is also a fan photo of John Lennon signing an autograph, in which John is stood at the rear of a Commer tour van (pictured below), the van clearly adorned with fan graffiti. That picture was taken in 1965 at the Richmond Blues Festival, which John attended, and I believe that particular Commer was owned by one of the bands appearing at that event.

 

 

 

Terry Doran; the van and car connection

 

I mentioned Terry Doran as being the salesman from Warrington who sold George Harrison his first car, the 1959 Ford Anglia 105e. Interestingly, George took Ringo with him to collect the Anglia, and Ringo drove his car into the back of George’s on the way home! This resulted in a hefty repair bill of £67 for Ringo. Also notable was that George received two speeding tickets in his Anglia within the first two months of ownership. Terry Doran also sold Beatles manager Brian Epstein a white Ford Thames van, which they used for touring from early 63’.

 

Doran and Brian Epstein obviously became good friends because some time later they opened ‘Brydor Cars’, selling high-end sports cars, often to the rich and famous, including Paul McCartney, who bought his Aston Martin DB5 from them. Terry Doran was certainly on an upward trajectory in his career, as he later became manager of ‘Apple Publishing’, and the band ‘Grapefruit’ and singer Mary Hopkin.

 

After the break up of the Beatles, Terry became the estate manager for George Harrison, on George’s large Fryer Park estate. He also managed George’s ‘Dark Horse Records’ label. He later spent time working in California, before returning to the UK to start once again selling luxury cars in Park Lane. In later years he suffered with Parkinsons disease and spent his final years living in a nursing home in North London.

 

Terry Doran passed away in 2020 aged 80.

The Rootes Commer was a popular tour van among bands of the 1960s

Having covered the three Beatles tour vans, I began to research which other UK bands were using the Rootes/Chrysler Commer van as a tour van for themselves and their gear; these are the bands I have traced to date....

 The Beatles 

The Rolling Stones 

Vigilantes

The Kinks

Gerry & the Pacemakers 1963

The Coins

The Rocking Vicars (featured Lemy of Motorhead)

The Toggery Five (Won New Commer in 'Ready Steady Win' competition 1964)

Badfinger/The Iveys

Screaming Lord Sutch

The Groundhogs

The Soundcasters

Tom's Rigg

The Swinging Hangmen

Dene Wayne & The Exiles

The Lonely Ones

The Paramounts (Procul Harum)

The Fabs

Mickey Finn

The Impalas

Black Velvets

Manfred Mann

The Santa Fe Reunion

Orange

The Skyliners

Max Merritt & the Meteors

The Who

The Soul Agents (featuring Rod Stewart)

Nat Temple & his Orchestra (jazz band)

Mud

Having already mentioned fellow 'Brian Epstein' Mersey band, Gerry and The Pacemakers, I did manage to find an interview with Gerry Marsden in which he recalled the importance of their Commer van, and the part it played in their early success;

"We recorded the song in March 1963 and had to drive to London in our bloomin' old Commer van, yes I remember the van well. Before we even set off, the engine was frozen solid and we had to sort that out. Then halfway there, just outside Birmingham, we broke down. A spring had gone and it was thick snow and freezing cold, and I had to crawl under the van to fix it with a wire coathanger.

We had left home at 6.00am for our big day, and got to London around 2.00pm, we were knackered and looked dreadful...Brian Epstein said "Go to the hotel and have a rest". We slept until 5.00pm then went to the studio and recorded 'How Do You Do it' in four takes, heard one playback, then drove back to Liverpool in the Commer van. My mum waited up for us, God bless her, and asked me how it went. I said "not too bad mam, and at least the van got us home". 

That recording reached number one in the British hit parade by April 1963, thanks in no small part to that Commer van!

All of the bands listed above used a Commer van at some point during their career, but here is a random list of other well known UK bands/groups, and the marque/make of van they used.....

David Bowie used an ex-Bedford ambulance in his David Jones 'Mod' days 1960s

Pink Floyd used a Bedford CA van

Status Quo a Ford Thames, like the one used by The Beatles

Tommy Iommi (Black Sabbath) used a Ford Transit MKI

The Small Faces used a Ford Thames, but took publicity shots with a Ford Transit

The Who used a Ford Thames in their early days

Amen Corner a Ford Transit MKI

The In'betweens (pre-Slade) used an Austin 152/J2 similar to The Beatles first van

The Tremeloes a Ford Transit MKI

The Riot Squad (featuring David Bowie/Jones) used a converted coach

The Rolling Stones used a VW 'splitty' Transporter in addition to a Commer

Mott The Hoople used a Ford Transit and a VW campervan on a European tour

If cars and vans owned by rock bands/singers does interest you, then I would suggest a visit to the excellent site 'Rockstars Cars', linked below;

Rockstars Tour Vans - Rockstars Cars

*Beatles pictures on the internet number somewhere in the millions. The majority carry a copyright notice, but a large number are 'fan' photos, taken many decades ago, have been reproduced endless times on the internet as the original owner's name was either never known, or has been left out. So if you recognise any pictures used here that belong to you, then please let me know so that they can be credited as such, thank you.

In addition, if you remember seeing any tour vans used by bands during the 60s and 70s, then please let me know.

Martin-2023