1980 Leyland Sherpa
Once the pride of the Post Office, the LDV Pilot and Convoy series has sadly fallen from grace over the past few years, becoming largely a victim of the Ford Transit it had fought from the start, and the later Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.
The Pilot originally entered the world in 1974 under British Leyland as the Leyland Sherpa. The original design was derived from the Morris Commercial 250JU and J4 vans of the 1960's, and included a revised forward control of the J4 and moving the engine to the front in a conventional bonnet. This allowed the wheelbase to be extended resulting in greater stability, payload, side loading and the distinctive 'Sherpa' profile (though the last of the J4s and the first Sherpa are largely identical from the rear).
The Sherpa gave way to the Freight Rover 200 Series and in turn the Leyland DAF 200 Series before finally becoming the Pilot after LDV (Leyland Domestic Vehicles) was formed in 1993. The Convoy on the other hand was developed originally in 1984 as the Freight Rover 300, similar functionally apart from a wider body and more often than not a higher roof for extra internal capacity.
The Pilot was originally designed to be built on car production lines which led to it having a narrow track. This feature was made into a virtue in later publicity by stressing its ability in narrow city streets – this indeed was why the Sherpa series was for many years, preferred over the Ford Transit by the Royal Mail, in particular.
This particular generation is the 2nd and final variant of the Convoy van, launched in 1996 to replace the previous Leyland DAF 400 Series of 1989. The LDV Convoy went on to enjoy a long and somewhat prosperous life, working primarily as Mail Vans, but also as school minibuses. I know that my school had at least two Pilots and continues to use three LDV Convoys.
The LDV Convoy was replaced in 2005 by the LDV Maxus, a joint venture between LDV and Daewoo that had been in development since 2000, but wasn't launched until 2004 due to Daewoo's fall into receivership and subsequent ownership by Chevrolet. Sadly however, the Maxus was not enough to ward off the onslaught of other large, flexible panel vans that had entered the market, including the Mercedes Sprinter, the Renault Master, the Renault Trafic, the Peugeot Boxer, the IVECO Daily, the Volkswagen Transporter, and its rival since the very beginning, the ever popular Ford Transit. With such heavy competition and the LDV brand being little-known outside the UK, the company wasn't able to sell the Maxus in profitable numbers, and thus made losses of £54 million in 2008, the problem compounded by the economic recession of that year. Thus in 2009, LDV was wrapped up and disappeared for good, the last brand to carry the British Leyland name.
However, much like many other British cars and vans, it was once again the Chinese who would bring this Turkey back to life by way of SAIC (or Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation). In 2011 they started producing their own version of the Maxus called the Maxus Datong, which means that much like the Rover Streetwise rip-off, the Mini-fake, the Montego/Maestro half-breed, we can owe China for their reproduction of Britain's long gone motoring products.
1980 Leyland Sherpa
Once the pride of the Post Office, the LDV Pilot and Convoy series has sadly fallen from grace over the past few years, becoming largely a victim of the Ford Transit it had fought from the start, and the later Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.
The Pilot originally entered the world in 1974 under British Leyland as the Leyland Sherpa. The original design was derived from the Morris Commercial 250JU and J4 vans of the 1960's, and included a revised forward control of the J4 and moving the engine to the front in a conventional bonnet. This allowed the wheelbase to be extended resulting in greater stability, payload, side loading and the distinctive 'Sherpa' profile (though the last of the J4s and the first Sherpa are largely identical from the rear).
The Sherpa gave way to the Freight Rover 200 Series and in turn the Leyland DAF 200 Series before finally becoming the Pilot after LDV (Leyland Domestic Vehicles) was formed in 1993. The Convoy on the other hand was developed originally in 1984 as the Freight Rover 300, similar functionally apart from a wider body and more often than not a higher roof for extra internal capacity.
The Pilot was originally designed to be built on car production lines which led to it having a narrow track. This feature was made into a virtue in later publicity by stressing its ability in narrow city streets – this indeed was why the Sherpa series was for many years, preferred over the Ford Transit by the Royal Mail, in particular.
This particular generation is the 2nd and final variant of the Convoy van, launched in 1996 to replace the previous Leyland DAF 400 Series of 1989. The LDV Convoy went on to enjoy a long and somewhat prosperous life, working primarily as Mail Vans, but also as school minibuses. I know that my school had at least two Pilots and continues to use three LDV Convoys.
The LDV Convoy was replaced in 2005 by the LDV Maxus, a joint venture between LDV and Daewoo that had been in development since 2000, but wasn't launched until 2004 due to Daewoo's fall into receivership and subsequent ownership by Chevrolet. Sadly however, the Maxus was not enough to ward off the onslaught of other large, flexible panel vans that had entered the market, including the Mercedes Sprinter, the Renault Master, the Renault Trafic, the Peugeot Boxer, the IVECO Daily, the Volkswagen Transporter, and its rival since the very beginning, the ever popular Ford Transit. With such heavy competition and the LDV brand being little-known outside the UK, the company wasn't able to sell the Maxus in profitable numbers, and thus made losses of £54 million in 2008, the problem compounded by the economic recession of that year. Thus in 2009, LDV was wrapped up and disappeared for good, the last brand to carry the British Leyland name.
However, much like many other British cars and vans, it was once again the Chinese who would bring this Turkey back to life by way of SAIC (or Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation). In 2011 they started producing their own version of the Maxus called the Maxus Datong, which means that much like the Rover Streetwise rip-off, the Mini-fake, the Montego/Maestro half-breed, we can owe China for their reproduction of Britain's long gone motoring products.