Bedford Beagle
Encyclopedia
The Bedford Beagle was an estate car conversion of the Bedford HA
8cwt
van, which itself was based on the Vauxhall Viva HA. The conversions were undertaken by Martin Walter Ltd in Folkestone
, Kent, most famous for Dormobile campers. Whilst the vans were very common at one time, the Beagle was altogether rarer and there are very few left today. The Beagle formed the basis of the Roma, a camper van designed by Martin Walter.
Introduced in 1964, originally with the 1057 cc engine, the Beagle was basic, with drum brakes all round and minimal interior trim. Later engine upgrades arrived in 1967 (1159 cc) and 1972 (1256 cc), bringing the top speed up from 72 mph (116 km/h) to about 80 mph (129 km/h), but the Beagle was finally discontinued in 1973. It was more or less replaced by the superior Viva HC estate cars.
Bedford HA
The Bedford HA was a car derived van introduced in 1963 by the Vauxhall Motors subsidiary Bedford Vehicles, based on the Vauxhall Viva family car...
8cwt
Hundredweight
The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...
van, which itself was based on the Vauxhall Viva HA. The conversions were undertaken by Martin Walter Ltd in Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
, Kent, most famous for Dormobile campers. Whilst the vans were very common at one time, the Beagle was altogether rarer and there are very few left today. The Beagle formed the basis of the Roma, a camper van designed by Martin Walter.
Introduced in 1964, originally with the 1057 cc engine, the Beagle was basic, with drum brakes all round and minimal interior trim. Later engine upgrades arrived in 1967 (1159 cc) and 1972 (1256 cc), bringing the top speed up from 72 mph (116 km/h) to about 80 mph (129 km/h), but the Beagle was finally discontinued in 1973. It was more or less replaced by the superior Viva HC estate cars.