The Bedford HA was a car derived van

Sedan delivery

A sedan delivery, commonly called a delivery in American English and a car derived van in British English, is a two-door station wagon with a driver or driver and front passenger seats, and steel sheet-metal panels in place of rear side windows...

 introduced in 1963 by the Vauxhall Motors

Vauxhall Motors

Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...

 subsidiary Bedford Vehicles

Bedford Vehicles

Bedford Vehicles, usually shortened to just Bedford, was a subsidiary of Vauxhall Motors, itself the British subsidiary of General Motors , established in 1930; and constructing commercial vehicles. Bedford Vehicles was a leading international truck manufacturer, with substantial export sales of...

, based on the Vauxhall Viva (HA) family car. It was also known as the Bedford Beagle

Bedford Beagle

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...

 in station wagon

Station wagon

A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...

 / small campervan form.

It was extremely popular with utility companies in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, particularly the Post Office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

, British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

, Electricity Boards, British Telecom and British Gas

British Gas

British Gas is the name of several companies:* British Gas plc, the former gas monopoly in the United Kingdom and its successor companies** Centrica, which has the rights to the British Gas name in the UK...

. Many other firms such as British European Airways

British European Airways

British European Airways or British European Airways Corporation was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom...

, DER rental and Meals on Wheels

Meals on Wheels

Meals on Wheels are programs that deliver meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programs, not all of which are actually named "Meals on Wheels"...

 services had large fleets as well.

It soldiered on in production for 20 years, until 1983, where it was replaced by the Bedford Astravan

Opel Astra

The Opel Astra is a small family car engineered and manufactured by the German automaker Opel since 1991.It is branded as Vauxhall Astra in the United Kingdom, the Buick Excelle XT in China and the Chevrolet Astra/Vectra in Latin America...

 / Bedford Astramax. As the Vauxhall Viva

Vauxhall Viva

The Viva was a small family car produced by Vauxhall Motors in a succession of three versions between 1963 and 1979. These were known as the HA, the HB and the HC series....

 saloon cars went through various detail changes; the bodywork of the van models stayed the same, but they did receive the larger internal combustion engine

Internal combustion engine

The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...

s, and carburetter changes as that years car models received. A very rare pick up

Pickup truck

A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...

 version was offered to Municipal Councils and the like, though not to the private purchaser.

HAs in film and TV

A Bedford HA was used in the filming of the Beiderbecke Trilogy, and in series two of the comedy drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven English migrant construction workers. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in Düsseldorf....

, and also in the Oscar winning movie, A Fish Called Wanda.