Bedford TJ: the bonneted truck that lasted forty years

The Bedford TJ is a truck produced by Bedford and its successors from 1958 to 1998, as a replacement for the earlier Bedford A series of medium-duty trucks. It was the last bonneted truck produced by the company and the last vehicle to be produced with a link to the Bedford name.

Bedford TJ at a glance

History of the Bedford TJ

A modernised TD

Production of the Bedford TJ began in 1958 as Bedford’s new bonneted truck model, a modernised version of the Bedford TD series, which had been modelled after the Chevrolet Advance Design truck. The TJ was produced in many versions, ranging from light pickups to heavy-duty vehicles with payloads up to 6-8 tons. The lightest versions, the J0, shared the same 2,651 cc overhead-valve six-cylinder petrol engine as the Vauxhall Cresta, which offered relatively good performance: maximum power was 104.5 bhp gross and torque was 140 lb-ft at 2,400 rpm. Heavier variants used the same engines as the Bedford TD series.

In Britain

Due to its relatively dated styling, and presumably because bonneted trucks were falling out of favour, the TJ series was not very popular in the United Kingdom and did not sell in big numbers, with the exception of the AA and Post Office Telephones. Holland’s Pies in Lancashire used a large fleet of TJ vans well into the 1980s, kept in very clean condition, and this resulted in the TJ often being called a Holland’s pie van around Lancashire. The lightest versions sold in relatively good numbers in Britain and export markets through the 1960s and 1970s before being replaced by the Bedford KB in 1976. In 1975 the TJ was withdrawn from the UK market and superseded by the Bedford CF.

Export success

After 1975 the TJ was offered only for export, where it was pretty successful. In countries such as India, Pakistan, Africa and other developing nations it sold in great numbers because of its reliability and relatively low price. During the 1980s exports to Australia and New Zealand stopped as the trucks became outdated and could not compete under changing emissions and regulations, but production for developing countries continued.

The TJ was assembled in Bedford’s Nigerian plant in Apapa by UACN, a Unilever operation that was 60 percent Nigerian-owned. By the end of the 1970s the TJ was the most sold Bedford product in Nigeria, which was Bedford’s main export market outside Europe at the time. In Pakistan the J5/6 dominated commercial traffic and gained cult status among drivers, and over half of the trucks in Pakistan were Bedford vehicles. In India, Hindustan Motors produced the larger J5/6 from 1968 for three decades, until it was discontinued in 1998. The TJ was widely exported to Australia through Holden, and was produced in Malaysia from knock-down kits until the early 1980s.

The end

In 1987 the Dunstable plant was sold to David J. B. Brown and became AWD Trucks, and production of the TJ continued under the AWD Bedford badge. After Marshall SPV purchased AWD Trucks, production continued in limited numbers. The last TJ trucks were built in 1998, when an order was placed for 100 trucks to be exported to Kenya.

Design and features

• Last bonneted Bedford: the TJ was the company’s final conventional-cab truck and its last vehicle with a link to the Bedford name.
• J0 to J6: a wide range from light pickups to 6-8 ton heavy-duty models.
• Vauxhall Cresta engine: the lightest J0 used a 2,651 cc overhead-valve six with 104.5 bhp gross.
• Export workhorse: reliability and a low price made it a major seller in Nigeria, Pakistan, India and Africa.
• Long production: built from 1958 to 1998, including a final order for 100 trucks for Kenya.

Bedford TJ versions

• J0: the lightest version, with the 2,651 cc petrol six.
• J1: a 30 cwt model in the first chassis numbering scheme.
• J2: 3-ton models in several chassis forms.
• J3: a 4-ton model.
• J4: 5-ton models and an 8-ton tractor.
• J5: 6-ton models, popular in Pakistan and India.
• J6: 7-ton models, also built by Hindustan Motors in India.
• Nigerian and Malaysian assembly: locally assembled TJ trucks for those markets.

The TJ was replaced in the UK by the Bedford CF and the Bedford KB. More are in the Bedford collection.

Video: BEDFORD TJ 1959

Video by Naci Bilen on YouTube.

Sources

• Bedford TJ, English Wikipedia: history, models, engines, export markets
• Bedford TJ, German Wikipedia: chassis codes, engines, export production
• Bedford TJ, Italian Wikipedia: production history and AWD period