Fire Sale

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The Bedford TJ was once a very common sight on New Zealand’s roads. With the many different body configurations it was used in pretty much every commercial situation where a medium sized truck was needed. But over the years the hard work took its toll and these days they are rarely spotted outside of old automotive graveyards. But this ex-prison service fire truck, like most fire trucks, is in great shape with incredibly low kms. It’s now a stone cold (or piping hot) classic and it could be yours. Read on...

The Bedford TJ was launched in 1954 and sales in England ceased in 1975. But they kept exporting them to Australia and NZ into the 80s until even we thought the styling and design was probably a bit dated. They were available with many different engines and body styles with this one being the basic J1 with a 3.5L petrol engine and 4 speed manual gearbox. The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed this is a fire engine and has been its whole life. And yes, the siren and flashing roof light still work.

The interesting thing with fire trucks is they are only used sparingly, when there’s a fire or a kitten stuck up a tree. As a result they tend to cover very few kilometres in their life on the job. And this example is no different. The 5 digit speedo is reading under 13000kms and from the WOF history this would seem to be genuinely all it has done. So not only does this cool old truck still exist, it has had an easy life.

Now what would you do with it? Keep it as a fire engine? Convert it to a standard truck for carrying stuff? There are options. It is warranted and registered and is being auctioned online right now. Whether you’re a fireman, ex-fireman, wannabe fireman or just lover of classic trucks, this is a rare opportunity to own a true survivor.

More details here.