Vehicles

The BPMA vehicle collection reflects the diversity of transport used by Royal Mail and the Post Office. The collection of vehicles ranges from a restored 18th century mailcoach, to a Courier Kombi van transporting postmen and women to their rounds as recently as 2000. There are bicycles, trucks and even a Travelling Post Office rail coach.

Motor vehicles in our collection span seven decades; from pre and post war Morris Minors; through green liveried JB type van used by Post Office Telephones; to the experiments with smaller capacity delivery vans such as the Mini, three-wheeled Reliant and the Bedford Rascal. There is a Sherpa van used for Television License Detector work, whilst a ‘Green’ concept vehicle demonstrates the efforts Royal Mail - one of the country’s largest vehicle operators – has taken to be environmentally friendly.

We hold more specialized vehicles such as electric pedestrian trucks, a Land Rover recovery vehicle, a Dodge Post Bus, security vans and two Mobile Post Offices. Motorbikes are not forgotten, ranging from the familiar BSA Bantams to the less well-known Datapost Kawasaki.

There is a rolling plan of conservation in place, with preserved examples occasionally going out on display at other museums giving the public an opportunity to view such rare or unique vehicles. Our Travelling Post Office coach has been undergoing restoration over the past few years, and we will be working on a Mobile Post Office vehicle in time to celebrate 100 years of postal motor tranport in 2006.

The Royal Mail Archive holds publications, images and other archive material relating to such matters as wartime livery or the introduction of electric vehicles.

You can find out more about postal transport in the History section.