The total production of the light vans probably did not exceed 500 in the period they were made, between 1932 and 1936, including the ones that were made by Bowdens in London. Sales had begun to decline under competition from four wheeled vehicles which had greater levels of comfort and higher payloads, at the same time the motorcycles which had been introduced in 1934 had been selling well, and the decision was made to concentrate on the motorcycle side of the business.The Wolverhampton Museum of Industry`s website has more details on this vehicle.

I would like to thank the Australian Stevens family for the selection of images below which are from a family album and include these three wheel light commercial vehicles. In the album they are referred to as dating from 1932. It is known that front doors were a later refinement on the vans and so I wonder whether it would be more likely that they date from 1934 - 1936. The photographs cover eight separate vehicles.

The first is a pickup for delivering bicycles. This shows a small display board amongst the bicycles for the Birmingham based firm of Hercules Cycle and Motor Co. who were at that time the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world producing their six millionth bicycle in February 1939. In the 1920`s the company used bright yellow delivery vans with the slogan on the side, 'The best that money can buy'. It is impossible to say whether the van featured here is yellow or not but it is certainly a light colour. The registration of this vehicle looks like 007 JAW but this is, I believe, a trade plate. See the photo of the Round`s Bakers van.

The next vehicle is a grocers van based on a pick-up with a fitted back and canvas covered sides. It is shown standing outside the Stevens factory, presumably this is Retreat Street.

Not only used by small local companies, some of the vans sold to major concerns. This one was made for the Dudley Co-operative Society Ltd Milk Department. This van is signwritten `No 1` to the door which might indicate that they had a fleet of them. The registration here is AFD 289.

Next up is a van for A. Creswell Family Butcher of Penkridge, with an easy to remember phone number of 73 !

This photo shows a van which was the next one registered after the Good Year tyre van. The registration is JW 8909. It was sold to the Cobden Bakery of Wolverhampton and features an attractive bit of signwriting. I wonder if the people who lived in this house ever got fed up with all this photography going on in the street outside ?

The next van was for The Amplifier Illumination Co of Temple Street, Wolverhampton. It may be possible to see that there is a Stevens logo either side of the steering head under the windscreen. The registration is JW 8240.

The last image is probably my personal favourite, showing a Round`s Bakers of Netherton van in Retreat Street ,with a lad walking by on his way to the shop and the local postie doing his round. The registration begins with AFD.