DESCRIPTION

Royal Mail Sherpa Van

The Leyland Sherpa van was manufactured between 1974 and 1982. Apparently, it was originally designed to be built on the car production line, which meant it had a narrow back. On a positive note, this feature enabled it to negotiate narrow city streets - and in the case of our Welsh model, perhaps narrow country lanes as well! It was launched initially as the Leyland Van but in 1975, the name was changed to Leyland Sherpa. The first examples consisted of vans of 1.85, 2.15 and 2.40 tons. In 1978, the 1.7 and 2.0 litre engines replaced the original 1622cc and 1798 cc petrol units and the range was redesignated as 200, 230 and 250. Our example is classed as the SHERPA 200, which appears on the rear of the model. The Sherpa proved to be very versatile too as its bodyshape lent itself for use as crewbuses and minibuses, as well as various chassis-cab options. Its large load space was also an advantage for small commercial van operators.

A special piece of free publicity for Leyland came in 1977 when the Sherpa had its moment of movie fame in The Spy Who Loved Me when it was chosen as the vehicle driven by the baddie Jaws across the Sahara Desert. Needless to say, James Bond was not far behind - in fact he was hiding in the back!

This 1:76 scale model Sherpa is employed at the Reading Post Office depot, No. 5080294, registered KUF 293P from 1975/76. The Royal Cipher with Crown features colourfully on the side panels of our van with Royal Mail printed boldly in gold and black above. The depot details are printed in black on the cab doors. External trims are mostly silver with some black to the windscreen surrounds. The interior is also black. The radiator grille is silver wiped black, into which is embedded the Leyland name. The name also appears in the lower corner of the nearside rear door.