Commer 1952 Still Going Strong

After work today I took a drive out to Maridalen in the lovely weather to look for moose. I found no moose, but this charming fellow instead - parked outside a farm house. The proud owner told me the vehicle is in daily use and all original parts. He grinned from ear to ear and told me it hadn't been washed sine the sixties!

The company was formed as the Commercial Car Company based in small premises in Lavender Hill, South London. In order to go into volume production a site was bought at Biscot Road, Biscot, Luton, where production of the first truck, the 3 ton RC type started in 1907. In 1909 the first bus was made. With the outbreak of First World War the factory turned to the manufacture of military vehicles for the British Army and by 1919 over 3000 had been made.

In 1926, after being in receivership several times, Commer was taken over by Humber, which in 1931 became part of the Rootes Group.
The Commer name was replaced by the Dodge name during the 1970s following the takeover of Rootes by Chrysler Europe. After Peugeot purchased Chrysler Europe in 1978, the Commer factory was run in partnership with the truck division of Renault, Renault Trucks. It continued to produce the Dodge commercial truck range for some time, with Renault badges and a small amount of product development, eventually these were cancelled in favour of mainstream Renault models and switching production at the factory to production of Renault truck and bus engines in the early 1990s.