Commer Commercial Vehicles

Originally formed in Lavender Hill, South London, the Commercial Car Company soon opened a brand new factory in Luton, Bedfordshire, where it produced its first truck in 1907, with the first Commer bus appearing in 1909. Producing over 3,000 vehicles for the military during the First World War, Commer went bust in the 1920s and was bought by Humber, becoming part of the Rootes Group in 1931.

Again producing many thousands of truck during World War Two, Commer entered the post-war era with a modern series of trucks and light commercials. Unusually, the company made its own diesel engine, the TS3, a two-stroke design with a distinctive noise that earned it the nickname ‘Commer Knocker’.

In the 1960s, production moved to Dunstable and by the late 1970s Rootes had been sold to Chrysler, which rebranded the truck division as Dodge. After the Peugeot takeover, the vans and commercials were developed in partnership with the Renault truck division.

Perhaps the most famous of the Commer vehicles was the PA/PB van, which was used by the post office in its thousands, as well as being converted into camper vans. Many still survive to this day, despite production of Dodges ceasing in the 1990s.

Peter Daniels tells the story of Commer commercial vehicles in this new book.