Dad’s Army van up for auction

A 1935 Ford Box Van made famous by its role in the hit British TV sitcom Dad’s Army is going up for auction in December.

Better known as Lance Corporal Jones’ butcher’s van (as soldiers in the Home Guard, all members of Captain Mainwaring’s platoon had day jobs), the vehicle is expected to fetch between £20,000 and £30,000.

On Bing: see images of Dad’s Army

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The van has been part of the private Patrick Collection since 1990. It will go up for sale in December with Bonhams auctioneers as part of the third set of vehicles to be auctioned off from the collection. Bonhams sold part one and two of the Patrick fleet back in 1994 and 2004 respectively.

According to Alexander Patrick, founder of the Birmingham-based vehicle museum, the Collection was built around an ambitious concept: to represent the past, present and future of the motor car in a constantly-changing display that reflected the “variety, ingenuity and sheer beauty of the automotive era.”

Among the classic assembly of vehicles scheduled to go under the gavel will also be a 1931 Invicta 4.5-litre S-Type Low Chassis Tourer – expected to fetch between £500,000 and £600,000 – as well as a 1938 Jaguar SS100 3.5-litre Sports Two Seater, mooted to be worth around quarter of a million pounds.

But it’ll be Lance Corporal Jones’ humble Box Van MSN Cars will be keeping an eye on.

The commercial vehicle took part in many of the hare-brained schemes the Walmington-on-Sea band of soldiers devised, using those little glass portholes to poke rifles through.

Don’t panic: we’ll bring you the result of the auction after its completion on the 3 December.

On Bing: see images of Dad’s Army

The vehicles of WWII on the web

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