1950 Nipper Truck "Milk Truck"

Highlights

• Believed to be the only surviving example in the world based on extensive research
• Exhibited at Goodwood Revival by invitation following its 2016 restoration
• Comes with period-correct milk crates, bottles and accessories
• Previously held by Lakeland Motor Museum
• In current ownership for over a decade

The Appeal

In the late 1940s, Northern Dairies Ltd decided to try and fill the gap between the cart horse and the full-size float with one of these - the 'Nipper'. These unusual little three-wheelers were a milk-float in miniature, steered like a canal boat and were capable of about the same pace. The milkman simply stood on the spring-floated footplate, took hold of the tiller and hoped for the best, rumbling between terraced houses while trying not to drop his yoghurts...
The new 'Nipper' was road-tested by Commercial Motor magazine in 1947 and described as a novel solution for delivering milk, bread, groceries, and the like. In reality, it was every bit as unusual and twee as it looks; the Nippers began working on narrow backstreets offering doorstep deliveries, usually clinking and clattering their wares and frightening the horses it was meant to replace. Powered by a J.A.P. 500cc single-cylinder engine driving through an automatically controlled two-speed gearbox, they remain a particularly unique, if over-optimistic experiment that never quite 'caught on'.

This particular vehicle - affectionately nicknamed 'Billy' - is believed to be the sole surviving 'Nipper'. Research has traced its early working life to Sewell's Dairy in Bury St Edmunds, where it was driven by a Mr Alf Ling and remembered by locals for unsettling the baker's horse whenever it started up, and occasionally needing a push uphill. It later passed to the owner of Lakeland Motor Museum before being spotted by the current keeper in 2015, serving as a backdrop display on a Shell Oils stand at Goodwood Revival. A thorough restoration followed in 2016, and its first outing afterwards was a return to Goodwood Revival, this time by invitation.

The vehicle is presented with an impressive array of period-correct accessories, all carefully sourced over time. It serves as a travelling time capsule; a remarkable survivor that's as scarce as it gets, and undeniably packed with British milieu.

Key Information

• Mileage: No odometer
• Country of registration: United Kingdom
• Technical inspection status: exempt
• Technical specs: 500cc J.A.P. air-cooled single-cylinder petrol engine, automatically controlled two-speed gearbox, three-wheeler layout with tiller steering
• Paperwork: V5 present; identification plaque from Northern Dairies Limited; Commercial Motor road test article from 1947

The Detail

• Restoration in 2016 included shot blasting, minor repairs and reassembly
• Paintwork carried out by lifelong coach painter Trevor Cheeseman in heritage paint and period-correct colours
• Chassis and body constructed from steel and aluminium alloy
• The vendor states the loading shelves and securing tray closures are in good condition
• Milk crates sourced from various dairies and re-galvanised in Hull
• Accessories include bottles with cardboard tops and pressed foil tops, 1/3rd pint school milk bottles, pint and quart bottles, and measures for decanting from a milk churn
• Bottles filled with white polystyrene microbeads to replicate the appearance of milk
• The vendor states the engine runs well and starts with a single pull of the cranking lever
• Drive is via conical belt gearing that engages according to revs and weight; permanent drive requires brakes to be applied during starting
• Back-axle and engine unit suspended on four bonded-rubber mounts, removable via four bolts for major repairs
• Gearbox features machine-cut sprockets and totally enclosed roller chains with oil bath and splash lubrication
• Fully roadworthy and used sparingly at 12–16 mph
• Three-wheeler layout with a single tiller-steered front wheel and a driving axle at the rear; drives the nearside wheel only

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