Bedford TK

The TK range replaced the Bedford S type in 1960, and served as the basis for a variety of derivatives, including fire engines, military, horse boxes, tippers, flatbed trucks, and other specialist utilities.[2] A General Post Office (later British Telecom) version used for installing telegraph poles was known as the Polecat.

Available with inline four or inline six cylinder petrol and diesel engines from Bedford, Leyland and Perkins, the TK was the quintessential light truck in the United Kingdom through most of the 1960s and 1970s, competing with the similar Ford D series.[3] It was available in rigid form, and also as a light tractor unit normally using the Scammell coupling form of semi-trailer attachment.

In 1981, Bedford introduced turbocharging to the "Red Series" 3.6-litre and 5.4-litre diesel engines, now producing 72 bhp and 102 bhp respectively.[4]

TKs were assembled for many years by General Motors New Zealand (GMNZ) at its Petone truck plant. The model was very popular and competed with the like of the also locally assembled Ford D series. It was succeeded by the TM series and GMNZ later switched source to launch a range of Bedford-by-Isuzu models assembled locally from kits shipped from Japan. Over 500,000 were produced.[5] They were also assembled by Holden in Australia.[6]

The Bedford MK/MJ was a 4x4 variant of the TK used in large numbers by the British Armed Forces and others. The Bedford MK was introduced in 1970 to replace the Bedford RL. It was very successful with over 50,000 produced.[7] The MK/MJ was produced in many variants. From April 1981, Bedford changed the designation of the MK to MJ as the K multi-fuel engine was superseded by the J diesel engine. It was confirmed in March 2014 that, with the exception of a handful of light recovery vehicles, all British Army Bedford MK/MJ trucks had been disposed of, replaced by RMMV HX60 4x4 trucks.[1]

After Bedford's Dunstable factory was sold in 1987 to AWD, the MK restarted production for military only use[8] until 1992 when AWD was placed in receivership.

In the original series of Fireman Sam (1987-1994), Jupiter is a 1974 Bedford TK fire engine. In the 2002 Danny Boyle film 28 Days Later multiple MK4s are seen during the Manchester blockade scene.

Media related to Bedford TK / MK at Wikimedia Commons