1966 Bedford CA Ice Cream Van *Sold £12,500*

Description

• A very special piece of social history
• Belonged to Tony Di Somma “Basti The Legend”
• Owned by our vendor for 9 years
• Restored 8 years ago
• Engine conversion to unleaded
• Original fridges
• Photographic history of the restoration

Think of a light commercial from the fifties and the Bedford CA springs to mind. Back in the day they were everywhere! The CA hit the market in 1952 and approximately 370,000 were produced over 17 years. The standard panel van was available in short- and long-wheelbase forms and was also sold as chassis cab/chassis cowl, making them a popular basis for ambulances, camper vans and, as we have here, ice cream vans.

The Bedford CA was the Ford Transit of its time and could be seen on every street corner. These lovely little vans are now a rare sight on the road… unless you want to “stop me and buy one!”

This Ice Cream Van

This Bedford CA Ice cream Van has been owned by our vendor for 9 years and it was restored 8 years ago and is a Smiths body mobile shop conversion.

The history of the van is very interesting and a Facebook page was even created for Tony who owned the van for over 50 years by his family : https://www.facebook.com/Bastithelegend1

The van was initially bought new and owned by a gent in Essex, along came Tony di Somma who decided he would try his hand with his own ice cream van. He bought the van and this was the start of “Basti The Legend.”

We took this van to the Chelmsford Motorfest and were astonished at how many people recognised it and wanted to chat and have a photo taken with the van, it’s remembered with so much fondness!

Known in and around Basildon, Tony’s van was in Blue and White livery and branded as Rossi’s Ices, sadly Tony passed in 2017 and is remembered in this article from the Basildon Echo:

AN ITALIAN known as “Basti the Legend” who sold ice cream from his iconic 1960s Bedford van for 50 years in south Essex has sadly died.

Tony Di Somma came to England from Naples and settled in Basildon after meeting his wife, Ann, in Manchester.

After taking a job at Ford, he decided in his thirties he didn’t want to handle the machinery and instead bought an ice cream van – on a whim.. He served the community ice cream for 50 years, until his retirement two years ago, at the grand old age of 86.

 Mr Di Somma, known as Basti the Legend, used the same ice cream van, a Bedford CA, for all 50 years, mainly in the Lee Chapel area. He sadly died after a short illness in January 2017 aged 88.

 

Upon Tony’s death, the van’s V5 was changed to a family member before it was purchased by our vendor 9 years ago. Tony in fact said that he wanted to be buried in the van. Luckily for us all, he wasn’t!! But the van played a key role in his funeral with the ice cream chimes ringing out. A video of the chimes can be seen here: https://youtu.be/NE2sIGykRZ8

Garaged its whole life – including with the previous owners (our vendor is the 4^th keeper) this little beauty appears to have led a cossetted life, restored fully 8 years ago, it has been used a little for weddings and parties but mainly stayed in storage ever since.

In fabulous Blue and White livery as Tony always had, and sporting a Basti Ice Cream logo, the ice cream van still has both original internal fridges and a small handwashing sink in place, all in full working order.

Our vendor Mark who drove the van to and from Billericay to Chelmsford for the Motorfest tells us:

• The engine has been converted to unleaded
• Reconditioned Gearbox – 3 forward and 1 reverse gear
• The vinyl seats were replaced as the van originally had a single seat and the van was converted to a two-seater and perfectly match the Blue and White livery
• Has been repainted
• Solid underneath
• Any wood that needed replacing on the frame was done when it was repainted – there are photos of the resto that we will add to the gallery
• Invoices are available for work carried out

Our View

We think it’s Fab, a Winner, an absolute Feast for the eyes. (See what we did there!) The Bedford CA is a proper piece of British motoring history aswell as Essex social history, this one has been lovingly restored and is ready to use, show and admire. As we found out, it’ll attract many, many admirers!

Good luck! Please remember, our site uses anti-sniping software which ensures fairness to all bidders. So, if a bid for a lot is received in the last minute, the auction will go into a 2-minute overtime period for each subsequent bid.

Vehicle Location: Billericay, Essex CM11 – it’s the responsibility of the winning bidder to make collection / transportation arrangements directly with the vendor.

Have a question about this Bedford CA? Please contact the Evoke team at auction@evoke-classics.com and we will speak to the vendor on your behalf

Guide Prices

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