The Bedford Beagle is one of the GM (General Motors) entries the open record knows by name and by date — in 1964, and by little else. That is not nothing: a name in the catalogue is where a car's story starts to be recoverable.
How it came about
The Bedford Beagle is an estate car conversion of the Bedford HA 8cwt van, which itself was based on the Vauxhall Viva HA. It was launched at the 1964 London Motor Show. The conversions were undertaken by Martin Walter Ltd in Folkestone, Kent, most famous for Dormobile campers based upon the larger Bedford CA commercial vans. Whilst the vans were very common at one time, the Beagle was altogether rarer and there are very few left today.
The Beagle formed the basis of the Roma, a camper van that was marketed in standard and deluxe forms, both featuring standing headroom of 77 in (200 cm) and a full-length 72 in (180 cm) double bed. A third bunk, fitted into the canopy of the elevated roof, is a feature of the deluxe version of the Roma. Introduced in 1964, originally with the 1057 cc engine mated to a 4-speed gearbox, the Beagle was basic, with drum brakes all round and minimal interior trim. Later engine upgrades arrived in 1967 (1159 cc) and 1972 (1256 cc), bringing the top speed up from 72 mph (116 km/h) to about 80 mph (129 km/h), but the Beagle was finally discontinued in 1973. It was more or less replaced by the superior Viva HC estate cars.
Under the skin
The record carries the layout — and the layout: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Family and rivals
In the GM (General Motors) line-up the Bedford Beagle has a clear place: it handed the line to the Viva HC estate versions. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Porsche 911, the Plymouth Barracuda, the Aston Martin DB5. Its GM (General Motors) stablemates include the 1955 Chevrolet and the 1957 Chevrolet.
Owning one today
There is no federal ownership record for the Bedford Beagle — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.