Leyland Sherpa
The Leyland Sherpa is a 1974 -started vans of the British car manufacturer British Leyland Motor Corporation which was built under different manufacturers in a modified form until 2005.
History and Development
In the late sixties, offered by British Leyland Motor Corporation light commercial vehicles were outdated. The Austin - Morris J4 has long been technically outdated and the Austin - Morris 250 JU was not very popular in the trade. With the more modern rivals Ford Transit and Bedford Blitz they could not keep up. Only with the Commer PB one was at the same level. Therefore had to create a successor from existing parts as possible, from the Leyland Sherpa was. Primarily develops this was had developed with the Ford Transit by Stan Dews who had previously worked at Leyland and Ford as an engineer. Leyland was able to win him back when it came to a certain similarity of Sherpa with the Transit I. Later marketed the Leyland Sherpa as Austin Morris Sherpa.
1981 BLMC Group was split, whereby the Austin Rover Group was formed. To her belonged Land Rover with the commercial vehicle division Freight Rover. From the Sherpa now was the Freight Rover Sherpa and later Freight Rover 200-300. After 1986, the sale of the Austin Rover Group had failed to General Motors, it was again split. Freight Rover was merged with Leyland DAF DAF. So now was the Freight Rover Leyland DAF 200-300 to 200-400 and Daf 400 on the European continent. 1993 Leyland DAF was forced to declare bankruptcy. It founded the LDV GmbH, the Leyland Daf 200-400 time being built and finally offered as LDV Pilot and LDV Convoy to 2005. Thus, the development of the 1974 was built over 30 years.
Van Leyland / Leyland Sherpa 1974-1981 / Austin Morris Sherpa 1978-1981
In 1974, Leyland Van was presented. Were offered a panel van, minibus, minibus and chassis for a wide range of bodies. In the smallest panel van version he had a load volume of 5.4 m³. The determining engineer Stan Dews wanted to offer him as Van Leyland what the customers but confused and led six months after entering the market with the surname Leyland Sherpa. BLMC had at start of development only a market share of around 7 percent in the pickup truck market, and it was therefore set to low production and development costs. Thus, the Sherpa got the floor pan and axes of the Austin - Morris 250 JU and the side walls, tailgate and roof of the Austin - Morris J4. As an actuator, the " Series B " Otto engines with 1622 cc and 1798 cc as in the Morris Marina were used as well as an uprated 1.8-liter version of the old 1.5 L B-Series diesel engine, both with manual transmission. A four -speed manual transmission from the Austin 3 - Litre C- series was available, on request also with overdrive. More parts derived from other models of the group were about the heating and dashboard of the Marina, the door handles of the Morris Mini and the steering wheel came from the Austin 2200.
The new model should be narrower than the competitors Ford Transit and Bedford Blitz, so it was easy to maneuver in narrow streets. In addition, a short hood should provide more protection for front damage, reduce maintenance costs and improve the adjustment of the seat position. The engines were therefore installed in front of the seats and the seats behind the front axle. The market share of BLMC rose rapidly in the sequence and so the development budget was increased. This brought 1978 new 1.7 - and 2.0 -liter O- series engines as well as enhanced bodies. From 1978 he was also offered as Austin Morris Sherpa, from 1982, he was appointed Freight Rover Sherpa.
BMC Sherpa Turkey
BMC (Turkey) produced in Turkey a derivative of the Sherpa and from 2006 also a pick-up derivative for the national market.
Trivia
- The Leyland Sherpa had an appearance in the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.
- In the film Billy Elliot - I Will Dance was also seen a Sherpa.