31d and 453 Trojan 15 cwt Van 'OXO' (1953-54)

Hi Gents, I now have all the Trojan variations except two, the OXO van in (I think) violet blue, and the Brooke Bond van with the roof promo decal. Can anybody help me out by posting a picture of the two OXO vans side by side to compare colours? And does anybody have a picture of the Brooke Bond Promo? How hard to find is this one? Cheers, Chris Warr.

Hi Chris. Sorry, I just have one Oxo and my Brooke Bond is the normal version. Bye bye.

Cheers Richard, it's really hard to tell the difference on the OXO vans if you're only looking at one in a photo, and the lighting at many fairs doesn't help either, I suppose I could just keep buying them till I get the right one! I've only ever seen a picture of the Brooke Bond Promo van in books, I think it was an early on pack offer, I'm guessing they are very hard to find now. Chris Warr.

Answers on Chris's questions wanting, this thread remained virtually unused since. I cannot answer them all, or completely, but I think I have some useful pictures to show. About one year after, Dave Busfield published an article about his Brooke Bond Tea promo in The Journal (pages 8-9) with photos of both the model and its box. The cover shown below. I remember our chairman Michael Driver also has one. See also the 455 thread. In fact the Brooke Bond Tea Van is the natural successor of the short-lived OXO Van. A late friend of mine, Pieter Soellaart, had both finishes of the OXO Van. I remember the shade differences were minimal. I have a photo of one, but I don't know which one. An interesting extra on that photo is the Cydrax Van with original white tyres (contemporary, from shop). Anyway, an opportunity here to show some other photos from my archive folders of the OXO Van, individually and in the company of the Brooke Bond Tea Van, and as part of the whole Trojan Vans series. Finally two photos from the 2009 75th anniversary exhibition in Derby. One showing my exhibit of the Trojan and Morris J Vans, in relation to their design drawings, and one showing a part of David Cooke's trade box presentation. Kind regards, Jan