PERFECT ‘POISE

It was like a bolt out of the blue and even now, Bobby Davidson has no idea why the smallest of images caught his eye. In fairness, such an advert should really have been in one of the heritage magazines but instead, the offer for sale of a 1948 Commer was tucked away in the depths of one of the trade’s weekly favourites, Commercial Motor. “As soon as I saw it,” he says, “I knew I had to have it. And what was strange for me was that I even bought it unseen. Straight away my son Robby borrowed a low loader from Niven’s and he was down to Ross-on-Wye in a shot. The Commer was driven onto the back and the next day, we were unloading it here.”

‘Buy in haste and repent at leisure,’ is one of those expressions that a canny Scotsman might have invented but less than three years on, Bobby reckons that’s probably one of the best deals he’s ever made. The proof of course is in the pudding and in the mid-May sunshine, EUJ 871 looks an absolute corker. We are told it’s not quite finished yet but to us, the vision is certainly very special.

There’s perhaps no surprise to learn the Perkins P6 powered ’48 model Q4 ‘Superpoise’ is something of a rarity on the preservation scene. And you might think that it was finding a type of vehicle which his grandfather Fred once had, was the reason which made Bobby do the deal – but you’d be wrong: “It was the type of body fitted to this four wheeler which first interested me,” he says, “as really