BRING US OUR DAILY BREAD
The style of the 400E was a great leap forward from the long-running E83W with its pre-war looks; separate headlamps sat on separate wings. The new range was stylish; everything flowing smoothly into the carefully contoured bodywork, so the purely functional appearance of this specially bodied van version was a shock. However, this van was designed to meet the need for a large volume van to carry bulky but lightweight goods – hopefully bread and cakes are – not to look good. Its wider width could accommodate two bakery trays.
This very large capacity van was created by simply hanging a very lightweight body shell over a chassis – securing it in place by several brackets off the front panel and the chassis. The bodywork was very light and minimalistic, small sectioned aluminium members formed the simple framework – reminiscent of a greenhouse. They had a ‘top hat’ profile and were strengthened by gusset plates at major intersections to help maintain rigidity, and when the accurately cut sheets of
