{{Infobox automobile , image = 1948 Bedford MSD (LSU 544) dropside, 2012 HCVS Tyne-Tees Run.jpg , name = Bedford M-Series , manufacturer =

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, aka = {{ubl , , production = 1939-1952 , predecessor=

Bedford WL The Chevrolet Series AE Independence (or Chevrolet Independence) is an American vehicle manufactured by Chevrolet in 1931 to replace the 1930 Series AD Universal. Calendar year production slipped by about eight percent to 627,104 cars as the G ...

, class =

Medium-Duty truck Truck classifications are typically based upon the maximum loaded weight of the truck, typically using the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) and sometimes also the gross trailer weight rating (GTWR), and can vary among jurisdictions. United ...

, platform= , related= , body_style = 2-door

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

, engine = {{convert, 206, cuin, L, 1, abbr=on

OHV An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...

6-cylinder , successor =

Bedford TA The Bedford TA (also called Bedford A) is a medium-duty truck produced by Bedford Vehicles from 1953 to 1958, as a replacement for the older Bedford M series which started production in 1939 and was eventually discontinued in 1952. In total aro ...

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FR layout In automotive design, a FR, or front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout is one where the Internal combustion engine, engine is Front-engine design, located at the front of the vehicle and rear-wheel-drive, driven wheels are located at the rear via a ...

The Bedford M series is a line of commercial vehicle

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

, the first variants of which were made in 1939 by

. It is a normal control 4-wheel chassis designed to carry loads of 2-3 tons. There were two wheelbase lengths offered – 10' 0" or 11' 11" – and each was fitted with the standard 6-cylinder 27.34 hp

petrol engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...

. A 4-speed

gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...

with single dry plate

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

delivered power to a floating rear

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...

with spiral bevel

final drive A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

. Brakes were Lockheed

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

type and servo assisted operating on all four wheels.

Variants

Lorry

Seven variants of the M-series chassis were offered. Their designations were: ;MS - short (10'0") wheelbase *MSZ : chassis only *MSC : chassis and cab *MSD : dropside lorry *MST : end tipper ;ML - long (11'11") wheelbase *MLZ : chassis only *MLC : chassis and cab *MLD : dropside lorry

Bus

In the years between the deletion of the WHB small bus in the mid 1930s and the introduction of the

Bedford CA The Bedford CA was a distinctive pug-nosed light commercial vehicle produced between 1952 and 1969 by Bedford in Luton, England. It was manufactured in short-wheelbase and long-wheelbase forms, each form available in either a 10–12 ...

, the limited 12–16 seat bus market demand was met by examples of the M series, either MLC or MLZ.

Plaxton Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough. Founded in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton, it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. In 2019, the maker was acquired by Canadian bus manu ...

converted some of the latter to forward control in the 1950s using the same scaled down Consort body as fitted to similar

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

or Karrier buses, whilst an MLC converted to a 12-seat school bus by Lee Motors for Dorset County Council survives in preservation.

External links

The Bedford Truck Legend Register
M Series