In the first of a series of articles for the CBW website, Peter Jackson digs out past issues of the magazine to revisit some classic vehicles.
This week, it’s the turn of the Freight Rover Sherpa 350 Leith 12-seat minicoach, to give it its full – and rather unwieldy – name. Houston Ramm travelled to J & J Leith of Sanquhar, north of Dumfries to take a look at the vehicle for issue 317 of Coachmart, and – despite an initial lack of enthusiasm for the Sherpa – walked away impressed. [wlm_nonmember][…]
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“I will confess to having viewed the Sherpa and its predecessors with little enthusiasm,” he began. “Some unpleasant experiences with a J4 van in the mid 1970s and a generally negative feeling from those operators running early Sherpa PSV conversions made me wonder why so much interest had been shown in the new wide-bodied Freight Rover 310 and 350.”
At the time of writing, four converters had stepped up to transform the Sherpa van into a minibus. Made to Measure offered a 16-seater, Dormobile a cut-price 14-seater, Reeve Burgess a 12-seater and, finally, the J & J Leith 12-seater on-test here.
J & J Leith was principally a coach operator, but was also an Austin Rover agent, had an MOT test bay, and ran taxis and even a hearse before it closed its doors in 1998. With enough left over space in its bodyshop, the firm decided to have a go at producing its own minicoach conversion – and its relationship with Austin Rover meant that the Freight Rover was a natural starting point.
John Gate, a partner at J & J Leith, told Houston: “We approached it with some caution. The earlier Sherpa had not been a popular vehicle in PSV form, and we had operated Ford Transits in our own PSV fleet in preference to contemporary Leyland designs. However, the latest wide-bodied Freight Rover is a completely different animal and we think it to be a big improvement on the competition in several respects.”
Houston was impressed with the level of comfort and space on offer inside the Sherpa, and praised the level of visibility from the cabin. The side panels of the Sherpa were trimmed with soft, carpet-style material in-line with current trends at the time, while the centre of the roof was finished in the same moquette as the seats. A wide range of moquettes were available, and operators were able to look at a selection of samples before making their final decision.
Talking of seating, high-back coach seats were fitted as standard. Ashtrays, body insulation, four sliding saloon windows (and two fixed), four fluorescent interior saloon lights and two saloon speakers were also standard fit. Parcel racks could be had for an additional £245, a radio was £102, a more upmarket stereo/radio cassette £281, an additional heater £120 and armrests for all the passenger seats an extra £160.
On the move, Houston praised the Sherpa’s 2.5-litre diesel engine, saying: “It proved to be quiet by comparison with other diesel-engined van conversions I have tried recently, and tackled the winding A76 between Sanquhar and Thornhill with considerable vigour.” Surprisingly, his only complaint of the engine was that it may actually be too powerful, despite only producing 70 bhp! “It was much too easy to exceed the 50 mph limit on single carriageway roads,” he said.
Houston was impressed with the ride and handling, too, despite the vehicle being unladen on his test drive. Overall, he said: “The Freight Rover 350 is a very good product, with real PSV potential, and has the additional benefit of an extensive British service network. If marketed properly, it could well provide Mercedes and Iveco with tough competition.”
Our writer’s crystal ball was clearly on top form that day, as the Sherpa would later become the LDV Convoy, which was offered as a minibus from the factory. Available in 13 and 17-seat capacities, the Convoy ended up taking the market by storm in the UK due to its affordability and size. So much so, LDV claimed that ‘around 60%’ of the UK’s 17-seater minibuses were their own by the early 2000s.
Specification ● Freight Rover Sherpa 350 Leith Minicoach
| Engine | 2.5-litre diesel |
| Power | 70 bhp at 4,000 rpm |
| Gearbox | 5-speed manual |
| Fuel economy | 28-35 mpg |
| Seating capacity | 12 |
| Price | £14,200 |
[/wlm_ismember]The LDV name lives on to this day, with minibuses from the Mini B range now being sold by Harris Auto of Dublin, Ireland. For a detailed look at the new range, view our article here.
