Vintage Roadscene – January 2024

Summary

Issue 290 opens with Ron Henderson tracing London’s ERF fire engines — a fleet that broke convention when it first served the Capital. Vintage Roadscene January 2024 balances retro transport nostalgia with practical auction intelligence for collectors of classic commercials.

This edition flags the end of an era: after 290 issues, Vintage Roadscene folds its independent run into Classic & Vintage Commercials. Before that transition, David Vaughan delivers Part 2 of “Old Dogs New Tricks,” spotlighting lorries that found second lives with showmen. A Duramin feature and a Parcels History spread round out the heavy-vehicle content, while the Tractor World 2024 auction preview gives buyers a February date for the calendar.

Regulars include picture-driven gallery sections — “Old Favourites” and “Pick of Pictures from the Past” — that let readers study period detail at their own pace. For the owner-driver or preservation-society member, these visual archives offer reference material no restoration manual can match.

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Content Guide

▸ Features / History

p.6 · London’s ERF Fire Engines
Ron Henderson walks through the fire appliances built for the Capital — machines that marked a departure from standard brigade spec at the time. Readers get the backstory on a specialised fleet that served London through decades of change, with period photography that shows each vehicle’s unique pump and ladder configuration.

p.· Old Dogs New Tricks — Part 2
David Vaughan continues his survey of lorries that escaped the scrapyard to work with showmen. Each rig carries its trade history on its chassis. Close-study the bodywork adaptations that kept these vehicles earning long after their first career ended.

▸ Archive / Visual

p.· Old Favourites — Pick of Pictures from the Past
A reader-submitted photo gallery that pulls rare shots from private collections. The value here is in the details: period signage, load configurations, and livery schemes you will not find in official archives. Study one frame and you may spot a long-gone depot or a vanished operator.

p.· Parcels History
A dedicated spread on the vehicles and networks that moved parcels before the courier industry consolidated. The photographs document a vanished generation of vans and light trucks that once worked every high street.

▸ Auctions / Events

p.· Tractor World 2024 Preview
Ahead of the February 2024 sale, this preview lists lot highlights and bidding logistics. Check the entry conditions early if you plan to bring a machine to sell — catalogue deadlines come around faster than you expect.

▸ Industry / News

p.· Merged Future Announcement
The publisher confirms that Vintage Roadscene will continue inside Classic & Vintage Commercials. Existing subscribers receive automatic transfer. If you hold a current subscription, verify your contact details with the circulation desk before the next issue ships.

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Editor’s Take

For a final independent issue, this one leans heavily on nostalgia — which suits the readership but means thinner editorial coverage than the anniversary deserved. The ERF fire-engine feature and Vaughan’s showmen series deliver genuine depth; the rest feels like a picture-book filler before the merger. Best for long-time subscribers who want the set complete, less essential for casual classic-vehicle fans who do not follow the preservation-club circuit.

Strengths
• Ron Henderson’s London ERF deep-dive with period fleet photos
• David Vaughan’s showmen conversions — practical second-life engineering
• Tractor World auction preview with concrete February 2024 date

Weaknesses
• Thin feature count for a farewell issue — only three full articles
• Heavy reliance on reader-submitted photo pages over reported content

Verdict: Selective read — A closure issue for dedicated preservationists; skip if you want reported features over archive photo spreads.