Following World War Two, Bedford had continued development of its pre-War designs. Although Bedford had been taken over by General Motors in the 1920s, it was not until the early 1950s that the company updated its pre-war ‘Bullnose’ styling to designs that reflected American GM influence. The ‘A’ series models released in 1953 bore a striking resemblance to contemporary GMC and Chevrolet counterparts. 

A mechanically updated ‘D’ series model was introduced in 1956 using a simi