Charlie found a picture of a "Deliverette" van and published it on his blog 28.05.11.http://www.victoriajvan.blogspot.com The van is picture outside the Melbourne Exhibition buildings here in Melbourne.
Obviously at the time, manufacturers were looking for new vehicles to produce, after the suspension of vehicle manufacturing during the war. This vehicle has a strong resemblance to the Morris J van – but it was only a prototype
Sir Laurence Hartnett was working for GM Export in Asia and was sent to Australia (1934) to turn around GM Holden’s fortunes. In 1936 GM Holden was one of the founding shareholders of Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) and during the war, CAC under Hartnett’s leadership was involved in the war effort - Holden
and CAC factories are adjacent.
After the war, GM wanted to create a new “Australian” car. Hartnett wanted a small light car, and when GM decided it was to be a big car , Hartnett resigned
He built the small light car himself – A “Hartnett”, strongly on aircraft principals, because of his association with CAC, and with a power unit of a 600 cc BMW Motorcycle engine. Because of supply problems, few were produced.
Hartnett was also involved in the "Deliverette", a small light van, again based on aircraft principals and again with a power unit of a 600 cc BMW Motorcycle engine. The "Deliverette" was never produced, but Hartnett bought a prototype off CAC and used it personally. His Deliverette is now in the Melbourne Museum. If it had worked out, it could have been the GM competition to the Morris J
John
