A change in design of the WLG produced the WTL, with its cab, internal combustion engine and radiator moved forward to allow a 14 feet (4.3 m) bodylength.

In 1935, the WTB bus version appeared, and the WS and VYC models were updated – the latter being redesignated BYC as it was fitted with the engine and synchromesh gearbox of the Big Six Vauxhall cars.

The 5–6 cwt HC light van was introduced in 1938, based on the Vauxhall Ten car, and the WT and WS acquired a newly styled grill.

Because the German armed forces in 1940 were, contrary to their popular image, desperately short of motor transport, many of these captured Bedfords were repaired and pressed into service alongside Opel Blitz (also part of GM) trucks by the German armed forces – although the Bedfords mainly filled second-line roles, including civil defence.

This was largely a matter of styling, involving a sloping bonnet with a flat front with headlights incorporated and a crash bar to protect the radiator in a minor collision.

A radical departure from Bedford's design norms came in October 1939, with the development of a four-wheel drive, forward control lorry, which entered service in March 1941 as the QL, quickly nicknamed the "Queen Lizzie".

As with the MW and OY / OX models, the QL went on to serve in a large number of roles, such as artillery tractor, gun porter, command vehicle, wireless lorry and petrol tanker, as well as the troop-carrying QLD, the most common variant.

For wartime production the OB was temporarily replaced by the "utility" OWB, with which Bedford became the only British manufacturer authorised to build single-deck buses during hostilities.

Apart from vehicle manufacture during World War II, Vauxhall Motors produced steel helmets, RP-3 rocket bodies, and components for Frank Whittle's top-secret jet engine.

Known affectionately as "the Tilley", the CA enjoyed a very long production span, with only minor tweaks throughout its life, including the replacement of the two piece windscreen of earlier models with a single sheet.

[citation needed] The CA was replaced by the CF, a highly redesigned vehicle, albeit architecturally similar, but rather larger, using new overhead camshaft (OHC) engines, which was to have a much harder time proving itself thanks to the Ford Transit.

[citation needed] Perhaps the major event of the 1950s was the transfer of all non-car based commercial vehicle manufacture to the former Vauxhall shadow factory at Boscombe Road, Dunstable.

Alongside the S series trucks, the SB bus was released in 1950, and immediately became a big seller in India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and Africa, as well as in the UK.

The SB chassis was also used as a basis for specialised vehicles, such as mobile libraries, fire engines, and civil defence control units.

[9] Available with four and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, the TK was the quintessential light truck in the UK through most of the 1960s and 1970s, competing with the similar Ford D series.

The Bedford KM was a similar vehicle, using the same cab, but with a slightly restyled front end, and was marketed for heavier-duty applications than the TK, i.e. 16 tons and over.

Many developing countries still use ageing Bedfords every day, their robust nature and simple engineering endearing them as highly useful vehicles in demanding terrain.

From 1961 to 1968, General Motors Argentina manufactured Bedford trucks[10] and truck-based buses[11] in a plant at San Martín, Buenos Aires.

In 1967, a Bedford SB3 chassis with Plaxton's Panorama cab was used in the construction of seven custom mobile cinema units that toured British factories for the Ministry of Technology to "raise standards".

Part of the reason for the CF's relative unpopularity was the use of the slant 4 SOHC petrol engine from the FD and FE Vauxhall Victor – which was notoriously rough running, had high fuel consumption, and was susceptible to cam belt breakage.

In Australia, the GM subsidiary of Holden began assembling the CF series with in-line six-cylinder engines borrowed from their passenger car range, in competition against Ford Australia's version of the Transit van which had been re-engineered to accommodate in-line six-cylinder engines from the local Ford Falcon.

During the 1970s, the Bedford HA derived BTV (Basic Transport Vehicle) was produced in many countries and sold under different names such as "Compadre" (Honduras), "Chato" (Guatemala), "Cherito" (El Salvador), "Amigo" (Costa Rica), and "Pinolero" (Nicaragua).

In 1982, the TL range was introduced almost completely replacing the TK, although its military equivalents continued in production for the UK Ministry of Defence.

The TM was available with either GM or Detroit Diesel engines and enjoyed a small but loyal customer base, but could never compete with the volume producers, primarily Volvo and Scania, even in its home market.

The vehicle was never a strong seller in Britain, (subsequent generations were badged as the Bedford/Vauxhall Brava), but it did pave the way for further collaboration – culminating in the IBC venture.

The resulting company, IBC Vehicles, produced a locally built version of the Isuzu Fargo in 1985 (badged as the Bedford Midi).

[15] The plant now operates as GMM Luton, and at first built the Renault Trafic which was badge engineered as a Vivaro under the Vauxhall and Opel marques,[16] currently it builds a licensed version of the Citroën Jumpy.

Due to cheaper competition and the virtual collapse of the UK market in which AWD competed in 1989/90, the company went into receivership in 1992 and was bought by dealer network Marshall of Cambridge.

Bedford used the Griffin logo of Vauxhall Motors, derived from the heraldic crest of Falkes de Breauté, who was granted the Manor of Luton by King John.

List of products produced at Bedford / IBC Vehicles Luton: Very approximately in size order (some also sold as Opels and other GM brands)