Highlights

Believed to be the only surviving example in the world based on extensive research
Exhibited at Goodwood Revival by invitation following its 2016 restoration
Comes with period-correct milk crates, bottles and accessories
Previously held by Lakeland Motor Museum
In current ownership for over a decade

The Appeal

In the late 1940s, Northern Dairies Ltd decided to try and fill the gap between the cart horse and the full-size float with one of these - the 'Nipper'. These unusual little three-wheelers were a milk-float in miniature, steered like a canal boat and were capable of about the same pace. The milkman simply stood on the spring-floated footplate, took hold of the tiller and hoped for the best, rumbling between terraced houses while trying not to drop his yoghurts...

The new 'Nipper' was road-tested by Commercial Motor magazine in 1947 and described as a novel solution for delivering milk, bread, groceries, and the like. In reality, it was every bit as unusual and twee as it looks; the Nippers began working on narrow backstreets offering doorstep deliveries, usually clinking and clattering their wares and frightening the horses it was meant to replace. Powered by a J.A.P. 500cc single-cylinder engine driving through an automatically controlled two-speed gearbox, they remain a particularly unique, if over-optimistic experiment that never quite 'caught on'.

This particular vehicle - affectionately nicknamed 'Billy' - is believed to be the sole surviving 'Nipper'. Research has traced its early working life to Sewell's Dairy in Bury St Edmunds, where it was driven by a Mr Alf Ling and remembered by locals for unsettling the baker's horse whenever it started up, and occasionally needing a push uphill. It later passed to the owner of Lakeland Motor Museum before being spotted by the current keeper in 2015, serving as a backdrop display on a Shell Oils stand at Goodwood Revival. A thorough restoration followed in 2016, and its first outing afterwards was a return to Goodwood Revival, this time by invitation.

The vehicle is presented with an impressive array of period-correct accessories, all carefully sourced over time. It serves as a travelling time capsule; a remarkable survivor that's as scarce as it gets, and undeniably packed with British milieu.

Key Information

Mileage: No odometer
Country of registration: United Kingdom
Technical inspection status: exempt
Technical specs: 500cc J.A.P. air-cooled single-cylinder petrol engine, automatically controlled two-speed gearbox, three-wheeler layout with tiller steering
Paperwork: V5 present; identification plaque from Northern Dairies Limited; Commercial Motor road test article from 1947

The Detail

Restoration in 2016 included shot blasting, minor repairs and reassembly
Paintwork carried out by lifelong coach painter Trevor Cheeseman in heritage paint and period-correct colours
Chassis and body constructed from steel and aluminium alloy
The vendor states the loading shelves and securing tray closures are in good condition
Milk crates sourced from various dairies and re-galvanised in Hull
Accessories include bottles with cardboard tops and pressed foil tops, 1/3rd pint school milk bottles, pint and quart bottles, and measures for decanting from a milk churn
Bottles filled with white polystyrene microbeads to replicate the appearance of milk
The vendor states the engine runs well and starts with a single pull of the cranking lever
Drive is via conical belt gearing that engages according to revs and weight; permanent drive requires brakes to be applied during starting
Back-axle and engine unit suspended on four bonded-rubber mounts, removable via four bolts for major repairs
Gearbox features machine-cut sprockets and totally enclosed roller chains with oil bath and splash lubrication
Fully roadworthy and used sparingly at 12–16 mph
Three-wheeler layout with a single tiller-steered front wheel and a driving axle at the rear; drives the nearside wheel only

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