Lotus powered 1969 Bedford CF

I was reading about the development of the Lotus 900 series engine and I came across some interesting information.
A prototype 905s engine was installed and tested in a Bedford CF! Does any one have any more information or photos of this CF?

"By 1968 the first of these hybrid Type 904 engines — designated by the marketing department as the LV220 for Lotus Vauxhall 220bhp — fitted with Tecalemit-Jackson mechanical fuel injection was up and running in the Lotus 62 sports-racing cars.

A year later, now with Tony Rudd responsible for putting the engine into production, prototype 147bhp Type 905s were put through reliability trials in a Vauxhall Viva GT and a Bedford CF van. (...)"

Source: www.lotusespritturbo.com/Lotus_900_Series_Engine.htm

"In 1968(ish) Lotus decided that the latest Vauxhall 2.0 litre canted engine design was simular to their new proposed engine to suit the Lotus Excel/ Eclat. Lotus purchased from General Motors a new Vauxhall Viva G,T registration number RAH 713F

The existing 2.0 litre engine was removed (I purchased this engine from Lotus) and a prototype engine was installed, this engine had a cast iron block and a new all alloy cylinder head with 16 valves, normally aspirated with twin Webber DCOE 45s, the engine performed quite well with just a few minor problems, I believe some of these engines were raced quite successfully. 

A few months later the first all aluminium engine was installed into the Viva, in the early stages the liners worked loose, with cylinder head gasket failures and after a few thousand miles the piston rings allowed too much oil to be consumed, plus a few other minor problems, however all of these development problems were sorted. 

Also around 1969-1970 a further test vehicle was purchased in the form of a Bedford van, a new Lotus prototype all aluminium engine was fitted into the van, these vans were quite sluggish in standard form, I understand that the drivers of the van had quite a few motorists of the day amazed at the increased performance of this vehicle. (...)"


Source: www.lotusespritworld.com/EHistory/900EngineDevelopment.html

Some more information and an actual photo of the van can be found in a technical document on the Lotus type 907 engine, written by the then Engineering director of Lotus, the late Tony Rudd.
Published by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1973:

"Initial road testing of these engines was carried out with other manufacturers' production touring cars and a 1500 kg delivery van operated by the company's supply division. This van was one of a fleet used for collection and delivery of material throughout the country and received the same running maintenance as the rest of the van fleet. Apart from an insatiable appetite for transmissions, rear tyres and brake linings, the vehicle was trouble free and covered over 222 000 km.
Figure 357.2 shows the vehicles used in the vital road test programme."

Source: www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/4984-design-of-the-lotus-type-907-engine/

 

"Here are a couple of original photos of the vehicles used as testbeds for the 9xx prototype engines. I believe that they still, at this stage, used the Vauxhall iron block rather than the alloy Lotus block. Shown are the Lotus 62, Vauxhall VX4/90, Viva GT and the Lotus Bedford CF. Very kindly shared by Bruce Wellings."

Source: www.facebook.com/groups/174212968044126