Peter Davis, of Island Beehive, has done research, which shows the truck came to Kangaroo Island in 1939, carrying apiary equipment from Pender Brothers in Maitland, bound for the property of Norman Taylor at Cygnet River. By 1945 Mr Taylor was advertising queen bees for sale in the Kangaroo Island Courier.

“It was war-time so the equipment could only be delivered by truck. The story goes that local man Ben Roberts, who had Roberts Motors, saw the truck and asked to buy it from the Sydney owner,” Mr Davis said.

Mr Colenso bought the truck for $10 at a farm clearance sale in 2004 not knowing its provenance.

Graeme Connell of Connell Motors alerted him to its history and previous owner and Mr Colenso contacted Ben Roberts who was “dismayed’ at the state of the truck but pleased it would be restored.

After several years and $5000 of restoration the Bedford truck had its first outing to the KI Motorfest in October 2007 after gaining

heritage registration. Mr Colenso said the O-model tray-top truck was quite a rare model and its historic importance for Kangaroo Island gave it extra meaning.

He has offered it to the Hope Cottage Museum to be housed there and said it could be used for events in the future if there was interest on the island. Mr Roberts never saw his old truck restored. He left theisland shortly after Mr Colenso bought the truck and died last year.

Mr Colenso is keen to find any old clippings or photos about the truck and its history on Kangaroo Island.