Estimated Price: £30,000 - £40,000

• There are few symbols of British popular culture more instantly recognisable than those created by the great British television sitcom, and arguably none is remembered more fondly than Only Fools and Horses. Whilst the Trotters became national treasures, one battered little yellow three-wheeler became almost as famous as Del Boy and Rodney themselves.
• First broadcast in 1981, Only Fools and Horses starred David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst as Derek and Rodney Trotter, initially alongside Leonard Pearce as Grandad and subsequently Buster Merryfield as Uncle Albert. The programme became a television phenomenon, attracting audiences exceeding 20 million and producing unforgettable moments, from Batman and Robin in Heroes and Villains to the chandelier sequence in A Touch of Glass and the discovery of the priceless Harrison watch in Time on Our Hands.
• Throughout, the Trotters' yellow Reliant van, proudly proclaiming 'New York – Paris – Peckham', became one of British television's most recognisable vehicles.
• Several Reliants were used during the show's history, however the Reliant Motor Club archive records that the van first appeared in the 1981 episode Big Brother, with registration APL 911H becoming visible in The Russians Are Coming. Unlike the later fictitious DHV 938D registration, introduced in Series 3, APL 911H was a genuine registration associated with the programme's earliest years.
• The Reliant Supervan III offered here bears that original registration and has spent much of the last two decades within a significant private collection. Restored some years ago, it presents in the familiar yellow Trotters livery, complete with contrasting white/primer-style bonnet and leopard-print interior, perhaps cosmetically rather smarter than the hard-working van remembered from the programme.
• Further research undertaken in preparation for this sale has revealed additional information concerning its history. Earlier V5 documents indicate that the chassis was replaced during a previous restoration, apparently between 2004 and 2006, before acquisition by either our vendor or the preceding long-term owner. The replacement chassis number corresponds to a 1972 vehicle, whilst the bodywork displays characteristics consistent with a 1969-era Supervan, notably its distinctive earlier rear lights.
• Consequently, whilst APL 911H is firmly established as the registration seen during the earliest series of Only Fools and Horses, we cannot conclusively establish that the vehicle offered today is the same physical van featured on screen. Copies of V5 documentation record successive ownership from 1983 to the present day, including changes in 2004, 2006 and 2026, and will be available for inspection at the sale.
• Accompanying the van is a delightful collection of memorabilia, including a 'Doctor on Visit' parking meter, suitcase, a sun visor bearing what appear to be several cast members' signatures, a replica Harrison watch and a novelty cheque for £6.2 million payable to Mr D Trotter and Mr R Trotter.
• Whatever its precise on-screen provenance, APL 911H remains a wonderfully evocative connection to the earliest days of arguably Britain's best-loved television sitcom.
• This time next year, Rodney...