The Austin LD was a van that was introduced in 1954 to replace the K8 25 cwt van. The LD was sold under both the Morris and Austin name. They were produced in Birmingham at Adderley Park which had been part of the Morris empire.
The Austin was badged as the 1 ton Van (LD1) and the 1.5 ton (LD2). Initially it was only available with a petrol engine of 2.2 litres. At the beginning of 1955 both were available with a 2.2 litre diesel engine as an option. The LD2's larger capacity was achieved with a raised roof and a longer body. It also had stiffer suspension all round, and a lower rear axle ratio.
The rugged chassis, with four cross-members was designed to accommodate a wide variety of specialised bodies.
This continued for another five years until in April 1960, the next major update was the introduction of the four-speed all synchromesh gearbox. The 1 ton was now called the LD-M20 and the 1.5 ton was now called the LD-30.
Various changes were still been made as it was then called the 240/260LD and 340/350LD (where the numerals stand for the Gross Vehicle Weight).
In 1967 the LD range was replaced by the EA.