A general utility van (GUV), amongst other things, has been used for transporting mail and parcels. A number of batches of these non-gangwayed BR standard vehicles were built to diagram 811. The earliest batch was made at Doncaster in 1956 and the last ones produced in 1959 by Pressed Steel Ltd. All but the Scottish Region received batches of them when new.

Built without gangway connections, at both ends, they had two large end doors and a bottom flap that rested on the buffers when open and thus allowed end-loading with motor vehicles. Some of the GUVs received 'Motorail' branding. The vans were built with three double doors along each side, each with a single window, and there were two intermediate windows between the sets of doors on each side.