Sentinel STC6 Ribble Motor Services Bus 1951

Sentinel STC6

What is your favourite car of all time?

When the dimensions regulations were relaxed to allow 30ft vehicles, Sentinel introduced their STC6 integral bus. It used a six-cylinder 9.12-litre 135bhp indirect injection engine, with a four-speed constant-mesh gearbox. The well known firm of Ribble was the most significant customer for the Sentinel STC6, acquiring 14 44-seat models built in 1951, despite the fact that the Olympic was now available from their usual supplier Leyland. Acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1955, Sentinel stopped production of coaches and buses in 1956, in total they had only produced around 130 buses for the domestic market.

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Leyland Titan PD1 East Yorkshire Bus 1950s

Leyland Titan PD1

What is your favourite car of all time?

Leyland's first double-deck bus chassis after the war was known as the Titan, a PD1 chassis with few similarities to the pre-war models which bore its name (such as the TD4). Proving popular with a variety of operators, the PD1 used a 7.4-litre engine and was fitted with triple servo brakes and a fully floating rear axle. Bodywork came from either Leyland itself or outside concerns such as Eastern Coachworks. Operator East Yorkshire was famous for its distinctive Beverley Bar shaped-roof double-deckers, constructed to allow normal height buses to pass through the gothic archways at Beverley.

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Guy Arab 4 Birmingham City Transport Bus 1950s

Guy Arab 4

What is your favourite car of all time?

In the 1950s Guy were outside the big three of AEC, Daimler and Leyland, but they were rising fast. Before the war they had been a small player in the bus market, but a call to build utility double-deck chassis during the war resulted in Guys finding their way into many fleets in Britain and operators liked the reliability of the Utility Arab so much that they continued to choose Guys after the war.

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Dennis Lance K4 Aldershot and District Bus 1950s

Dennis Lance K4

What is your favourite car of all time?

Although Dennis buses are very familiar today they were not a major force in the 1950s. The company, based in Guildford, Surrey, produced a competent range of models which tended to be bought by a small group of faithful customers. Most notable of these was the "local" operator, Aldershot and District, who continued to buy the Dennis chassis until 1965.

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Daimler CV Venture Transport Bus 1940s, 1950s

Daimler CV

What is your favourite bus of all time?

Daimler, one of the biggest names in the British motor industry, entered the postwar years with its Coventry-built Victory series, better known by its type designation which changed according to the engine specified. Daimler offered a choice of engines, its own CD6 in the CVD6, AEC in the CVA6 and Gardner 5LW or 6LW in the CVG5 and CVG6. The CV was available as a single-decker or double-decker and in single-deck form was popular for coach use.

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Crossley DD42 Lancaster City Transport Bus 1940s, 1950s

Crossley DD42

What is your favourite bus of all time?

The Manchester based firm of Crossley Motors Limited developed their DD42 double-decker during WW2, which was to be the mainstay model of the postwar years. A largely conventional half-cab design, the most notable feature of the DD42 was its very low bonnet line giving excellent visibility for the driver. The standard power unit for the model was the Crossley oil engine, the HOE7, coupled to a Brockhouse Turbo Transmitter torque-converter transmission rather than a conventional gearbox.

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Bristol K Aberdare UDCTD Bus 1947

Bristol K

What is your favourite bus of all time?

The Bristol K series was placed in production towards the end of the Second World War, K5G being the designation of vehicles equipped with a Gardner engine, while those having an AEC unit were referred to as K6A types. Aberdare Urban Council added a Bristol K6A to their fleet in 1947. Aberdare ran services in and around the Cynon valley, Glamorganshire, and was one of only eight postwar urban district council undertakings.

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BMMO D7 Midland Red Bus 1953

BMMO D7 Midland Red

What is your favourite bus of all time?

The D7 was introduced in 1953 as the first BMMO double-decker built to a lightweight standard. Constructed with Metro-Cammell bodies to te new Orion design, the first examples were 58-seaters although later deliveries had 63 seats. Mechanically similar to the D5, there were some important changes such as the fitting of an improved version of the proven BMMO 8.028-litre K type diesel, the KL type (Kidney Long), now mounted together with the gearbox in the chassis frame. Weighing in at slightly over 7 tonnes, the D7s were brisk performers, a total of 350 examples being built.

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AEC Regent 3 Rochdale Corporation Bus 1940s, 1950s

AEC Regent 3

What is your favourite bus of all time?

The "Provincial" Regent 3 was announced in 1946 with a 16ft 4in wheelbase and widths of 7ft 6in or 8ft. Engines were the AEC 9.6-litre oil-type with a 7.7-litre option, the latter coming with a four-speed sliding mesh gearbox and vacuum servo brakes. Changes to the technical specifications included longer bodywork in 1950 and an improved gearbox two years later. During the 1950s the Rochdale livery was a blue jewel in a sea of reds - Manchester, Bolton, Oldham, Ramsbottom, Rawtenstall, LUT, Ribble and North Western all ran into or near the town.

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AEC Swifts SM Type London Country Bus 1970s

AEC Swifts SM Type

What is your favourite bus of all time?

Introduced in the Country Area in 1970, the AEC Swifts (coded SM) reached a total of 838 in London Transport and London Country service. The 36ft long Merlins proved to be too long for many routes and hence the shortened 33ft 5inch long Swift. Sadly like the Merlins, the Swifts proved to be unreliable in service and the last bus, a SMS was delivered in 1972.

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RF Type Green Line London Bus 1966

RF Type Green Line

What is your favourite bus of all time?

Although the Central and Country Areas shared many common designs, there were some that were exclusive to one or the other, most noticeably the Green Line and private hire fleets. Between August 1966 and July 1967 174 Green Line RFs were modernised inside and out, extending their lifespan for many years and in the process creating a very distinctive vehicle. The roofboards were a feature of Green Line coaches from the start of services in 1930 until the early 1970s, after which time they were removed.

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Routemaster RML Type London Bus 1961

Routemaster RML Type

What is your favourite bus of all time?

In 1961 twenty-four 30ft-long 72-seat Routemasters were built, easily distinguished from the standard RM by the addition of a small window in the centre of each deck. The RMLs ( Routemaster "long") as they were eventually classified were the forerunners of a further batch of 500 delivered between 1965 and 1968, of which 100 were allocated for the country areas. Few operators other than LT showed any interest in the Routemaster, Northern General and British Airways being the exception.

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Routemaster RMC Type Green Line London Bus 1962

RMC Type Green Line

What is your favourite bus of all time?

Following the successful trials with the Green line coach Routemaster, CRL4, London Transport ordered a batch of 68 coach RMS (coded RMC) in 1962. It meant that for the first time Green Line had a fleet of double-deck vehicles offering high standards of comfort, standards taken further in 1965 with the delivery of forty-three 30ft coach Routemasters (RCLS).

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Bristol MW Bus Royal Blue 1950s, 1960s

Bristol MW Bus

What is your favourite bus of all time?

The Bristol MW (Medium Weight) was the standard underfloor-engined Bristol single-decker for the late 1950s and early 1960s, replacing the semi-integral LS which had been in production since 1950. The MW was only available with Gardner 5HLW or 6HLW engines, being designated MW5G and MW6G respectively. Produced in both bus and coach form, every major Tilling bus company, except Brighton, Hove & District received the Bristol MW, almost two-thousand examples being built.

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Bristol K Bus Hants and Dorset 1950s

Bristol K Bus

What is your favourite bus of all time?

If there was a standard post-war double-decker, it is surely the Bristol K type with ECW Series bodywork. In its Gardner, AEC and Bristol-engined variants (K5G, K6A, K6B), a total of 136 were taken into service between 1946-50. The Bristol K6A TD876 (HLJ25) was purchased new by Hants & Dorset in 1949, but one of many of this type diverted, temporarily and without fleetnames, from Tilling Group companies to London Transport. It did not reach the sunny south coast until March 1950.

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Bristol L Bus West Yorkshire 1950, 1951

Bristol L Bus

What is your favourite bus of all time?

The LL version of the Bristol L chassis was 30ft long and was introduced in 1950-51. Engine types provided the various classifications - the LL5G featuring a Gardner 5LW engine, the LL6G coming with a 6LW unit from Gardner, while a Bristol six-cylinder engine powered the LL6B vehicle. One of the "red" Tilling fleets, West Yorkshire were based in Harrogate and operated in both west and north Yorkshire. Other notable LL5G operators included United Countries, Southern Vectis and Crossville.

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AEC Regal 1 Bus Alexander-Northern 1946

AEC Regal 1 Bus

What is your favourite bus of all time?

The Associated Equipment Company had its beginnings in the London General Omnibus Company, but since 1912 had been a separate commercial business. Although AEC was still the main supplier of bus chassis to London Transport, it built up a substantial business building trucks and buses for customers in the UK and overseas before it merged with Leyland in 1962. The classic AEC Regal 1 was introduced in 1946 with a 7.7-litre engine and crash gearbox.

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