Probably a Sydney UTC Leopard
Some info about the Bristol RE for nerds like me:
Some East Kent buses. From what I remember, the the coach being craned onto a Dover ferry pre-1953 was a very modern for its time Dennis with an underfloor engine. There were still plenty about until the early '70s. The others are prewar Titans.
60’s/70’s it certainly was, been there a few times when doing bit of part timing for National Travel (564 Halifax-London service) Fill up with diesel round the corner and then across Chelsea Bridge to park at the old Battersea Power Station vehicle park.
Young and bringing a young family up a bit of extra part timing money was always welcome;
fastest time from Victoria to M1 at Brents Cross…22 minutes I was much younger then and knew no fear.
Bet you couldn’t that nowadays even at 2am on a Sunday.
via Alan Snatt on flickr, a Bedford VAL and assorted other Duple coaches at Bishops Stortford, 1968
I don’t know why Bedford persisted with the twin-steer (‘Chinese six’), I daresay Ray Smyth would know.
I always loved these VALs, in which I used to travel to Porchester Baths (London) in my teens, c. 1970.
My understanding is that the 16" wheels enabled a low floor height, but required a twin steer because the 16" brakes were too small.
It may also have been related to load capacity of the tyres.
Significantly, a number of these chassis received van bodies for high-cube-low-weight special transport, such as racing cars or stage equipment.
I know, it’s a few years now since I graced London with my driving skills and I’ve no desire to reacquaint the good people of that fair city with my expertise.
Been there, seen it, done it. Wind the Leopard up at Brents Cross M1, 1st. stop Leicester Forest (for half an hour), mount up again to Wakefield, Dewsbury, Brighouse, Halifax.
happy days.
Whilst we’re on the subject of specially adapted chassis this was a 1963 Ford 570E, reg no 520FJJ, bodied by Strachans.
I remember them. If I remember correctly there were two of them. They served to carry bicycles through the Dartford Tunnel when it was first built. They must have been the only Ford Thames Trader chassis ever used as buses this side of Africa and probably the only ever with double-deck bodies!
I remember before the tunnel we used to have to go on the Tilbury ferry from Dartford to cross the Thames in a car. In a lorry it would have been the long way round.
There were 5 of them built, reg no’s 526-530FJJ. I assume that they would have needed a tilt test before being certified. That would have been interesting with the passengers upstairs presumably weighing considerably more than the bicycles.
They may have got round that by scheduling the restricted short straight-line journey to disembark before turning the bus round at each end, thus never actually turning while passengers were aboard. Otherwise they’d have needed a proper 28 deg tilt double-deck bus chassis instead of getting away with a lightweight Ford lorry chassis.