Leyland Motors: Buses
Note: This is a sub-section of Leyland Motors.
1905 March. Details of the 30-hp Crossley-Leyland omnibus.[1]
1907 X-type was introduced. It was a 3.5 tonner for lorry or bus use and used the first engine built solely from the Leyland design.
1912 Leyland became the only company to receive War Office approval for 1.5 and 3 tonners in the subsidy scheme. This scheme enabled buyers to receive a yearly payment for buying and keeping vehicles of approved design in good condition which could be repurchased at a premium after the war.
Subsidy Models. Leyland built many of this type and 6,000 went to the Royal Flying Corps and were known as the RAF type.
Buying back surplus WWI Leylands almost bankrupted the company.
1922 to 1924 Bus sales alone kept the company going.
After the war new models were introduced. N-type with 36-40hp engine and worm rear axle was the most popular for bus use; G-range, of which they bought more than fifty in a period of five years.
1922 The position of the driver was moved to alongside the engine which made more room for passengers. This model was then known as the Side type.
1925 The first purpose built chassis came with five new models.
1927 The Titan was developed. It was a closed top double-decker and a lot lower than most makes (3ft). It had a six-cylinder overhead camshaft engine.
Leyland did not offer pre-selector gearboxes as AEC and Daimler did; instead they developed the torque converter.
1933 A range of chassis named the 'gearless bus' were introduced. They sold well to operators replacing trams or drivers in hilly regions.
In the late 1930s a penalty for higher fuel consumption was put into play, so sales diminished.
1940 Leyland bus production was dramatically decreased, however under Government direction Leyland completed a great quantity of Titans and Tigers. Construction work had already been started before the War demanded it was stopped.
1944 Advert for Leyland oil engines. 'Nearly two out of every five oil-engined buses operating in Great Britain today are fitted with Leyland direct injection engines'.
1945 Leyland returned to bus production.
1947 The PD2 and PS2 were made and were Leyland's most successful designs.
1948 Leyland and the MCW sales organisation concluded a twenty-year agreement that they would exclusively collaborate on integral designs and favour one another with body-on-chassis business. Their idea was that an underframe comprising durable Leyland engines and other mechanical units would be permanently attached to a similarly heavy-duty body structure. This idea became the Leyland-MCW Olympic which was built in three series from 1949.
1954 The OPD2 was a heavier export version of the model.
1959 Single-deck chassis with 0.600 engines were made.
1962 Leyland merged with ACV.
1968 Merger of British Motor Holdings with Leyland Motors
Became part of Leyland Truck and Bus
1972 Improvements were made to the Atlantean where a AN68 version was introduced.
1973 The Fleetline was moved from Coventry to Leyland.
1974 The Leyland name was altered to Leyland Fleetline.
1980 Production ceased.
1988 Leyland Bus was sold to Volvo.
List of Models
- A1, A5, A7, A9, A11, A13 (1920-26)
- B (1919-20)
- C, C1, C5, C7, C9 (1919-26)
- D (1920-24)
- E (1919-20)
- F (1919)
- G, G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, G7, G8 (1919-24)
- H (1919-20)
- J (1919-20)
- K (1919)
- L (1919-20)
- M, M1 (1919-21)
- N (1919-21)
- O, O1 (1919-21)
- RAF (1919-25))
- SG2, SG4, SG6, SG7, SG9, SG11 (1923-26)
- GH2, GH4, GH5, GH7, GH8 (1923-26)
- OP2 (1921-24)
- OH2 (1923-26)
- LB2, LB4, LB5 (1922-26)
- Z3, Z4, Z5, Z6, Z7 (1923-26)
- Titan (1927-70) - TD and PD Series
- Titanic (1927-39)
- Tiger (1927-68) - TS and PS Series
- Tigress (1934-39)
- Badger (1930-36)
- Beaver - TSC9
- Cub (1931-36) - KP Series
- Cheetah 1935-40)
- Gnu (1937-39) - TEPI
- Panda (1940)
- Comet (1948-71) - CP Series
- Lowlander (1961-66)
- Atlantean (1956-86) - DR and AN Series
- Fleetline (1973-80), from Daimler
- Titan (B15) (1974-84)
- Victory Mk 2 (1978-81), built in Guy factory
- Olympian (1979-93)
- Lion (1985-88)
- Leyland-DAB articulated bus (1980- )
- MCW Olympic (1949-71) - HR/ER/EL
- Royal Tiger (1950-55) - PSU1
- Royal Tiger Worldmaster (1955-79)
- Tiger Cub (1952-69) - PSUC1
- Olympian (1953-58)
- Leopard (1959-82)
- Lion (1960-65)
- Royal Tiger Cub (1960-68)
- Panther (1964-72)
- Panther Cub (1964-68)
- National 1 (1969-85)
- National 2 (1979- )
- Tiger (1979-92)
- B21 (1975-83)
- Royal Tiger (B50/B54) (1982-87)
- Lynx (1984-92)
- Swift (1987-91)