Albion Motor Co

The Albion Motor Company was a manufacturer of Lorries and Buses from 1901 to 1951

• 1901 The company was formed by T. Blackwood-Murray and N. O. Fulton (late of Arrol-Johnston) at Bathgate.
• 1904 The company moved to a large factory at Scotstoun
• 1905 Produced the A3 model powered by a two-cylinder 16hp engine for the omnibus market.
• 1910 Produced the successful A10 model and made nearly 6,000 for the services.
• 1911 produced a four-cylinder model for the omnibus market with Forder 24-seat bodies
• 1935 Aquired the factory used to produce Halley vehicles
• WW2 Produced 4x4 trucks and 10-ton tank transporters
• 1947 Recommenced the production of civilian vehicles with the CX range
• 1951 Aquired by Leyland
• 1955 Produced the Claymore
• 1972 The Albion name disappered

Buses

• Albion earned a reputation for solid no-frills engineering.
• It survived the Depression when rival Halley folded.
• The first vehicle was produced in 1900.
• Before World War I the company had built up a large base of customers for Public Service Vehicle.
• 6,000 A10 lorries were supplied to the war between 1914-1918, and carried on into the 1920's.
• In 1923 the Vikings was invented for upto 18 seats, a low frame height with only one step.
• The first forward-control chassis arrived in 1927, the Viking PM28.
• Vikings were phased out in 1931-1932.
• By 1933 diesels were an option.
• New Valkyrie models were came back in 1935.
• Valiants were not as popular spanning from 1931 to 1936. They were more powerful than the Valkyrie.
• The Victors were invented around the same time 20-seater 42bhp 3.15 litre engine gaining a 6bhp 3.62 litre unit.
• Victor models lasted till 1939, 30 seats were standard at that time.
• The Venturer arrived late in 1932, a double-decker 6.85 litre petrol engine/gardner diesel and seated upto 51 passengers.
• 1937 The Commercial Motor Show lauched the first ever CX Series which had the engine and gearbox in one unit.
• For a short time a six-wheeler single decker was introduced a version of the Valkyrie 15 were bought in 1937-1938, seating a total of 39 passengers.
• 1946 the Venturer CX19 double-decker had the option of Albion's own diesel or petrol engines.
• Between 1947 and 1953 Glasgow Corporation was the main buyer of the Venturer, they purchased 138 models.
• 1951 Albion was taken over by Leyland.
• 1955 the Nimbus was developed, and had a small underfloor-engined chassis.
• 1963 the Viking was introduced it had a 0.370 Leyland engine at the front, opposite the entrance.
• Viking's and Clydesdale were exported until the 1980's.

Sources of Information

• British Lorries 1900-1992 by S. W. Stevens-Stratten. Pub. Ian Allen Publishing
• Buses and Trolleybuses before 1919 by David Kaye. Published 1972
• Ian Allan - British Buses Since 1900 - Aldridge and Morris