Leyland Motors

Leyland Motors Co was a manufacturer of Lorries and Trucks and began life as the Lancashire Steam Motor Co. It's leading engineer was Sir Harry Spurrier.

• 1907 Produced the X-type heavy vehicles over 3.5 tons rated at 35 hp. The engine was a 6-litre unit. For the bus market it could take 1 34-seater body.
• 1907 The U-type was produced with a 50 hp engine
• WW1 Produced 5,932 3-ton of the RAF type were produced

• 1920 November. Exhibited at the Motor Car Show at Olympia and the White City with a new eight-cylinder in-line car rated at 40 hp

• 1926 The last steam vehicles were removed from the companies literature
• 1929 New range of vehicles with names like badger, Bison, Buffalo and Bull produced
• 1933 Offered an oil engine option that became very popular
• WW2 Made engines for the Matilda tank, assembled Churchill, Cromwell and Comet tanks and produced bombs.
• 1947 Produced Comet 75 6-ton model
• 1951 Produced Comet 90 at 7.5-tons and this remained in production until 1960
• 1951 Acquired Albion
• 1955 Acquired Scammell
• 1962 Acquired AEC ( who had already aquired Maudsley, Crossley Motors and Thorneycroft
• 1965 Acquired a major stake in Bristol Commercial Vehicles
• 1966 Acquired Rover / Alvis
• 1967 Acquired Aveling-Barford
• 1968 Merged with British Motor Holdings

Buses

• Leyland was one of the most successful manufacturers of buses and they developed some of the most advanced designs.
• By buying back surplus to World War one leylands almost bankrupted the company.
• 1896 Leyland originated as a steam vehicle builder known as Lancashire Steam Motor Co 11 years after this they changed their name to Leyland Motors. The main reason at the time for this being that it reflected the amount of petrol-engined vehicles being produced.
• 1907 X-type was introduced it was a 3.5 tonner for lorry or bus use.
• This was the first engine built soley of 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 and that they could be repurchased at a premium after the war.
• 1914 after the war began, goods vehicles and bus chassis were requistioned, however the buses were not in the scheme.
• The War Department took many models away from corporations for this scheme, these vehicles were known as Subsidy Models.
• Leyland built many of this type and 6,000 went to the Royal Flying Corps. these were called the RAF type.
• 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 which they bought more than fifty in a period of five years.
• 1922 the driver was moved to alongside the engine, this 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, a closed top double-decker and a lot lower than most makes (3ft). It had a six-cylinder overhead camshaft engine.
• The Titan became one of the massive improvements of the 1930's.
• Leyland did not offer pre-selector gearboxes as AEC and Daimler, instead they developed the torque converter.
• This almost finished off the process of changing gear. Above 20mph the driver moved a lever, thus selecting direct drive.
• 1933 a range of chassis named the gearless bus were introduced. They sold well to operators replacing trams or drivers in hilly regions.
• Late 1930's a penalty for higher fuel consumption was put into play, so sales diminshed.
• 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.
• 1945 Leyland returned to bus production.
• 1947 the PD2 and PS2 were made they Leylands most successful designs.
• 1954 the OPD2 was a heavier export version of the model.
• 1959 single-deck chassis with an 0.600 engine were made.
• 1962 Leyland merged with ACV.
• 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.

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
• The Engineer of 5th November 1920 p476
• Ian Allan - British Buses Since 1900 - Aldridge and Morris