TruckNetUK.Old Time Lorries.A To Z Of Transport Miscellaney.The Letter Q.VALKYRIE.Saturday,19th June,2017.Page 18.
Quest 80 Lorries,Motorcoaches,Buses and Trolleybuses.
Quest 80 was formed in Telford,Shropshire,in 1979 to design and produce buses,motorcoaches,trolleybuses and lorries on behalf of the
Sigma Corporation of South Africa.Among the vehicles Quest 80 developed was the side-engined Q-Bus (influenced by the AEC Q of the 1930s,QV),
powered by a vertical Mercedes-Benz-based South African-built Atlanta diesel engine,or a Gardner diesel engine,a diesel-electric trolleybus and a battery-electric twin steer 6-wheeler trolleybus.
Quest 80 entered the United Kingdom commercial vehicle market in 1982 with a lorry model and some motorcoach and bus models,and were produced in to 1986.Quest 80 was sold to United Engineering Industries Group in 1984,but Quest 80 operations were moved to Zimbabwe in South
Africa under the Quest Motor Corporation title,which assembled vehicles for Leyland and other motor vehicle marques.
The UK Quest 80 F1646 had a forward set aluminium cab,a dashboard above the windscreen,self-levelling air suspension,it should have had a
payload of 10-tons,but it was overweight which reduced the PL to 8-tons.This model was a flop.QV photograph.
Quest 80 F1646,COE Forward Set-Cabbed,Mercedes-Benz OM.352 Diesel-Engined,8-Ton PL,Tipper-Bodied,4x2 Lorry.D166 FHA.ZF S6-36 Gearbox,Perkins T6.354 Engine option.Rockwell drive axle.Overweight,unusual & unsuccessful:-
Quest 80 built some rear-engined single-decker omnibuses,including this Perkins 6.354 Diesel-Engined B Model,QV photograph.
Quest 80 B Model/Locomotors B23F Single Decker Omnibus,Chassis No.4201/93,B928 KWM,Liverpool,April 1985.New to Merseyside PTE,then Somerbus.Rear Perkins 6.354 Diesel-Engined.Flickriver Photograph:-
Of all the lorry and passenger vehicle models Quest 80 made the J and VM motorcoach models were the most successful.The VM model
designation was in honour of the managing director of Excelsior Motorcoaches,Bournmouth,Vernon Maitland,which bought 17 of this model.
This was 12 meters in length, had air suspension,a low set driving position and was powered by a rear-mounted Ford Sabre 5.95-Litres 220 BHP
Marine Diesel Engine.Vernon Maitland was a keen sailor,so his maritime experiences dictated this engine choice 
QV photograph.
Quest 80 VM/Plaxton Paramount 3200 C53F Motorcoach,Chassis No.4406/1/45,Body No. Pn 8412QVP1C15N,A821 LEL,Bournemouth,5 1984. Excelsior,Bournemouth.Rear Ford Sabre 5.95-Litre 220 BHP Marine Diesel Engine. FivePrime Photograph:-
Commer QX Lorries,Motorcoaches & Buses.
Commer QX,Commer Rootes TS3 3-Cylinder Opposed Piston Two Stroke Diesel-Engined,Frame-Bodied,4x2 Lorry,YJO 198,Oxford,January 1956.Rootes Group.Transporting Hillman Minx car bodies.Pinterest nice period photograph :-
■■■■■■■ QSK Series of 19-Liters to 120-Liters 800 BHP to 5000 BHP - 597-3728 kW Diesel Engines For Automotive,Marine,Rail And Industrial Use.
Kenworth C540,■■■■■■■ OSK 19-Litres 605 LTA 650 BHP 2250 LBS-FT Torque Diesel Engined,6x4 Tractive Unit.Most powerful QSK to date is QSK120 120 Litres V20-Cylinder 5000 BHP - 3728 KW Railway Locomotive Diesel Engine:-
Bedford QL 3-Ton 4x4 Military Lorry Of World War Two.It had all sorts of roles in the British services:Troop and Freight Carrier,Radio-Wireless
Van,Gun Portee,Aeroplane Refueller,Fire Engine,etc.etc.
Bedford QL,3-Ton,Tanker-Bodied,4x4 Aeroplane-Aircraft Refueller Lorry of the Royal Air Force,ESU 721.RAF 99284:-
AEC Q Revolutionary Right Hand Side Petrol & Diesel-Engined Single and Double Decker Motorcoaches and Buses - And Side Electric Motor Trolleybuses
In the 1930s in Britain at least virtually all internal combustion engined motorcoaches and buses were either normal control with bonnets,or
forward control in half cab full canopy or half canopy or full front form,fitted with fronted-mounted engines in all cases.Electric trolleybuses
were usually full fronted,though some had styling that mimicked half cab buses complete with dummy radiators.
In the mid to late 1930s both Leyland and the Birmingham & Midland Omnibus Company - Midland Red each built rear-engined buses.Leyland,Tilling-Stevens and Northern General Transport also built underfloor-engined buses and motorcoaches.
AEC and Northern General Transport each built side engined motorcoaches and buses,too
But the most famous of these unconventional motorcoaches and buses is almost certainly the AEC Q side-engined model 
Both in single decker
and double decker form with their idiomatic smooth full fronted styling,they looked like trolleybuses! 
Furthermore,compared to
the normal conventional motorcoaches and buses of the period,they looked ultra-modern and futuristic!
The AEC Q in all of it’s versions was, unfortunately,a commercial flop:The conventional half cab and full front front-engined single decker
and double decker motorcoaches and buses continued to rule the motorcoach and bus world in the United Kingdom until after World War Two.
Then underfloor-engined single decker motorcoaches and buses became very popular from the 1950s onwards,then came the revolutionary rear-
engined Leyland Atlantean Double Decker Bus,followed by the rear-engined Daimler Fleetline and Bristol VRT,all of which gradually made the
conventional front-engined double decker bus obsolete.
The AEC Q was introduced in 1932 and was obviously unorthodox and ahead of it’s time.Production stopped in 1937.
AEC Q 761/O761 001 - 023 23 4x2 Double Decker Omnibuses. 23
AEC Q 761T 001 - 005 5 4x2 Double Decker Electric Trolleybuses. 5
AEC Q 762/O761 001 - 0336 336 4x2 Single Decker Motorcoaches & Buses.336. London Transport operated the majority of AEC Q single deckers.
AEC Q O763 001 1 6x4 Double Decker Omnibus. 1
AEC Q Total Production: 365.
AEC Q 761017/Weymann H29/27C Double Decker Omnibus,Body No.M49,BPJ 224,Surrey,August 1934.London Transport Q5.Petrol-engined:-
AEC Q 761T001,Right Side Mounted - English English EE405 80 BHP Electric Motor-Powered/English Electric H33/30F Double Decker Trolleybus,KY 6210,Bradford,Friday,2nd February,1934.Prototype,then Bradford 633.Became South Shields C.T. 235,Monday,19th January,1942:-
Strong contrast in the appearances of a typical and beautiful 1930s front-engined,half cab,full canopy single decker motorcoach of 1934 -
an AEC Regal - and an ultra-modern,futuristic and beautiful AEC Q motorcoach of 1933 QV photographs.
This particular AEC Regal has a long and rich history,which started in the famous seaside holiday resort,and Mecca Of Motorcoaches! ,
Blackpool .This is very similar to the AEC Regal in that AEC Regal Motorcoach advertisement that I documented in my previous post in
this thread It was operated by the Grand Edwardian Touring Company,owned by Clive Screeton,from 1992 to around 2000,then
Wild Rose operated the Regal and was auctioned off at a Bonhams sale at the National Motor Museum to it’s present owner in 2016 :-
AEC Regal O6621547/1933 Leyland C18R Motorcoach,FV 4548,Blackpool,March 1934.New to W.Salisbury & Sons,Blackpool.Body rebuilt by Lawton Motor Body Co in 2006.Preserved by Stephen Morris Quantock Heritage,Taunton,Somerset.It was originally petrol-engined,had a Beadle C32R body,
No.366,was rebodied with it’s present 1933 ex-Ribble Leyland Tiger TS motorcoach body and fitted with an AEC A173 Direct Injection Diesel-Oil Engine:-
AEC Q 762005,Right Side AEC A167 or A169 High Power 7.4-Litres Petrol-Engined/Duple C33C Motorcoach,Body No.3666,LJ 8001,Bournemouth,July 1933.Royal Blue Motorcoaches,Elliott Brothers,Bournemouth.Beautiful :-
I was going to post four more photographs - two more AEC Q’s - and two American motor trucks,but you are limited to posting ten
attachments-photographs per post…just in case some people didn’t know… Because I certainly didn’t until now…
VALKYRIE