ERF-NGC-European:
Ozzie Atkinsons in Melbourne. Robert
Nice pic chap ! 
Heres a few more,click on pages twice to read.
Hi Chris, This is Scout S3 in 1963 when just 2 years old, already painted in Ribble Deep Red,
but still fitted with its original Route Number/Destination equipment. I did almost 2 years
with Ribble from early 1968, but decided to go back driving lorries, and joined Robert Baillie
Transport of Portsmouth, based at their Wigan depot, unfortunately, I did not qualify for an
HGV Licence on Grandfather Rights, having done a few years on big lorries before joining Ribble.
During 1970 Baillies sent me to Lancing in Sussex to take my HGV Class 1 test, passed it OK.
One of my favourite machines to drive at Ribble was 899, ECK 899E, a Leyland Leopard with
bus bodywork, but fitted with coach seats and a luggage boot at the rear. I would love to find
a picture of it. Kind Regards, Ray Smyth.
DEANB:
Here’s a few more,click on pages twice to read.
Interesting article, but he’s rather confused between Reinforced Plastics and Delta cabs: despite the captions, none of the photos shown are actually Delta cabs.
This is a Delta cab:
Atkinson by Stuart Birkin, on Flickr
Delta cab by Peter Lynch, on Flickr
I was going to say how well-researched I thought the article was, until I read 240’s post 
.
Against my own assumptions, GB makes were still popular in Oz in 1975. Although locally built Volvos and KWs were the market leaders, there was still a significant number of Atkis and Leylands finding customers.
Ray Smyth:
Hi Chris, This is Scout S3 in 1963 when just 2 years old, already painted in Ribble Deep Red,
but still fitted with its original Route Number/Destination equipment. I did almost 2 years
with Ribble from early 1968, but decided to go back driving lorries, and joined Robert Baillie
Transport of Portsmouth, based at their Wigan depot, unfortunately, I did not qualify for an
HGV Licence on Grandfather Rights, having done a few years on big lorries before joining Ribble.
During 1970 Baillies sent me to Lancing in Sussex to take my HGV Class 1 test, passed it OK.
One of my favourite machines to drive at Ribble was 899, ECK 899E, a Leyland Leopard with
bus bodywork, but fitted with coach seats and a luggage boot at the rear. I would love to find
a picture of it. Kind Regards, Ray Smyth.
Hmmm struggling there, Ray… but here’s the next best thing!
240 Gardner:
Ray Smyth:
Hi Chris, This is Scout S3 in 1963 when just 2 years old, already painted in Ribble Deep Red,
but still fitted with its original Route Number/Destination equipment. I did almost 2 years
with Ribble from early 1968, but decided to go back driving lorries, and joined Robert Baillie
Transport of Portsmouth, based at their Wigan depot, unfortunately, I did not qualify for an
HGV Licence on Grandfather Rights, having done a few years on big lorries before joining Ribble.
During 1970 Baillies sent me to Lancing in Sussex to take my HGV Class 1 test, passed it OK.
One of my favourite machines to drive at Ribble was 899, ECK 899E, a Leyland Leopard with
bus bodywork, but fitted with coach seats and a luggage boot at the rear. I would love to find
a picture of it. Kind Regards, Ray Smyth.Hmmm struggling there, Ray… but here’s the next best thing!
Hi Chris, What a great picture, many thanks. I don’t fully understand Flickr, am I allowed
to “Borrow” the picture for my laptop personal file ? Kind Regards, Ray.
Ray Smyth:
Hi Chris, What a great picture, many thanks. I don’t fully understand Flickr, am I allowed
to “Borrow” the picture for my laptop personal file ? Kind Regards, Ray.
You may download Flickr pics for your own collection, if the user has allowed it. There is a Download button below and to the right of the pic. It looks like the diagram on every tenth bottle of beer .
Ray Smyth:
240 Gardner:
Ray Smyth:
Hi Chris, This is Scout S3 in 1963 when just 2 years old, already painted in Ribble Deep Red,
but still fitted with its original Route Number/Destination equipment. I did almost 2 years
with Ribble from early 1968, but decided to go back driving lorries, and joined Robert Baillie
Transport of Portsmouth, based at their Wigan depot, unfortunately, I did not qualify for an
HGV Licence on Grandfather Rights, having done a few years on big lorries before joining Ribble.
During 1970 Baillies sent me to Lancing in Sussex to take my HGV Class 1 test, passed it OK.
One of my favourite machines to drive at Ribble was 899, ECK 899E, a Leyland Leopard with
bus bodywork, but fitted with coach seats and a luggage boot at the rear. I would love to find
a picture of it. Kind Regards, Ray Smyth.Hmmm struggling there, Ray… but here’s the next best thing!
Hi Chris, What a great picture, many thanks. I don’t fully understand Flickr, am I allowed
to “Borrow” the picture for my laptop personal file ? Kind Regards, Ray.
You’re welcome, Ray.
I was born and brought up in Frenchwood, where everything was dominated by Ribble - the boundary wall of the primary school playground was the gable end of the Ribble Central Workshops, with the paint shop opposite, so it’s all very nostalgic for me, but without being a bus nutter!
Much more important is that I was born within sight of the Atkinson factory! 
Ref Flickr images, I do download them where settings allow (downloading can be blocked), but when I want others to see them, I post the link rather than the photo, so that you can see who “owns” the photo, plus any caption and discussion thread accompanying it. Again, some contributors use settings to prevent sharing via links
This is an Australian AEC Mustang similar to one Spardo spotted in Darwin many moons ago,it was a leyland Comet LAD cab and chassis with AEC engine gear box and rear axle,I understand only 29 were built and offered for sale.
Dig
DIG …there was also one down were at Lisarow on the NSW central coast … it was also a cattle float I took some photos years ago sent them to the AEC Society in the UK but over time lost the negatives ( bummer!!) It had MUSTANG across the front when I first saw it in the paddock I thought it was Leyland Comet I think it may be in the gallery of the AEC Society any way good pic
backsplice:
DIG …there was also one down were at Lisarow on the NSW central coast … it was also a cattle float I took some photos years ago sent them to the AEC Society in the UK but over time lost the negatives ( bummer!!) It had MUSTANG across the front when I first saw it in the paddock I thought it was Leyland Comet I think it may be in the gallery of the AEC Society any way good pic
Yes, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it and I think you can see the Mustang name in between the 2 parts of the grill.
My memory is hazy but I think it was pulling more than one trailer.
gingerfold:
Over the years I have had quite a few photos sent to me by enthusiasts from Australia and New Zealand. Predominantly they have been Leylands and AECs, but I no longer have the AEC photos, but I can post the Leyland photos. With the “bad press” Leyland has had from some contributors on TN some people could be forgiven for thinking that there was never anything any good about British lorries. It’s worth correcting that misunderstanding by reminding some that Leyland was a huge exporter in its time.
Quite so, and it wasn’t just lorries - Oz, NZ and SA imported lots of Leyland bus/ coach chassis over the decades, right up until the late 70’s. The Atlantean (rear-engine double decker, usually with an O.680) has been mentioned already (Sydney had a few), but before that were the Leyland Royal Tiger/ Worldmaster (see this for example), not to mention the Leopard (Sydney Urban Transport Corp alone took over 740 0.600 powered single deckers, like this one). Going back even further, Australia bought the Leyland PD2 (aka the Titan); there’s a few in preservation and one was recently re-imported back to the UK (see transportimages.com/buses/bu … #h12791514).
Come the mid- to late-70’s, however, things started to come apart. NZ wanted the Bristol RE chassis (one of the best British bus chassis ever developed) but Leyland (who by now owned Bristol buses) would only supply the RE with the 0.500 series engine and NZ - reluctantly - had to accept. Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because Leyland was equally as intransigent in Straya, Sydney UTA walked away from Leyland altogether (I’m told that support from Leyland Truck & Bus to its major clients in Oz/ NZ/ SA/ HK/ Singapore had all but evaporated by the mid-70s anyway), and instead went and bought the M-B O.305 - eventually Sydney UTA/ STA (and later, State Transit) became the biggest export market for the O.305 outside Europe, buying well over 1,300 of them (in no small part due to the almost bomb-proof M-B chassis and drivetrain). Other cities in Oz, NZ and SA, and big city fleets in HK and Singapore (all big Leyland buyers) took the O.305 and its step-sister the MAN SL200 in huge numbers, and it’s no surprise that all of these major operators went on to buy the MB O.405, MAN SL202 and … whaddaya know, B9R and B7R Volvos, Scanias, M-B and MAN CNG buses are everywhere in SE Asia, Oz, NZ, SA.
I apologise for rambling on a bit (and probably being inaccurate, I’m not an expert on buses after all), but I think it’s worthwhile that us wagon drivers remember that Leyland’s success (and eventual failure) in global commercial vehicle markets was to a significant extent due to how well its passenger vehicle chassis sold. If big, overseas bus fleet buyers (like Sydney Corp/ UTA/ STA, Hong Kong, Singapore) who’d been loyal to Leyland for years (decades, even) were given the choice of a short straw or no straw at all in the 70’s, is it any surprise that Leyland truck sales in Oz and elsewhere in SE Asia fell over?
ParkRoyal2100:
gingerfold:
Over the years I have had quite a few photos sent to me by enthusiasts from Australia and New Zealand. Predominantly they have been Leylands and AECs, but I no longer have the AEC photos, but I can post the Leyland photos. With the “bad press” Leyland has had from some contributors on TN some people could be forgiven for thinking that there was never anything any good about British lorries. It’s worth correcting that misunderstanding by reminding some that Leyland was a huge exporter in its time.Quite so, and it wasn’t just lorries - Oz, NZ and SA imported lots of Leyland bus/ coach chassis over the decades, right up until the late 70’s. The Atlantean (rear-engine double decker, usually with an O.680) has been mentioned already (Sydney had a few), but before that were the Leyland Royal Tiger/ Worldmaster (see this for example), not to mention the Leopard (Sydney Urban Transport Corp alone took over 740 0.600 powered single deckers, like [url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/1974_Leyland_Leopard_Bus_-_NSW_State_Transit_(21213595333).jpg/1280px-1974_Leyland_Leopard_Bus_-_NSW_State_Transit_(21213595333).jpgurl this one[/url]). Going back even further, Australia bought the Leyland PD2 (aka the Titan); there’s a few in preservation and one was recently re-imported back to the UK (see transportimages.com/buses/bu … #h12791514).
Come the mid- to late-70’s, however, things started to come apart. NZ wanted the Bristol RE chassis (one of the best British bus chassis ever developed) but Leyland (who by now owned Bristol buses) would only supply the RE with the 0.500 series engine and NZ - reluctantly - had to accept. Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because Leyland was equally as intransigent in Straya, Sydney UTA walked away from Leyland altogether (I’m told that support from Leyland Truck & Bus to its major clients in Oz/ NZ/ SA/ HK/ Singapore had all but evaporated by the mid-70s anyway), and instead went and bought the M-B O.305 - eventually Sydney UTA/ STA (and later, State Transit) became the biggest export market for the O.305 outside Europe, buying well over 1,300 of them (in no small part due to the almost bomb-proof M-B chassis and drivetrain). Other cities in Oz, NZ and SA, and big city fleets in HK and Singapore (all big Leyland buyers) took the O.305 and its step-sister the MAN SL200 in huge numbers, and it’s no surprise that all of these major operators went on to buy the MB O.405, MAN SL202 and … whaddaya know, B9R and B7R Volvos, Scanias, M-B and MAN CNG buses are everywhere in SE Asia, Oz, NZ, SA.
I apologise for rambling on a bit (and probably being inaccurate, I’m not an expert on buses after all), but I think it’s worthwhile that us wagon drivers remember that Leyland’s success (and eventual failure) in global commercial vehicle markets was to a significant extent due to how well its passenger vehicle chassis sold. If big, overseas bus fleet buyers (like Sydney Corp/ UTA/ STA, Hong Kong, Singapore) who’d been loyal to Leyland for years (decades, even) were given the choice of a short straw or no straw at all in the 70’s, is it any surprise that Leyland truck sales in Oz and elsewhere in SE Asia fell over?
Kèep these posts coming they are very interesting , what was it about the Bristol RE chassis that set it apart from the rest. It sounds very Leyland that they wouldnt meet the customers requirements
My Dad’s Merc running Melbourne(Australia)Wharves in the 80’s-made his money with this old reliable truck.(OK I know it isn’t UK Build,but Euro Trucks close enough?)
My Mothers Bedford,1960’s in Colac (Victoria Australia) with my Uncle loading the tipper.My Grandfather owned a Road Building Company.
ramone:
what was it about the Bristol RE chassis that set it apart from the rest.
As I wrote above, I’m an interested amateur when it comes buses, so if anyone has better knowledge, by all means chime in.
The RE (designed and built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles) was the first successful rear-underfloor engined bus; though it went into service in the early 60’s, sales took off from the late 60’s onward. Because it was essentially body-on-chassis, operators had a range of chassis options they could specify, from short-wheelbase high-floor (RESH) to long-wheelbase low floor (RELL) to maximum wheelbase high-floor (REMH) and operators could mix ‘n’ match specs. Same with the running gear - short, medium or long final drive; manual box or the standard 4-speed SCG; Gardner 6HLX or O.680 Leyland. There were numerous bodybuilders (some bus only, some coach only, many could do both) from the most popular (ECW) to Northern Counties to Alexander to Duple to Plaxton (and Hess and Hawke in NZ). RE’s were common all around Britain and Ireland as as single-decker buses, coaches and DP (dual-purpose) buses - i.e. bus bodies with uprated seats, luggage racks, high final-drive - if you wanted something smaller/ narrower, Bristol offered the LH (again with options as to length/ width/ body) and if you needed to move more people then there was the VR double-decker and its predecessors (Lodekka, K-series…).
As far as I can tell, in operation the RE was fairly robust (drivers abusing the SCG box aside); the drivetrain was advanced but not excessively complex for a competent service team to keep running (Gardner 6HLX and Leyland’s O.680 were commonplace to any diesel fitter), and there were parts on tap. Production stopped in 1981 or so (more on that shortly) but it says something about the reputation of the RE that municipals in New Zealand wanted to buy them.
It sounds very Leyland that they wouldnt meet the customers requirements
-
Leyland (the truck maker) had a 25% stake in BCV back in the mid-late 60s. By 1972, Leyland (under BL) had bought out BCV.
-
From 1972 on, the RE had a direct competitor in UK markets - none other than the Leyland National, which was developed jointly by the (then new) government-owned National Bus Company and … guess who?.. the government-owned BL. I’m sure the timing of the takeover of Bristol by BL was entirely coincidence. Which heavy-duty bus platform do you think Leyland would promote? (answers on a postcard to Bristol Commercial Vehicles, Brislington, Bristol BS4).
Aside from the row and the upset that the incorporation of many long-established bus companies into the NBC caused, the NBC made it pretty clear that it would much prefer it if the likes of Southdown, Ribble, Midland Red, et al. took the National over the RE. One big problem was that the “latest and greatest” from Workington wasn’t what many subsidiaries wanted, let alone what those operators outside NBC wanted. For a start, it came in one form - the 11.3m single-decker as assembled. No choice of chassis length, no choice of floor height. No choice of drive-train either - you took it with the O.510 or you got nowt, unless of course, you wanted to be difficult and specify the RE (with a Gardner, if you really wanted to be recalcitrant).
But all that is domestic market hullaballoo. Let’s say you were a major municipal operator in The Colonies and you wanted a reliable, reputable British bus chassis (the Bristol RE), but Leyland (via BL) is so determined to flog the National that it’s prepared to forego hundreds and thousands of overseas orders. Well, NZ took the RE chassis upon BL’s insistence that they came with the Headless Wonder (the O.510). Other, smaller operators took the 10.9m National (the only version BL offered) in limited numbers and then went elsewhere. Yet other, much bigger operators (Sydney, HK, Singapore) told Leyland where to shove the Workington Wonder and went on to buy thousands upon thousands of M-B O305s, MAN SL2-- series, Volvo B58/ B10B/B10M chassis from manfacturers who were willing to listen to their customers and supply them with something they wanted.
The Leyland National did, however, have some intelligent features - it was the first British integral and modular design, so that components could be swapped/ exchanged much easier than a traditional body-on-chassis design. The problem (again, this is all my amateur opinion) with the National is that it took Leyland years to release a shorter-wheelbase (10.3m) equivalent to the RESL/ RESH, years to sort out the vague steering and none of its customers ever really got on with the O.510. The big irony is that Leyland did (eventually) address many of the valid criticisms of the original National in the Mk2, released in the early 80s (just as BCV was shutting down). The Mk2 steered better, the heating worked, the rear weight bias was ameliorated and - biggest deal of all - they came with a choice of engines: 0.680, 6HLXB, even the TL11. A rear-underfloor engined Leyland bus platform with some options - where have we heard that idea before? Oh, yes: the Bristol RE.
ParkRoyal2100:
ramone:
what was it about the Bristol RE chassis that set it apart from the rest.As I wrote above, I’m an interested amateur when it comes buses, so if anyone has better knowledge, by all means chime in.
The RE (designed and built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles) was the first successful rear-underfloor engined bus; though it went into service in the early 60’s, sales took off from the late 60’s onward. Because it was essentially body-on-chassis, operators had a range of chassis options they could specify, from short-wheelbase high-floor (RESH) to long-wheelbase low floor (RELL) to maximum wheelbase high-floor (REMH) and operators could mix ‘n’ match specs. Same with the running gear - short, medium or long final drive; manual box or the standard 4-speed SCG; Gardner 6HLX or O.680 Leyland. There were numerous bodybuilders (some bus only, some coach only, many could do both) from the most popular (ECW) to Northern Counties to Alexander to Duple to Plaxton (and Hess and Hawke in NZ). RE’s were common all around Britain and Ireland as as single-decker buses, coaches and DP (dual-purpose) buses - i.e. bus bodies with uprated seats, luggage racks, high final-drive - if you wanted something smaller/ narrower, Bristol offered the LH (again with options as to length/ width/ body) and if you needed to move more people then there was the VR double-decker and its predecessors (Lodekka, K-series…).
As far as I can tell, in operation the RE was fairly robust (drivers abusing the SCG box aside); the drivetrain was advanced but not excessively complex for a competent service team to keep running (Gardner 6HLX and Leyland’s O.680 were commonplace to any diesel fitter), and there were parts on tap. Production stopped in 1981 or so (more on that shortly) but it says something about the reputation of the RE that municipals in New Zealand wanted to buy them.
It sounds very Leyland that they wouldnt meet the customers requirements
Leyland (the truck maker) had a 25% stake in BCV back in the mid-late 60s. By 1972, Leyland (under BL) had bought out BCV.
From 1972 on, the RE had a direct competitor in UK markets - none other than the Leyland National, which was developed jointly by the (then new) government-owned National Bus Company and … guess who?.. the government-owned BL. I’m sure the timing of the takeover of Bristol by BL was entirely coincidence. Which heavy-duty bus platform do you think Leyland would promote? (answers on a postcard to Bristol Commercial Vehicles, Brislington, Bristol BS4).
Aside from the row and the upset that the incorporation of many long-established bus companies into the NBC caused, the NBC made it pretty clear that it would much prefer it if the likes of Southdown, Ribble, Midland Red, et al. took the National over the RE. One big problem was that the “latest and greatest” from Workington wasn’t what many subsidiaries wanted, let alone what those operators outside NBC wanted. For a start, it came in one form - the 11.3m single-decker as assembled. No choice of chassis length, no choice of floor height. No choice of drive-train either - you took it with the O.510 or you got nowt, unless of course, you wanted to be difficult and specify the RE (with a Gardner, if you really wanted to be recalcitrant).
But all that is domestic market hullaballoo. Let’s say you were a major municipal operator in The Colonies and you wanted a reliable, reputable British bus chassis (the Bristol RE), but Leyland (via BL) is so determined to flog the National that it’s prepared to forego hundreds and thousands of overseas orders. Well, NZ took the RE chassis upon BL’s insistence that they came with the Headless Wonder (the O.510). Other, smaller operators took the 10.9m National (the only version BL offered) in limited numbers and then went elsewhere. Yet other, much bigger operators (Sydney, HK, Singapore) told Leyland where to shove the Workington Wonder and went on to buy thousands upon thousands of M-B O305s, MAN SL2-- series, Volvo B58/ B10B/B10M chassis from manfacturers who were willing to listen to their customers and supply them with something they wanted.
The Leyland National did, however, have some intelligent features - it was the first British integral and modular design, so that components could be swapped/ exchanged much easier than a traditional body-on-chassis design. The problem (again, this is all my amateur opinion) with the National is that it took Leyland years to release a shorter-wheelbase (10.3m) equivalent to the RESL/ RESH, years to sort out the vague steering and none of its customers ever really got on with the O.510. The big irony is that Leyland did (eventually) address many of the valid criticisms of the original National in the Mk2, released in the early 80s (just as BCV was shutting down). The Mk2 steered better, the heating worked, the rear weight bias was ameliorated and - biggest deal of all - they came with a choice of engines: 0.680, 6HLXB, even the TL11. A rear-underfloor engined Leyland bus platform with some options - where have we heard that idea before? Oh, yes: the Bristol RE.
Sounds very familiar
A 1969 Commer still at work in 2011 - it had a lazy axle, a RR box and a CAT of some sort in place of the original engine but it was still earning its keep.
From 2011 again, this was (is?) a proper Delta-cabbed lorry, an ex-Aboods Foden that came with an 8LXB but now has a Rolls 340 in it (presumably with the usual RR/ Rockwell drivetrain). Last I heard it was a poofteenth from being back on the road again.
These two old ducks are/ were late 50s’ early 60s Fodens with Gardner 6LX’s - fate unknown as of 2011. When I first posted these some years back on another thread, it was speculated that they were ex-Gascoygnes (WA), but it turned out that lots of Fodens of that era in Oz had dog-box sleepers and red/ white paintwork.