• The end of an era?
Page 12
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Friday November 19 saw quite an historic occasion when Lord Stokes, chairman and managing director of British Leyland, formally handed over to Sir Richard Way, chairman of London Transport Executive, an AEC Swift chassis to mark the 60-year association of the two organizations. The association stemmed from the London General Omnibus Co which in 1911 built the first standardized B-type bus for use in London.
In 1912 AEC was formed as a subsidiary of LGOC —London Transport's predecessor — and to date has built almost 2.5,000 buses for use by London Transport. With the widespread plans for introducing one-man operation throughout London's bus fleet, the emphasis from 1966 was on singledecker chassis of the rear-underfloor-engined type, and some 780 Swifts and 660 Merlins (the 33ft Swift's 36ft predecessor) have been built.
With the accent swinging to o-m-o doubledeckers for city work, and the absence of a suitable double-decker chassis in the AEC range, the long association with AEC seems bound to end, and it is another member of British Leyland — Daimler Transport Vehicles Ltd — currently delivering some 0.5m-worth of Fleetline double-deckers to LT — which can now take up AEC's former proud claim, "Builders of London's buses".
Right: Pvc-trimmed seats present a very different appearance to the interior of the Leyland National, compared with the model seen at Earls Court last year.
Left: The last AEC for London Transport? This AEC Swift, handed over to LT on November 19, will receive an SMS-type body similar to the Park Royal-bodied bus behind it, though built by Metro-Cammell Weymann, which has bodied most of London's modern single-deck buses. Park Royal is sharing the body contract for the new Daimler Londoner double-deckers with MCW; they will build 1247 and 720 bodies, respectively.