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  • Timeline

The bus section

AROnline

Events : Leyland National 51 gathering, Whitehaven 29-30 April

5 April 2023 Mike Humble 1

After the successful Leyland National 50 (LN50) event at Whitehaven organised by the Workington Transport Heritage Trust (WTHT) in 2022, the group is at it again. For the Bank Holiday […]

AROnline

News : A DVD project of National pride – can you help?

9 January 2022 Mike Humble 8

This year, 2022 of course, marks the 50th anniversary of the Leyland National. Those of us of a certain vintage will be gazing at the screen in disbelief wondering where […]

Buses

The Bus Section : Leyland Bus – 20 years since closure

10 July 2013 Mike Humble 48

Mike Humble While ploughing through my extensive archive of all things bus and coach just now, I was staggered to notice that, 20 years ago this month, in July 1993 […]

Buses

Essay : Not their finest hour – Guy Wulfrunian

1 May 2013 Mike Humble 36

Mike Humble From personal experience, there is no customer more difficult to trade with or educate for that matter than a Bus or Coach operator. Your average road haulier for […]

Not Their Finest Hour

Essay : Not their finest hour – Ward Bros & ACE Ltd

19 April 2013 Mike Humble 16

Mike Humble Ward Brothers of Lepton near Huddersfield at one point ran a medium sized coach business operating a mixed range of services including Continental holidays. To say their choice […]

Buses

Buses : Daimler and Leyland Fleetline 1960 to 1980

6 March 2013 Mike Humble 18

Mike Humble Coventry’s local hero Daimler had a long and respected image in the eyes and hearts of many a transport manager as a builder of rock solid and cost […]

AROnline

The Bus Section : Leyland Atlantean

4 March 2013 Mike Humble 64

Mike Humble Atlantean: bearing the weight of the world Should you be of a certain age, a bus still rustles up a mental picture of something big and noisy with […]

AROnline News

News : Ashok Leyland to open R&D facility in the UK

23 February 2013 Mike Humble 28

Mike Humble/Bus and Coach magazine Ashok Leyland, the owner of Optare, is to open a Research and Development Centre at the MIRA Technology Park in Nuneaton, creating 30 jobs. The decision […]

AROnline News

News : Optare doubles revenue and reduces losses

20 December 2012 Mike Humble 23

  Optare sales revenue doubled in the six months to 30 September from £22.7m last year to £46.7m this year. In the six months the company reduced its pre-tax losses […]

Best of British

Best of British : Gardner 6LX diesel engine

17 September 2012 Mike Humble 78

Mike Humble Ask many a seasoned truck or bus engineer the simple question ‘who made the best large diesel engine?’ and more than likely the answer without delay would be […]

Jaguar

Essay : Not their finest hour – Daimler Roadliner, the Lyons-made blunder bus

13 August 2012 Mike Humble 24

Daimler tries things new: The Daimler motor company had a rich and respected past of which many people, including bus operators, had an enviable loyalty. William Lyons was almost held […]

AROnline

Buses: The Bristol VRT & VRL – 1967 to 1981

11 August 2012 Mike Humble 27

Mike Humble:   One of the many companies within the old British Leyland empire involved with public transport, was Bristol Commercial Vehicles with its headquarters in the suburb of Brislington, […]

Leyland

Essays : Leyland Bus – the declining years

9 August 2012 Mike Humble 31

It’s 20 years since Volvo delivered three killer blows to our motoring industry: 1992 saw the end of Leyland Lynx and Tiger production with total closure being announced for the […]

AROnline

Essay : Not their finest hour – Leyland Royal Tiger Doyen

5 February 2012 Mike Humble 23

AROnline takes a look at some of the automotive blunders from both our own and rival makes. Your Driver: Mike Humble This one really deserved to win, even after 30 […]

AROnline

Essay : Not Their Finest Hour – Leyland Titan B15

22 January 2012 Mike Humble 23

Mike Humble: AROnline hops on a bus that was destined for Shattered Dreams Parkway, only to find it was actually quite good yet was a victim of it’s own technology, […]

AROnline

Buses : Leyland Leopard 1959-1982

11 January 2012 Mike Humble 31

Mike Humble fondly recalls the halcyon days of the UK bus and coaching scene from the 1970s, and pays tribute to the Leyland Leopard. For me, its all about the […]

AROnline News

News : Ashok Leyland Takes Control Of Optare

6 January 2012 Mike Humble 41

 The once former body building plant of C.H Roe in the BL era which became Optare after a Management buy out, has now passed into Indian control… with a familiar […]

BMC, Leyland and Rover engines

Essays : The 500-Series – Leyland loses its head!

10 October 2011 Mike Humble 51

The 500 Series diesel cost Leyland a packet – and not just in development costs. Mike Humble tells the story of this ‘interesting’ engine Fixed head asset CONTRARY to modern […]

The Optare Solo EcoDrive - A hoot to drive
The bus section

Tested : Optare Solo Eco-Drive

24 September 2011 Mike Humble 13

Mike Humble goes On The Buses, dons his drivers cap and brushes up on his Phwoars and Cor Blimey’s whilst getting behind the wheel of the latest bus built in the plant which […]

The bus section

Buses : MCW/Optare Metrorider – a bus right on time!

10 May 2011 Mike Humble 13

In a quiet part of Birmingham, MCW developed a midibus which was almost exactly what the market required in a post deregulation market. Dogged by early dismal quality, it became the […]

The bus section

Buses : Leyland Olympian – Rationalisation in action

9 May 2011 Mike Humble 10

Mike Humble British Leyland pretty much had the UK bus and coach market sewn up from the late 1970s – certainly as far as double-decker vehicles were concerned. The big […]

Opinion

Buses : The Lynx effect

4 May 2011 Mike Humble 34

Replacing a bus like the Leyland National was always going to be a tough job. In the end, the National was a trusted, rugged product and a hard act to […]

Opinion

Buses : Leyland Tiger 20 years on!

29 April 2011 Mike Humble 59

Leyland’s last coach chassis, the Tiger – the company’s successor to the legendary Leopard – went out of production 20 years ago this year. The Tiger was also the last ‘heavyweight’ British coach […]

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Opinion

Essays : Selling the brand

18 November 2023 67

Was it really so bad selling Rovers? Ever since I was old enough to remember, I have always been passionate about anything that moves in the air or on road […]

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Archive (1959-2019)

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