British Classic Buses in New Zealand - (Page 1)
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Last updated 23 January 2013
In recent years I have received quite a bit of material about buses of British origin in New Zealand, so here are some pages to display some of it. Please feel free to send any suitable items and I will be happy to post them. The latest material is posted on this page (Page One). New Zealand buses Page Two is here and Page Three is here.
There are some New Zealand bus links at the foot of this page.
NZ RAILWAY BEDFORDS
Peter Anderson took quite a few photographs of NZ buses around 1978, and here are some of them, concentrating on the huge fleet of New Zealand Railways Road Services Bedford SB buses. This picture shows No.3473 (DU 9979) in use between Ashburton and Timaru to transport personnel working on the railway tracks.
Here's the back of the same vehicle, showing an unusual boot door design!
Colour schemes for the New Zealand Motor Bodies coachwork changed over the years, and this looks to be No.4795 in an orange livery. It is seen outside the "Gladstone Tavern" - is that the one in Masterton?
Finally we have another livery, but unfortunately no clue to the identity of this bus. Thanks very much to Peter for sending the interesting collection of images.
AUCKLAND ROYAL TIGER IN GOOD SHAPE
Paul Pollard kindly sent me this picture. He says "It's a 1953 Leyland Royal Tiger OPSU1/1, originally Auckland Transport Board No.479. Still running sweet and legally roadworthy, it's now located in Motueka, New Zealand."
Thanks Paul. She looks good. Similar bus No.464 is at the MOTAT Museum in Auckland (see details on their website). They claim it's the only survivor, but now we know better...
RARE WORLDMASTER SAVED
At the beginning of 2010 Philip Murphy of Timaru found this 1966 Dunedin City Transport (DCT) Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster heading for the scrapheap, and wondered if it could be saved.
Between 1959 and 1968 Dunedin had 30 of these ERT1/1 buses with NZ Motor Bodies bodywork in various lengths and sizes. This is one of the last and largest versions, 35 feet long and seating 47. It may be the only one left. Philip called me to see if I could raise some interest in saving it, especially since finding somewhere to display it was proving a bit difficult.
But in late September 2010 Philip emailed again to say "Well the bus is now mine. It had unfortuately been sold for use as storage, but someone who knew I was after it, saw it in a field and told me. I was lucky enough to be offered it. It's going to get a quick service just to ensure it can move under its own power, and will then be shipped up to me in Timaru, where I guess I will spend MANY hours restoring it!"
Congratulations Philip, and I hope you'll both be very happy together. I also hope that we'll be kept informed of progress, and if anyone out there knows of any other examples (or can help with the restoration), please let me know.
YET MORE CONVERSIONS!
Mat Foster keeps sending me such fantastic pictures from around the campsites, and they really deserve posting here, so here is another selection from 2009. For starters, how about a twin-steer Daimler?
"That's not a Daimler!" I hear you cry, "It's a Bedford". But it IS a Daimler - mostly. It started out as a Saro-bodied Daimler Freeline, but was then fitted with twin-steer front axles from a Leyland Octopus and a Perkins V8. What a monster! It will be interesting to see how it looks when painted. The owners are apparently from Katikati.
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Just a quick break from Mat's collection for a moment, because I received the following email and photo from Deb and Ross Curtis in May 2010;
"We have just been browsing the net and came across this old photo of our bus taken just before we bought her. She was a dream started by Noel & Sharon Snow, but sold on to us to complete the job of getting her ready for the road. We live in 'Nudge' full time, currently based in Blenheim after spending in the summer in Cromwell. Needless to say we have had our moments with two major breakdowns in the 18 months we have been on the road, but at end of the day we love her."
Thanks a lot Deb and Ross. 'Nudge' looks in great shape, and I'm glad she's found some good owners.
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Back to Mat's collection again - and in contrast, below is an original twin-steer;
Yet another New Zealand Bedford VAL, and this one seems to be on the market. An attractive styling.
Rego AH 6694 is yet another Leyland Comet...
...and is this a Dodge? No. Shane Conway tells me it's a Ford V8.
"TIGER LILY" SHAPES UP
In 2003 Terry Bingham emailed me to say that he had just bought this Leyland Tiger, which he understood was built in 1950 and originated at Dunedin.
He said "My intentions are to restore this into a housebus for my own purposes. Its original motor and gearbox run well. It was registered in New Zealand first in 1950 as DK3253, chassis number 494337. The timber cab frame appears to be made of ash. I'm currently restoring the cab and dashboard, and need to locate an original clock - and also the front cab sidelight is rotten, can you help locate one?"
I asked around for further information, and John Murphy told me "The picture of the bus converted to a motor caravan is a Leyland Tiger OPS3. It was new in 1950 to Dunedin City Council Transport (DCCT) as No.50 and had DCCT bodywork, B34/17D. It was one of two (49 & 50), which were unique in that the rear passenger entrance was forward of the rear wheel arch. No.49 also still exists as far as I know. DCCT had 11 OPS1, 1 OPS2 and 2 OPS3, all half cabs, put into service 1947-50." He explained that "B34/17D" refers to a vehicle licenced to carry 34 seated and 17 standing passengers.
Well, take a look at "Tiger Lily" now! In March 2009 Terry wrote "I have done a lot of work on the halfcab. As you can see I have re-roofed it and I have almost finished re-panelling it. We semi live in it on our property in Tuahiwi. We only travel short distances because, as you can imagine, it takes forever to get anywhere." Thanks Terry. It's looking in great shape.
FINE BEDFORD APPROACHES ITS 50TH BIRTHDAY
Back in 2010 Steve Greaves of Coromandel Panelbeating and Towing sent me this picture of his grand old 1960 Bedford SB. Apparently it spent 25 years as Devonport Ferries bus #21, but now has an Isuzu 6BD1 turbo diesel engine and power steering. He says it's a lovely bus to drive. Thanks Steve - it looks terrific.
SOME QUICK LINKS WITHIN THIS WEBSITE; Home Email THE CLASSIC BUSES WEBSITE SHOP Events Diary Halfcab list Links Small-Ads Classic Irish Buses
OR CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE WEBSITE MENU
New Zealand buses Page Two is here and Page Three is here.
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