Non-Standard Nationals by Tim Moss

(Torque 26)

TIM MOSS DESCRIBES SOME UNUSUAL LEYLAND-NATIONALS

Some Leyland-Nationals that can only be described as ‘unique’ were constructed during the years when production was in full swing at the Lillyhall factory at Workington. Some examples are currently preserved, others went to the great bus depot in the sky long before the preservation of Nationals was considered acceptable, and some of the designs never even made it off the drawing board !

Due to its modular method of construction, the National yields itself very well to many applications. So much so that Greater Manchester Transport actually created a hybrid using two accident-damaged vehicles. Under the reign of the British Leyland empire, the method of manufacture led to proposed vehicles that were both interesting and very unusual, and in certain cases they were constructed. It is perhaps quite unfortunate that the political, social and industrial climate around which the National entered production and service led to a lower than expected volume of sales. In its heyday, the windswept Leyland National factory at Lillyhall only reached half of its intended production capacity. Events of the time, both internal and external, forced British Leyland to rethink the original intended standardisation and investigate capturing new markets in order to survive by maximising production capacity.  Initial designs indicated that the National was to be produced in three lengths: 10, 11 and 12 metres. However, a subsequent redesign following production of the first three prototypes (FPB 1-3) meant that these lengths were adjusted slightly. The International Union of Public Transport specified a minimum door width of 1,200 mm. The original plans did not conform to this specification and a redesign was necessary. Interestingly, the 12.3m variant was included and production jigs at Workington were set up for inclusion of an extra bay length. Despite this, no 12.3m example ever made it into production.

One of the first oddities off the production line was one of a batch of three Nationals used primarily as demonstrators. Chassis number 00153 was a left-hand drive, dual-door example. It had various body sections cut away to demonstrate the manufacturing techniques in detail. After being exhibited at a number of overseas exhibitions, it returned to the UK and was displayed at the 1972 Commercial Motor Show and later at the Leyland Truck and Bus Division’s headquarters for a number of months. On return to Workington, it was rebuilt as a dual-control driver training vehicle. The project got little further than the factory gates before being shelved. The PSV Circle records the vehicle as being dismantled during December 1978, but conflicting records indicate that the vehicle survived into the early 1980s at least. Recent information has come to light regarding Mechanical Development vehicle PP00008. This too was fitted with dual control equipment, presumably for R&D purposes. After disposal by Leyland, it languished for several years at the premises of J. Fishwick and Sons, before being finally dismantled.

Super Pointer National? Mini Pointer National? (with apologies to Plaxton…!)

In April 1973, the government organised ‘a major transport symposium’ at the Transport Research Laboratory in Crowthorne, Berkshire, referred to in many circles as the Crowthorne Symposium. Sketches were displayed at Crowthorne of 24-seat 6.7 and 12.8-metre long variants of the type, both being intended for airport use. Due to the modular system of construction, such configurations could have easily been produced using standard National components. The shortened vehicle contained four standard-length window bays. The physical constraints of such a short vehicle have been brought into question with respect to the siting of underfloor components. Despite this, Doug Jack in his book ‘Beyond Reality’ quite subjectively states; ‘A version of the shorter model was actually constructed, under great secrecy, but never saw the light of day’. Presumably, it was dismantled with the same degree of secrecy. In hindsight, it would be interesting to see if such a vehicle could be created today, if only for purposes of nostalgia. 

Leyland designated all non-standard Nationals as ‘Super Nationals’. Some of these made it into prototype production, but little more. The intention was for Leyland to construct the standard body shell and running units and the interior fittings would then be completed by external contractors.

The Super Nationals were designed with a specialist purpose in mind, as was the National that was to be equipped with two cabs for operation at the CEGB’s Dinorwig Hydro-electric Power Station in North Wales. The bus was to be fitted with a second rearward-facing driver’s position over the engine area with the emergency exit being retained. The bus would be able to be driven, with ease, within the network of narrow tunnels in the hollow mountain. A second option was to use a second front end with the curved windscreens albeit with sufficient access to the engine being retained. None of these designs made it off the drawing board, but an indication as to how this may have looked can be seen in the prototype Leyland Railbus LEV 1.

It is well-known that the idiosyncratic feature of a National is the pod. Some more modern vehicles have been known to attempt to imitate these classic lines. An unusually large pod was fitted to Super National UTJ 595M. Due to the limited underfloor space, the pod contained water tanks for the sink unit and Webasto water heater, and condensers and evaporators. This was the first of two Business Express Nationals (not to be confused with the Suburban Express National) and the first real spin-off from the standard production run. The vehicle was a design exercise aimed at capturing commuter markets and interesting the Department of Transport in “luxurious commuter coaches”. The interior was finished by an outside contractor, Clements of Bromsgrove, and featured a total of 22 seats. Eight were individual airline-style reclining seats where workstations were based. The remaining fourteen seats in the rear of the bus were grouped around tables in the raised rear section. It was also equipped with office equipment that included telephones and typewriters.

The idea behind the design was to lure business commuters from their cars due to increasing traffic congestion in major towns and cities. The bus would complete a circuit, collecting a group of executives each morning, alerting them of its imminent arrival via a paging system. Once all passengers had been collected, the coach would travel directly to a city centre, occupying less road space than twenty cars each carrying one individual. The cost was estimated to be comparable to that of a first class rail season ticket. The project was displayed at the Crowthorne Symposium for the relevant government dignitaries, but never really got off the ground as it failed to capture the political attention it required for it to succeed due to several reasons, notably the removal of custom from the  national rail network with which it competed. UTJ 595M was only ever used to carry senior Leyland officials and VIPs. It still survives and is in preservation with the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust at Gaydon in Warwickshire.

However, the true title of “Long Pod” belongs to DFV 641W, the unique ECW bodied National (mentioned in detail later). It  sported a Phase 1 style pod, in clerestory fashion along the entire length of its roof ! The ‘pod’ used some standard National components, but was not an original feature and was added after its sale from Leyland.

A second business commuter registered JMY 120N first appeared at the 1974 Earls Court Motor Show. This was another executive coach which first saw a period of experimental use before being sold to National Travel South East for further work. The same Motor Show also played host to another unorthodox National in the shape of the Leyland Lifeliner, the third such ‘Super National’ which was adorned with the registration LSN 3N. Originally built as part of an order for Midland Red, this vehicle was fitted out as part of a joint exercise between the Leyland National company and Avon County Council as an ambulance-cum-mobile incident unit. Mechanically, the vehicle was completely standard with the exception of the driver being able to independently control the suspension when operating over uneven terrain. Unfortunately, health authorities could not justify the additional costs of a vehicle that would have only limited use at the time of major incidents. The ambulance fittings were later removed and the bus was fitted out to standard format during July 1975 and entered service later the same year registered GOL 438N.

In 1974, the Department of the Environment commissioned Leyland and the National Bus Company to convert a standard bus to battery-operation, a project given the code B16. The sole 10.3m National in the Ribble fleet, 461 (OTF 354M), was chosen for the experiment and was equipped with a 360 volt traction motor with a continuous rating of 120 hp and regenerative braking equipment. In addition to this, a two-axle trailer was constructed by Dyson to carry seven tons of batteries (!). This gave the bus sufficient range to travel a distance of around fifty miles after being fully-charged for eight hours. Ironically the vehicle’s length of over 12 metres made it unable to travel on the public highway at that time. Chris Fenner of the Ribble Vehicle Preservation Trust has provided the following details on the vehicle’s history:

“461 was taken out of service around 20/2/1974 for battery electric conversion, its trailer did not appear until October 1974 and its first test was done on 20/2/75 on Samlesbury Airfield (I assume it got their under its own power). By 27/8/75 it had done 332 miles since conversion, but still had not been used in service. It went to Runcorn on 3/9/1975 having spent 80 weeks in central works.”

Owing to the length constraints, the vehicle was put into service with Crosville, numbered XEB461. It operated on the  Runcorn busway. The project was deemed to be a success, but the limited range of operation restricted further development work. This unique National was ultimately withdrawn by Crosville in February 1978 with the trailer reportedly returned to Ribble. The National was broken up to provide spares for other Nationals in the Crosville fleet before final disposal for scrap in late 1981.

To Russia with love

Not unusual in the way that this article is intended, but worthy of a mention for the sake of completeness, is the solitary National exported to Moscow. The National in question (c/n 05686) was sent in 1978 as a demonstration vehicle for the forthcoming 1980 Olympic Games. It was Leyland’s intention that Leyland-National production would commence in Russia, producing vast quantities of Nationals for transport in connection with the Olympic Games. In the end, the Russians decided on other buses and the proposed Leyland-National factory came to nothing. Given the time-scale, the vehicles would probably not have been built in time for the games anyway! The ‘Russian National’ later appeared in Ireland during the mid-1980s working for the oddly-titled Knock Shrine Society. The interim period, when international relations with Russia were tense to say the least are shrouded in mystery.  As a consequence, no information is readily available on this particular vehicle.

The integral structure of the National whereby the load was distributed through the pillars and roof of the vehicle indicated that it was near impossible to offer an alternative body  - Or was it ? The threat made by the National to overseas manufacturers and their local  economies explains one of the reasons why the vehicle did not sell in any great numbers overseas. Several batches of completely knocked down (ckd) examples were exported to Australia. These were actually constructed fully in Workington before being dismantled, packed into crates and shipped halfway around the globe so that they could be constructed for the second time!

A deviation from the National was the B21.  A Bristol model by default, it was built at the Brislington factory as Workington was unable to facilitate such chassis production. I suspect that this may be more politically motivated than anything else, bearing in mind that the Workington factory at its peak only attained half of its intended production capacity. The intention of the B21 was to capture export markets where the National failed to do so. In essence, the B21 was a National ‘chassis’, with the radiator mounted at the front  in conventional fashion (could this have been a prophecy of things to come?) A body was mated to the chassis by Leyland’s Australian subsidiary, the Pressed Metal Corporation, the distinctive National 1 headlamp surrounds were sometimes retained along with other parts in an attempt to standardise on some components. (See note at end)

During 1973, a 10.9 metre National underframe was supplied to ECW for development work on a ckd body, similar to the B21. The prototype vehicle was given the designation C27 along with ECW body number EX13. It returned to Workington, a little over a year after arriving as a chassis at the Lowestoft factory. The body resembled that of its contemporary, the Bristol RE, but with the addition of typical National features including the “Pay As You Enter” sign over the nearside front wheel arch. C27-01 as it was now known was made redundant during 1980 and sold off. It became DFV 641W when acquired for use as a mobile caravan, and remains in use.

Not all plans reached fruition, one such example, at the time given the code C29 proposed fitting a DAB-derived Alusuisse body to a conventional National chassis in the same manner as the C27 project, shades of this can also be seen on the varying bodywork fitted to the B21. It is worth pointing out that Leyland used the designations C for lorry cabs and B for buses, but at a point during the 1970s, both bus and lorry cab designs were managed under the same umbrella, hence the use of C-series designations for these two projects.

510-powered luxury

One National was fitted with a high floor throughout the vehicle in a manner similar to many coaches. This was the Suburban Commuter National which was subsequently registered RRM 148M. Luggage accommodation was provided in pens at the front of the vehicle – a true “dual purpose” vehicle intended for longer distance bus journeys. The bus was aimed at the Scottish Bus Group who were users of large numbers of dual-purpose vehicles. The vehicle proved unpopular with the SBG (possibly something to do with the National being devoid of a Gardner engine and the inability to mate it to Alexander bodywork…). On its return to Lillyhall, the vehicle was reseated with more conventional bus seating. It may be worth noting however, that the SBG did succumb to the charms of the National in later years.

RRM 148M was sent across the Irish Sea for another uncomfortable stay with CIE - the distance between towns and differing modal shift patterns in  Eire possibly being overlooked by the omnipresent Leyland market research team! The Suburban Express design later evolved with dual purpose seating being offered in the standard National body shell. RRM 148M never seemed to have lived a happy existence with its time at Leyland, but fortunately the bus survives today, superbly restored (undoubtedly one of the best examples in the ranks of preservation).

British Airways was a loyal Leyland customer. Over the period of National manufacture, BA acquired several Nationals from new for both airport and airside transfer work and latterly the National 2-derived DAB articulated vehicles. During 1975, Wadham-Stringer Sparshatt in Portsmouth converted BA National LLU 577P, when relatively new and two sisters (KBY 792P and LLU 783P) by removing the front nearside half of the vehicle. They were all used at Heathrow Airports Terminal 3 on transfer work. The intention was that passengers could board aeroplanes in wet weather without getting unduly wet. Two other vehicles (TBY 111/2R) were also converted, but all were returned to the more conventional look during 1979. Coincidentally, it was the year that National 1 production at Workington was drawing to a close.

Two Nationals were constructed on behalf of the Midland Bank, as it was then known. The company ordered two 10.3m Nationals fitted out as Mobile banks by Truck Developments of Rayleigh in Essex.  The vehicles were JYO 751N, based at Whitby, serving rural outposts in North Yorkshire and GHV 611N, based at Lincoln serving the flatlands of Lincolnshire. JYO 751N was converted to standard bus format by Volvo, Warwick during 1996 and fitted with a Volvo engine. It  still survives with Chepstow Classic Coaches, and was previously with Birmingham Coach Company from whom it was acquired via British Bus Sales. Another customer was the Scottish Prison Service who ordered two National 1s, registered ASC 139/40S. These were later complemented by a National 2, C974 PSF. All 3 vehicles were fitted out by Coventry Steel Caravans, Newport Pagnell, for the transporting of high security prisoners within Scotland. All three had obscure glass and non-opening windows along both sides with the final full-length bay being panelled over.

Into the digital age

A standard 11.3 metre, Phase 2 National registered WHH 556S had been allocated to the research department at Leyland from new. The outgoing appearance was of a standard National with the lettering REV01 (Research Engineering Vehicle No. 1) and 21 seats in the front saloon with the raised section over the engine being reserved for electrical test equipment. Apart from these differences, the outgoing appearance was identical to a conventional National. From new, the bus was used by the Leyland Research department in a joint project with Lucas for development of Multiplex electrical equipment. The electrical wiring looms had been removed and replaced with three simplified cables running the length and breadth of the bus behind the interior panelling. A Lucas control unit connected to receiver units activated functions as required to do so by the driver. Each control unit had an individual clock pulse, ensuring that differing messages to the control units could be synchronised. Diagnostic information could also be downloaded and printed out from the vehicle. 

Undoubtedly the microprocessor technology trialled in REV01 is now commonplace on many new vehicle designs. REV01 later received a prototype installation of the new Leyland continuously variable transmission (CVT) that was

under development at the time. The bus was disposed of to Torotrak Developments when Leyland went into receivership. It was sold when Torotrak had deemed it surplus to requirements and still survives today, operating on schools services with J.B. Pickthall of Arlecdon, Cumbria.

Enter the Mk.2 (Project B44)

Variants discussed so far are all of the National 1 variety. Despite the lower number produced in comparison to its predecessor, the National 2 did yield a  number of unique vehicles. The original design for the revised front end of the National 2 that almost made it into production looked decidedly square. A full size mock-up was produced with the intention of using a four-piece front windscreen in a similar manner to the East Lancs bodied Greenway conversions. Fortunately, the revised styling using the DAB-derived front windscreen superseded the original design at a late stage in the development.

The last experimental National was a generic National 2 fitted with a 400 series engine (presumably the 401 engine as fitted in the Bristol LH) and Pertbury Continuously Variable Transmission, coupled to a flywheel storage system. The theory behind it is that the flywheel is disconnected from the drive train when stationary via a friction clutch. Due to inertia in the flywheel, the momentum is generally conserved. When ready to start off again, the flywheel is engaged and the bus will move off. In a similar manner to REV01, the flywheel would hold a continual speed whilst the gearbox does all the work. The 400 series engine would have been used for getting the vehicle up to speed and for assisting where necessary notably on hills. The only downfall to the vehicle was that it was incredibly noisy hence the project was little more than an experiment.

There were many other proposed ideas that did not come about using the standard Workington-built running units which included an outside broadcast unit and a telephone exchange. Perhaps if the Suburban Express project had been successful, we may well have seen 12.3 metre long Nationals in production, possibly on National Express duties. All of the above does not mention the multifarious modifications made by bus companies over the years of National operation in order to increase reliability and working lives of the vehicles. Undoubtedly some of these modifications shaped future National designs. Testament must certainly be paid to the ingenuity of the engineers and designers in adapting a vehicle to include a variety of different purposes from a standard design.   (To be concluded with more details of B21)

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