Bedford World

WELCOME to our Gallery of Preserved Bedford Buses and Coaches from 1931 through until closure in 1986.

To make it easier to check out the photos, they have been arranged in chassis and year order,  oldest first.

We hope you enjoy the photos and ivite you to submit your own photos taken at rallies or shows and we will try and post as many as we can, but regretably we will only post one photo of each individual vehicle unless there are special circumstances.

So check out the photos and enjoy...........

Top Photo.  Examples of everyones favourite coach, the OB showing Duple Vista and Plaxton side by side at the Anglesey Vintage Rally at Plas Coch taken by Andrew Wright who holds the copyright.

This Bedford WLB bus with a Waveney 20 seat body was built in 1932 by Alexander of Devizes, registered WV 1209. It later passed to Foremans of Orford who used it until the 1950s. When withdrawn from service it was converted to a mobile tea bar called the 'Pink Elephant' although it was never actually used in this role. It was rescued from scrapping in 1966 by the Ipswich Trasport Museum.

Photo copyright Peter Bannister

 

The Bedford OB was launched on the eve of the World War II and in fact only 73 coaches were delivered before the production was stopped. At the end of the period of  war by the end of 1946 the Bedford OB was again being marketed as suitable for 26 to 32 seater bodywork and the price of the chassis was 495.00.

The Duple Vista body  was fast becoming the standard , although other similar "Vista" style bodies were being built by Scottish Motor Traction Co., and Longwell Green Coaches of Bristol. Other bodies were being built by Plaxton,  and others on a small scale. For certain overseas markets  were roads were not to a high standard, an OB variant based on the OL 157" chassis suitably modified to suit passenger carrying. Many of these went to Cyprus.

Production of the OB eventually ended in 1952 by which time the OB was not simply a sucess, it was a way of life in both town and countryside. More than 16,000 chassis had been sold. a figure which included the 3000 wartime production classified as the OWB.

The OB saw Bedford establish itself in the PSV marketplace for the next 30 plus years until the commercial side of the Vauxhall business was closed.

A 1949 example of the Duple bodies OB is this ex. Jones of Menai Bridge EY9025 which was previously with David Dean`s Classique Tours of Paisley and has now crossed the Channel and is preserved and still used for special events by Rik Vanheusden in Diepenbeck, Belgium.

Photo copyright Rik Vanheusden 

 

 

Purchased by the Suffolk Independent operator Mulleys Motorways in 1949, this 27 seat Duple bodied vehicle, which incorporates a sliding sun roof, was registered PV 9371. It is a typical example of the 1950s form of passenger vehicle which operated in this area. This particular vehicle was used until 1971 before being placed in storage for four years prior to its purchase for preservation in 1975.

In the mid 1980s the body structure was completely rebuilt by the Manpower Services scheme and the seats were all re-upholstered.

In 1991 a period of loan to Ipswich Coach Travel commenced, and after considerable mechanical work, it returned to PSV service on private hire work and special services. It carried the livery of JDW (Bluebird) Coaches for a period, a well known local operator of Bedford OBs, it is now again in Mulleys livery in the Ipswich Transport Museum.                                    Photo copyright Peter Bannister

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo copyright Richard Haughey

 

 

This YLQ was new to Warrens of Ticehurst in Sussex and is regd. LHC919P and was new in May 1976. It has a Duple body. It was purchased from Warrens by its current owner David Griffiths in 2000 when it was the oldest coach in their fleet retained for sentimental reasons. It is now in the Czech Republic as part of the Bohemia Buses Collection.

Photo copyright David Griffiths