The spotless (Leyland) Leopard! - LMM Drives 35
Вставка
- Опубліковано 9 вер 2024
- No it's not a giant tic-tac, it is infact a Leyland Leopard in Halifax coaches livery, and isn't it stunning!
Come join Lawrie and Matt as they plod around the hills north of manchester in this slice of 70's history.
If you want to know more about the Town and District Transport Trust, who look after the bus - or maybe get involved and volunteer to keep the fleet on the road, check out their website here - www.tdtt.co.uk/
A video featuring:
Lawrie - Doing a bit of falling in love,
Matt - Doing a bit of everything.
A video edited by Lawrie and Matt
Want more info on us and the stuff in The Shed, or want to get in contact? Check out our Website!
lawriesmechani...
Fancy supporting us on Patreon and receiving extra bits of LMM? Have a look at our Patreon here:
/ lawriesmechanicalmarvels
Get hints of what's coming up next with our Instagram - / lawries_mechanical_mar...
Want to some LMM Merch? Check out our teespring store!
teespring.com/...
Chat with us and other like minded people on our discord - / discord
Follow us for video alerts and other updates on Facebook - / lawriesmechanicalmarvels
Great bus,and video I remember seeing these being driven up the motorway, with the driver being sat in a plywood box to form a temporary cab, wearing a crash helmet and goggles, driving them from the Leyland factory up to the coach builders to have the bus body fitted.. Always felt for those brave guys when it was lashing down with rain.!
Really? That's mental!
@@lmmYes, really , you can see them here. ua-cam.com/video/NaW0QPPXMhc/v-deo.html
@@lmm The earlier videos show the plywood box with the guys in helmet and goggles this video must have been after health and safety got involved !!! LOL
That is insane 😂
@@russellevans6196 right so this video is how they still do it in India? CURRENTLY I guess. Haha
The Leopard in Alexander type Y body was the most common single deck bus in Scotland they even made them until 1983, all Scottish Bus Group companies used them since their introduction in 1963
Having spent nearly 30 years driving similar (but longer, 53 seaters) Leopards, I fully undertand your love for this one. What a change for drivers when they were new, after 3 pedals and 'crash' gearboxes to deal with in a day's shift (8-10 hours)! Halifax chose the livery after borrowing a demonstration bus in Glasgow Corporation's colours, which were the same.
Aye! I was about to say is this machine copying Corpy colours, but interesting fact learned!
@@SketchyScot The actual vehicle was MT 2114, a 1930 AEC Regent.
Vehicles back in the day had a unique personality all there own. You got to know there good and bad points, how to treat them so they would start, run, and stay operable. Today’s vehicles are just so much metal tied to an engine and a computer, each and everyone looking the same.
Butternut!!
That's a great bus, I remember my school bus with seats like that. Of course chrome makes anything better.
originally made as coaches, steel suspension, air assisted semi auto gearbox, low geared power steering, Leyland 680 engine.
You would love my unique 1974 Leyland Atlantean which is virtually the same but was rebodied in 1992 after spending all of its life as a double decker.
Q: makes chrome everything better?
A: that depens on the car/bus/lorry. But yes, it does
I had the privilege of acquiring this bus for preservation when the WYPTE sold it in 1985.
We clocked up thousands of miles visiting the vintage vehicle rallies during the summer months.
Sadly, we had to let it go to new owners who have done a brilliant job of looking after the bus.
I was born in Halifax that same year 🤣 glad you enjoyed it
I have to say, the most impressive feats of driving I have ever seen were when my (American) high school orchestra took a trip to Ireland. I have massive respect for UK tour bus drivers. Two massive coaches passing each other on a tiny road, overgrown dry stone walls either side, folding the mirrors down and inching past a hand's breadth apart. Squeezing around a hard 90 degree corner in the city, with one lane and cars either side in the dark, you just don't get that kind of skill here in America.
(edit: My brain decided that mirrors were called windows for a second there.)
Oh yeah, some of the roads round here are tiny!
I'm from the area this bus was originally for the rural roads are insanely narrow whindy yet I've seen photos of double dekers using them
The bus colour scheme is a reminder of hundreds of Glasgow Corporation transport in the past
I can assure you, as a bus driver, passengers really do detract from driving buses ;p
@@dizzy2020 to be fair, everything is made worse by people.
An empty bus is a happy bus
I used to catch the 28a home from school back when Halifax joint committee had a resurgence in the 00’s. ❤
My favourite type of bus, the Leyland Leopard. The ones that I used to drive were a bit later, my old school bus was a 1979 Alexander Y type Leopard. The later ones had power steering, they were the standard single deck bus and coach for the Scottish Bus Group. They were reliable and really economical.
You should try one with power steering. The sound of the 680 engine is amazing, I used to love setting off car alarms with the bark of the engine.
The earlier Leopards had a manual transmission, no syncromesh on 1st and 2nd gear.
Built when British was best!
My local bus company had Leyland leopards with plaxtons coachworks bodies, and semi automatic pre select gearboxes. they were superb
Great to see a Leopard still on the prowl. Our local bus company, Pennine Motor Services, ran Plaxton Elite / Supreme bodied Leopards in service right up into the 1990s, and you could hear their O.680s approaching from over a mile a way. Fantastic.
I probably travelled to school on that exact bus! Route 571 from Brighouse to Shelf, via Hipperholme, 1975-78! Happy memories.
That's the way to travel!
Yes, changing gear correctly on a pneumocyclic really is an 'art form.' Beautiful when done well.
It's brilliant isn't it!
@@lmm Always loved the little 'click' as top gear was selected on long distance coaches of the time - especially the Bristol RELH - just so relaxing, especially when accompanied by the occasional 'contented exhalation' of compressed air!
It's hugely satesfying!
Love these. Alexanders had loads. Elgin was full of them.
Oh really
Lovely to see the old Leopard on the road again. This looks like the urban version, with low seat backs and leopard print seats. Externally the livery is very, very like the Glasgow Corporation colours, apart from the slightly deeper cream band, more of a coachline on the Glasgow buses. The Leopard was more commonly seen in and around Glasgow in the Western SMT colours of red/cream or the much smarter black/white for the long distance routes to the Clyde Coast and Argyll. They sounded wonderful under acceleration, with most coachwork by Alexanders of Scotland
When this one was built in 1973, the Leopard was pretty much an antique in bus terms. But they were perfect for service in places like Yorkshire where they would run outside the cities and larger towns, linking up the little villages in the more rural areas with the nearest metropolitan area...
When I see one of these I just think “Ulsterbus” there were hundreds of them in Northern Ireland in the late 60s until the 2000s. Those and the Leyland Tigers complete with Tiger grille badge! The chrome trim rings on the front wheels finish it off!
Came on to say the same👍 you’ve saved me typing it out 😀
I was on a Leyland Tiger that was brought in as a replacement for the morning 'school' bus that broke down post 2010. Half an hour behind schedule when I first got on. The driver was determined to reduce that significantly by the time we got the remaining usually 45ish minutes to the main town. That journey was made in substantially less time that day. Full throttle everywhere. It felt like they were close to rolling it on a roundabout they seemed to take at 30-40+ mph (it wasn't the largest of roundabouts, single lane but a proper high white sided one). Of course it was all just body roll, far from rolling even with the off-camber nature of that particular roundabout, but it was far more than you'd expect to experience on a regular passenger service. :) One of the most memorable trips to school for me.
The other was a driver locking the brakes of a Wrightbus double decker on a turn in crawling traffic on ice and going broadside towards oncoming traffic. No contact, it was just an issue with steep camber on a main road and trying to stop. Back end slid down the camber while a few cars were coming up a slight slope in the road. For some reason the salt hadn't been effective on that pair of 90 degree S bends.
I wasn't on them for many years so don't have many stories from when I was on the bus for those who find those 'stories' very mild. :)
Did my bus test in a tiger, absolute beast.
Those “rings” are no rings. They are wheel covers made of an alloy (zamac maybe) the size of a breakfast plate. They were attached to a special hub cap having three arm like extrusions. They were there for covering the wheel nuts, many British trucks and buses had these. The very first Leylands from the late 40’s early 50’s actually had ring like wheel nut covers. The rear wheel hub also had a very nice hub cap, solely for giving the vehicle a special finishing touch. The material these covers and caps were made of was very breakable though, so if dropped they were easaly damaged and as a consequence, the caps and covers were simply discarded if damaged. These items are more or less collectors items now so in most cases very hard to get an undamaged, let alone a pristine one.
@@markwright3161 You're lucky, never got ro experience the "classics" in public service. I'm hoping to get my bus licence soon so I can drive them and let others experience the great buses!
Drove Leopards all through my bus driving Career ( Western/Clydeside) in SBG. Best buses ever.
It was super, really enjoyed it!
I watched this just for the sheer joy of your unbridled enthusiasm. I wasn't disappointed. You don't even need to be a fan of the vehicle involved to enjoy an LMM video. Well done (again!) guys. 👍👍👍
i can see into the future .. when lockdown fully lifts Lawrie & the gang borrow this & recreate Summer Holiday
These used to run in regular service with Lincolnshire road car on the Scunthorpe to Kingston upon Hull route,I always liked riding on them.
It has to be said there is something unique and, perhaps even charismatic about the Leyland’s of the past.
Chunky, claggy, thumping iron propelling along a rather stylish bodied bus. That deep resonant thud of the engine that seems to hit you in the chest when accelerating harder, the work that goes into driving it, ultimately it has character. Thank you LMM this is truly wonderful.
i remember our local bus was a Rawtenstall Corporation Leylland Tiger Cub. We also used Halifax Corporation Double Deckers on our annual Boxing Day trip along the Calder Valley using service busses.
Some proper buses there.
Lovely memories of the Midland Red BET Leopards that ran when I was a child... All the right noises...
There was a company called Warstone Motors, near Wolverhampton, who operated as Green Bus service, who operated a series of vintage busses (Including a Bedford OB, Some Leyland Titans and a couple of guy Arabs) the core of their fleet being Leyland Leopards. they were not given a gentle Semi-retirement either, as they were worked very hard on some pretty tough rural routes. The noise from them was immense though!
"Feels more like a tour bus than a regular route bus."
The first time I travelled on a Leopard bus (which would have been in 1987 after my family moved to Ayrshire), my reaction was "that's not a bus, that's a coach".
Up to that point all the single-decker buses I had travelled on (around the Wakefield/Ossett area) were low floor types like the National and the Lynx.
I have repaired a couple of 680 engines on lorries ! and we had busses like those in Malta nice sound reliable leaky engines that will go forever !
I did see the vintage preserved buses in Valeta when I visited Malta a few years ago, they were very well preserved and looked amazing.
another good video, and of a good bus too. would be nice to see an RE on a video at somepoint, they're good buses.
When I started bussing in 1976 my rural depot ran Leopards, crashbox RE's, 1 Queen Mary and 2 VR's. The leopards were noisy, leaky, they rattled and were slow slow - generally up to about 42mph. Steering tended to be heavy as was the clutch, (many of us stuck to clutchless gear changes). The heating was rubbish, the floor heaters poor and wind whistling through the gear and handbrake gaiters and an equal amount whistling up the trouser legs from the clutch and brake pedal holes. The 4 speed manual with 2 speed Eaton axle was ok.
The RE on the other hand, had beautiful smooth suspension, reasonable heating and a 5 speed constant mesh gearbox, which after a lot of practise was a pleasure. The 32' versions would glide and sing along happily at 75mph in 5th gear and the 36' version 65-70mph. My 1st month on service I dreaded the RE's because whichever way we went from the depot was uphill and I knew that I would play all sorts of music on the gearbox. However, once I got the feel of them, I was hooked for life. They were a challenge to drive but also a pleasure. Have any of the crashbox manuals been preserved?
What a fabulous old vehicle, brings back memories. You two saying about the ride made me laugh as when I was a kid we used to call that bouncing about the "bus bop!", we'd sit in class at school, someone would shout "bus bop!" and we'd all bounce about in our chairs like a bunch of muppets! 🤣
Chuckling at this, remember many a Leyland Chassis from Farringdon out on a test run trundling up the hill where I lived in Leyland, Canberra Road. The house drive was sloped towards the road and I remember my feet coming off the front wheel pedals of my trike, shooting down the drive, out of the gates across the road in front of a Leyland Hippo growling it's way up. Things you remember being 5 in '58. At least it stopped quick going uphill!!! Especially still remembering the clip around my earhole from pop for being 'a stupid boy' 63 yrs later!..🚛🤔🤭😲😂😂😂
Classic sound of the Leyland 680
We had Leopards here in WA, well before my time. However, the drivers here reckon they were absolute rockets (O.680 engine plus the bodywork of the day weighed next to nothing).
A good tip for the Semi Auto box, is Neutral, foot off throttle, 1... 2..., Select next gear, back on power, if that makes sense. That's how London Transport used to teach their drivers :). Selecting Neutral prior to lifting off the throttle, for those who don't know, allows the gear band that is currently engaged, time to release. The Semi Automatic is the only gearbox where it is possible to select 2 gears at once... at the price of the gear bands destroying themselves, that is.
LOL! Matt just brought back some great memories :) When I was in grade school in the early 90's, I always used to sit in the way back of the school bus. There was a particularly bad railroad crossing on the way home, and if the lady driving the bus hit it at just the right speed, all of us in the back would fly up and touch the ceiling! :D :D :D It was awesome! :D Unfortunately, there was a serious crash between a school bus and a train in my area in 1995, and after that fatal accident, buses were required to stop at all railroad crossings. So that was the end of that. That particular crossing was also worked on a few years later, so it is no longer as steep and rough as it was. But it was fun while it lasted :) Anyway, the bus in this video was awesome, and it certainly seemed like you two enjoyed reviewing it! :)
what a great colour scheme ☘☘☘
Good to see you away from your home turf, this time with scenery I'm familiar with. The Leopard mostly saw coach bodywork, with Plaxtons and Duple being popular round here. By the time this was built, our area had received a large batch of Leyland Nationals. J. Fishwick, based in Leyland, were buying Leopards and Panthers around that time, typically with bodywork by Fowlers
That's the sound of going to Nanna's in Skellow every week, body is quite similar to the Alexander Type Y that is still my favourite. Good review 🍻
Hi Lawrie , much as i like your bus video's it would be great if you could blag a few lorry's from the 60s , 70s and 80s to review , it would open your eyes seeing what we had to work with when i started HGV driving , i'm retired now but would love to see you driving AECs , Atkinson , Foden and of course Leylands
Very nice !!! Lucky to drive one,,!!! I've never had a chance to, I do enjoy restoring the pneumatic gear shifters off them, it's worth keeping these beautiful buses going .. wonderful, thanks for sharing..
Ex girlfirend had a Leyland Leopard, ex Sydney buses. - it has air everything inc suspension (and air wipers). was truly a bear to restore
Yes, I believe the correct ratio of chrome does make things better. I nearly bought one of these years ago to use as a vehicle to live in and travel around Europe. It was the fuel consumption that I couldn't get round. Gorgeous machine 😍
I went to school swimming lessons on something from the 70s, we called it The Coal Machine as it was so old and smoky, and the ride was just like that!
Thoroughly enjoyed. Maybe a blip on the accelerator in neutral when changing down gear would help a smoother change.
I remember going on a bus like that every day to nursery school 👵🏻
Super looking thing isn't it!
Great video and an amazing bus. I grew up in Halifax and remembered this livery on the ex-London Transport Routmasters and Metrobuses it has to be my favourite
A great bus. The colour scheme was inspired by the moorland landscape around Halifax. The service buses were in a similar livery.
As you say lovely!
That’s why power steering and other modern conveniences were invented for city driving. Driving around in the country in a wonderful vintage machine..Priceless! 👍
Beautiful
It's pretty special
The ride on the back seat would make anyone's jiggly bits jiggle ;-)
A really stunning paint job, really eyecatching
YES another Leyland Bus I absolutely love the Leyland buses Double decker or single Decker I love them both
That is a beautiful looking bus, far better looking than some of the modern buses we see today on the roads.
That's a really nice old bus. I love that dashboard, obviously they raided the Leyland parts bin and fitted a dash from something styled much earlier. By the 80's commercial dashboards were just functional plastic and nothing else. And those are normal sized mirrors for anything before the mid 80's. Earliest ones I've ever driven were Atlantean AN68/1R and Bristol VRT/SL3
Great bus and great video! We had Leyland Leopards here in Ireland, and although they looked completely different, the sound just reminded me of them. I could understand you wanting one.
Great vid Lawrie you need to get an ulsterbus on the channel that would be amazing
In 1974 coming back from the motorshow at Earls Court 8 year old me with my dad we sat behind the driver of a National Express Leyland Leopard all the way to Coventry, this was in the age when Nat Exp drivers could consider the speed limit for guidance only especially on a near deserted M45.
6:09 the sheep thinking, who are you filming? since when i am cute looking?
* Cameraman *
"what a wonderfull bus passing by"
what great Bus my Late Friend had a few Double decker busses made by Leyland !
What a beautiful old bus! Would love a go of one of these 👌🏻👌🏻
Lots of buses similar to this one in Malta throughout my childhood. We used to have different colours based on the town. It was an experience
Oh that's awesome
The bus of my childhood, awesome video 👍
This is exactly the type of bus I can picture bringing screaming fans to a Beatles concert!
"The most beautiful vehicle I've ever laid my eyes on"
Somewhere there is a red fire engine that is feeling jealous
Jupiter: I think I should break again.
I can think of several locomotives that would feel the same 😁
In my opinion, all vintage Vehicles all share one thing that modern vehicles don’t have. Looks. I can’t name one vintage vehicle that doesn’t look beautiful. That includes steam locomotives, heritage diesel locomotives and traction engines (off all types)..
That roundabout in whally is a tight one haha.. well taken.
Thanks Lawrie!
Brilliant, thoroughly enjoyed this, personally I preferred driving AECs in my time and a Leyland Panther on air I had for a few years, hope you do some more. Michael
Dutch coachbuilders (in my region mainly Den Oudsten and Hainje) used both Leyland and DAF chassis with the same style of underfloor engine. The semiautomatic versions had exactly the same style of gear change lever, but the instruments were more modern (same as DAF used in lorries I think, not sure about the Leyland version). In the final days before decommissioning, some drivers (not used to the semiautomatics) got very creative with changing gears. For example they changed gears and only then let off the gas, or maybe didn't let off the gas at all. Probably put quite some wear on the gear boxes, but they were about to be scrapped anyway.
I watched your Leyland Olympian video great and now I have watched this one fantastic and now I have subscribed more buses please.
That we can do!
Awww when I read the title I thought you were gonna be driving a leopard tank I kid tho seeing you lot drive a tank would be fun but hay we can dream great video as always and can’t wait to see what’s next
From Erika
I really love the paint livery.
Beautiful machine
and the obligatory "First"
Same coulors as a Halifax joint community bus still going till recently: edit bloody he'll it is !!!! First west Yorkshire have got a couple of modern busses in this livery btw looks quite good
Oh have they? That's cool!
@@lmm yeah I'll try put a photo up for ya. Been following your channel for a year or so was realy cool to see you do somthing from my area 👍
I'm really hoping you have a route master in the pipeline
Me too
The fastest Leyland bus i drove was a Lynx, I think it was 1990 (G reg) It went like $hit off a shovel! The slowest Leyland bus i drove was the National with the 510 engine! What a gutless, Noisy, Smokey dog of a bus! 😂
If you liked the Leyland Leopard, you just HAVE to try an AEC Reliance 760, and compare. I’m sure you’ll be absolutely blown away by it! Am I biased? Well, yes!
I'd love to!
This is a delightful shape of single deck bus, the Halifax livery suits it to a "T". Other Classic types of similar design were say the AEC Reliance's of Aldershot & District, used on there Premier Route, Farnham to London Victoria, and the lovely Growler flat fronted Bristol LS of the 1950's, which I remember on Thames Valley Traction's Route 53, Windsor Central Station to Crowthorne, Berkshire. They had flat fronts, the reason why, because if they hit you, you would never forget it, Okay!
Everything is better in chrome, good t shirt slogan!
Also I'm now waiting for Lawries go fund me bus campaign (totally down for this)
Lawrie, I have had a very long and very tiring day, but this video made it honestly worth it because I found my new favorite British bus ps I owe you a beer for this video
Looks very nice! Just keep in mind that this is a semi automatic bus, do not flush the gear box!!! Just drain the fluid and replace with exactly the same quality fluid, nothing else. Same goes for the engine, no modern oils just the good old oil as specified by Leyland. And to make the looks perfect, get the rear wheel hub caps. That might be a pain but you are at least where the bus was developed and made. Oh, the O.680 has 150 bhp if fitted with a so called DPA rotation pump but it can develop 165 bhp if fitted with a plunjer (in line) pump. And last but not least, do not shift down to first gear if the vehicle is in motion. And never shift from fourth to second gear. That shouldn’t be possible but there is a trick to do that nonetheless which I’m not going to tell you……Enjoy this magnificent piece of British motor history!
It was great fun going for a drive!
That's an awesome bus.
It looks very Glasgow Corporation-y in those colours
One thing that I have said about people that preserve motor vehicle’s is that if we ever need them they are available and that goes for any cand of equipment from steam to sail
Glad you enjoyed the ride, but having driven the Leopard in service around towns in the 70s you soon learnt how swear lol. The one thing going for it was the semi auto box, better than the third pedal All the same nice to see it restored.
I think with passengers around town it would be a very different experience
I have driven a bristol RE with a 980 engine which can be sampled at Amberley Chalk Pits. That one is pretty heavy too.
I wonder if bus drivers have Getta Bloomin' Move On! (The Self Preservation Society) By Quincy Jones in their head.
It is Fantastic
On The Buses with LMM :D
Hmm,crossing hands,palming the wheel,putting your hands THROUGH the wheel,no rev of the engine when changing down,glad it isn't my bus!! You couldn't be a bus driver mate,I do the job and it's very different when you let the public on!!
@@Mancbuses It very much does need it,that is what I was taught by a qualified instructor when I took my test & semi-automatic buses were still in use. It smooths out the gear change and lessens the stress on the whole transmission. And gives a much smoother ride.
Let's agree to differ shall we?
Gerry Adams used to own this bus
Driving with the night-blind down in the daytime was a hanging offence when that bus was in service. Also, the ride, braking and the steering would be very different with a full load behind you. Halifax buses were always low-geared for hill-climbing, so they picked up quickly but usually lacked top-end speed.
That is a nice and beautiful bus I just found a nice all original 1971 Oldsmobile cutlass for 9,000$
$9?!?!
@@Landie_Man I meant 9,000
@@Greasy_Rat_garage I was gonna say!
We have the "Lawrie Goes Loco" now we also have "Lawrie On The Buses."
I was watching this, thinking I recognise the filming locations but couldn’t place them. I then visited the website and it says Great Harwood, Blackburn! Just round the corner really from where I am, where it was built! I prefer the Leyland Tiger Cub or Lion myself.
You can't beat old buses, lorries, cars, trains, bikes....whatever happened to design? 🤨🤔
Eeerrrrmmmmm....is that Glasgow colours?
Greetings from a Swede in Glasgow!
Keep them most excellent videos coming!
(Chrome is the best colour, right?)
I completely agree! Chrome is awesome
Not a patch on a good old Birkenhead Guy Arab or a Liverpool corpy early 1960’s Atlantean .Power assisted steering is for lentil chewing whimps .
I'm surprised it still on leaf spring suspension. We had Leyland Panthers we I lived in the early 70's and they looked similar. But huge differences like the engine in the back, and air ride suspension. Looks like a awesome machine to drive.
Chrome makes everything better