Bedford OB

Last updated

Bedford OB
Southern Vectis 216.JPG
A preserved Bedford OB previously operated by Southern Vectis
Overview
Manufacturer Bedford
Production1939-1951
Body and chassis
Doors1
Floor typeStep entrance
Chronology
PredecessorBedford WTB
Successor Bedford SB

The Bedford OB was a bus chassis manufactured by Bedford from 1939.

Contents

History

Preserved 1949 Royal Blue Coach Services Duple Vista bodied OB Royal Blue Coaches coach 1411, 1949 Bedford OB Duple Vista LTA 750.jpg
Preserved 1949 Royal Blue Coach Services Duple Vista bodied OB

The Bedford OB was designed as a successor to the Bedford WTB. It had a wheelbase of 14 feet 6 inches (4.42 m), and was a semi-forward control model, designed to carry 26 to 29-passenger bodywork. It was fitted with a 28 RAC tax horsepower petrol engine, a four-speed manual gearbox and a fully floating rear axle. The brakes were of the vacuum servo-assisted hydraulic type.

Although only 73 were built prior to the cessation of production due to World War II, it reappeared in a largely unchanged form at the end of the war, continuing in production until 1951. A total of 12,766 were produced, making it one of the most popular buses of its type ever.

Bedford co-developed with Duple the "Vista" coachwork for the OB, fronted by a classic bullnose. The ash framework was reinforced with steel, and the floor made from hardwood with softwood tongued and grooved boarding, with the exception of the cab area which was finished with alloy chequerplate. Seating capacity was normally 29 with overhead luggage racks provided for passengers, whilst the rear luggage boot was also used to store the spare wheel. The price of a complete coach, including finishing in a two-colour livery, was £1,314.10s for a 27-seater, and £1,325.10s for a twenty nine seater. [1]

Geared to reach speeds of at least 40 miles per hour (64 km/h), which was fast for its day, the OB is remembered by many for its characteristic gearbox whine.

Pre-war OB

The Bedford "O" type lorry chassis was introduced in August 1939, with a coach-chassis version named the "OB". Duple Coachbuilders modified their 'Hendonian' body to fit the chassis, which at 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) was longer than the previous WTB model. The six cylinder overhead valve power unit with a capacity of 3519 cc, introduced in 1938, developed 72 bhp (54 kW; 73 PS) at 3000 rpm.

Only 73 OB buses were built in the two months before production ceased at the outbreak of World War II. All of Vauxhall and Bedford's production was turned over to the war effort, specifically producing the Churchill tank.

Wartime OWB

The Bedford OWB chassis was produced during the war to the same basic design as the OB, but replacing valuable metals, like aluminium, with cast iron, and fitted with austere bodywork and interior featuring 32 seats with no upholstery, just wooden slats like a park bench. [2] Bodies were designed and built by Duple Coachbuilders and bodies to Duple drawings were also built by Charles H. Roe in Leeds, Mulliners in Birmingham and Scottish Motor Traction in Edinburgh. [3] Total OWB production was 3,398, finishing in late 1945, the majority of the utility bodies were by Duple, a trend that would continue post-war. [2]

Post-war OB

Bedford restarted the production of the OB again in October 1945, this time at the Bedford Dunstable plant. [1] There were only minor changes to the pre-war design. From the end of the war, until 1951, a total of 12,693 OB's were built. The Vista remained Duple's standard OB body, until production ceased in 1951. [1] It was succeeded by the Bedford SB.

Some wartime OWBs were rebuilt to post-war OB standard.

Exports

The OB was sold in other Commonwealth countries, with Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation bodying many in Australia. [4]

Preservation

The OB is one of the most popular coaches in preservation. There are known to be 180 still in existence, nearly 70 in roadworthy condition, and 30 are licensed for private hire work. They have regularly appeared in period television programmes including Foyle's War and Miss Marple . [5]

To celebrate its 70th anniversary, on 30 August 2009, a gathering was held at the Vauxhall Heritage Centre in Luton with OBs on display, before making a road run to Bletchley Park. To celebrate the 75th anniversary, a gathering was held at Luton on 16/17 August 2014, with a run to the Millbrook Proving Ground. [5]

Several OBs in Australia and New Zealand have also been preserved. [6]

Related Research Articles

Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Eastfield, Scarborough, England. Founded in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton, it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. In 2019, the maker was acquired by Canadian bus manufacturer New Flyer which then became NFI Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duple Coachbuilders</span> English coach and bus body manufacturer (1919-1989)

Duple Coachbuilders was a coach and bus bodybuilder in England from 1919 until 1989.

Bedford Vehicles, usually shortened to just Bedford, was a brand of vehicle manufactured by Vauxhall Motors, then a subsidiary of multinational corporation General Motors. Established in April 1931, Bedford Vehicles was set up to build commercial vehicles. The company was a leading international lorry brand, with substantial export sales of light, medium, and heavy lorries throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Trident 3</span> Low floor tri-axle double-decker bus

Dennis Trident 3(the 3 standing 3-axle), is the first low floor tri-axle double-decker bus chassis built by Dennis in the United Kingdom, with a large number purchased by bus companies in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duple Metsec</span>

Duple Metsec was a bus bodywork builder based in West Midlands of England in the United Kingdom. It usually supplied body kits for bus assembly overseas.

The Grose was an English automobile built between 1898 and 1901, Grose also built bodies for cars, buses, ambulances and commercial vehicles until the late 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duple Dominant</span> Motor vehicle

The Duple Dominant was a design of a coach bodywork built by Duple between 1972 and 1987. It introduced an all-steel structure and replaced the wooden-framed Duple Vega, Viceroy and Vista models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford VAL</span> Motor vehicle

The Bedford VAL is a type of coach chassis that was built by Bedford in the United Kingdom from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. It was unusual at the time for its multi-axle design, in a "chinese six" wheelplan, i.e. with two front steering axles.

Mulliners Limited of Birmingham was a British coachbuilding business in Bordesley Green, with factories in Bordesley Green and Cherrywood Roads. It made standard bodies for specialist car manufacturers. In the 19th century there were family ties with founders Mulliners of Northampton and the businesses of other Mulliner brothers and cousins but it became a quite separate business belonging to Herbert Mulliner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Harrington & Sons</span> English coachbuilders

Thomas Harrington & Sons was a coachbuilder in the county of Sussex from 1897 until 1966, initially at Brighton but from 1930 until the end in a purpose built Art Deco factory in Old Shoreham Road, Hove.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leyland Tiger Cub</span> British lightweight underfloor-engined bus chassis

The Leyland Tiger Cub was a lightweight underfloor-engined chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1952 and 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daimler Freeline</span> Motor vehicle

The Daimler Freeline was an underfloor-engined bus chassis built by Daimler between 1951 and 1964. It was a very poor seller in the UK market for an underfloor-engined bus and coach chassis, but became a substantial export success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford SB</span> Motor vehicle

The Bedford SB was a front-engined bus chassis manufactured by Bedford in England. It was launched at the 1950 Commercial Motor Show as the replacement for the Bedford OB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leyland Tiger (front-engined)</span> Motor vehicle

The Leyland Tiger was a heavyweight half-cab single-decker bus and coach chassis built by Leyland Motors between 1927 and 1968, except the period of World War II.

H. V. Burlingham was a British coachbuilding business based in Blackpool, Lancashire from 1928 until 1960 when they were taken over by London-based rivals Duple Motor Bodies. Duple initially renamed Burlingham as Duple (Northern) but in 1969 they closed their Hendon factory and concentrated production in Blackpool. Duple coach bodies were built in the former Burlingham premises until Duple itself was liquidated in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duple Dartline</span> Motor vehicle

The Duple Dartline was a single-decker bus body built on the Dennis Dart chassis by three manufacturers - Duple Coachbuilders of Blackpool, Carlyle Works of Birmingham and Marshall Bus of Cambridge - between 1989 and 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duple 425</span> Coach design built by Hestair Duple in the late 1980s

The Duple 425 was a coach design built by Hestair Duple in the late 1980s, and briefly by Plaxton in the early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duple Calypso</span> Motor vehicle

The Duple Calypso was a design of semi-integral coach built by Duple between 1983 and 1984 using running gear from the Bova Europa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duple Viceroy</span> Motor vehicle

The Duple Viceroy was a type of coach bodywork built by Duple between 1966 and 1972. It was initially launched on lightweight front-engined chassis, but it was latterly built on mid-engined and heavyweight chassis as well. A variant of the Viceroy was the Duple Viceroy Express, which had a bus-type entrance door making it suitable for stage carriage work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford VAS</span>

The Bedford VAS was a commercial vehicle chassis produced by Bedford Vehicles from 1963 until 1987. It was sold as a bare chassis including engine, transmission and driving controls, and was intended to be fitted with a bus or coach body from another manufacturer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "History". Bedford OB Society. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  2. 1 2 Townsin, Alan A. (1998). Duple 70 Years of Coachbuilding. Glossop: Venture Publications. pp. 64–5. ISBN   1-898432-46-5.
  3. Furness, Nigel R. B. (2016). Bedford Buses and Coaches. The Crowood Press. ISBN   9781785002083.
  4. History 1931 to 1939 Driver Bus Lines
  5. 1 2 75 years of the Bedford OB Bus & Coach Buyer 22 August 2014
  6. Driver Bus Lines – Heritage Collection Showbus