
In 1981, the Bedford 'YNT' model was born, and here's the heart of the latest chassis.
It's the 'Blue Series' 8.2-litre '500' unit, though now turbocharged to produce 206 BHP at 2500 rpm.
For the 10-metre 'YMQ' chassis a 175 BHP 'low blow' version of the same engine was specified.
Love 'em or hate 'em - the '500 turbo' certainly performed well when compared with it's predecessor, the '466' as employed in the YRQ and YRT models.
However, operational experiences with the Blue Series units was decidedly mixed, and tales of catastrophic failures (especially if driven hard), were all too common.
Some operators, on the other hand, reported excellent operational reliability with 'em!

Here's a late-model YNT with Plaxtons 'Paramount I Express' body from the long-established Yeomans of Hereford fleet, resting at Barry Island in Summer 1990.
From the outset, this model was offered with the six-speed Turner M6 gearbox, which proved to be quite troublesome in service.
Bedford counteracted this by fitting the renowned ZF six-speed 'Synchroma' 'box, which was a highly-regarded unit throughout the bus industry.
A ZF-boxed YNT was quite a fine machine in my opinion!
Production of the 10-metre YLQ and 11-metre YMT continued alongside the turbocharged models, and featured the naturally-aspirated '500' engine, known as the 'Red Series' units.
Yeomans were ardent Bedford operators for many years, and their fleet was then 100% Bedford-based.
They were obviously very happy with the marque.
Maybe something of a swansong ........
One final 'Y-series' model would be Bedford's final attempt at the 'heavyweight' market .........