Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Vamps]

If it was a 29-seater Vamps, it would've been a 'VAS' - deffo!

Would that still have been an 'F' reg though? sure it was as 'K' reg was the newest at the time, but that was a Ford, Plaxton 45 seater....

Both the 'J2' and 'VAS' were in production on 'F' reg's Vamps!

   Glad about that, the old memory is going you know... Little Miss Vamps told me the other day 'Daddy, you have the memory of a Goldfish'...

[Seth]

If it was a 29-seater Vamps, it would've been a 'VAS' - deffo!

Would that still have been an 'F' reg though? sure it was as 'K' reg was the newest at the time, but that was a Ford, Plaxton 45 seater....

A friggin' R192 - ooerr ......... 

[Vamps]

If it was a 29-seater Vamps, it would've been a 'VAS' - deffo!

Would that still have been an 'F' reg though? sure it was as 'K' reg was the newest at the time, but that was a Ford, Plaxton 45 seater....

A friggin' R192 - ooerr ......... 

Not sure I know what you mean by that, however I do remember this, and a slightly later 53 seater always seemed to fracture the injector pipes, we used to carry spares and spanners for a change on route....

[Lizzie_Zoom]

During the 1960s, Bedford introduced a new range of PSV chassis.

The three variants were designated thus:
'VAS' for around 30-seat bodies
'VAM' for 40/45 seats
'VAL' for 50/53 seaters

Shown above is a VAS (actually a VAS5 model), with nicely-built Plaxton 29-seat coach body.

It has the sweet little Bedford '330' diesel mounted up-front, and would be a simplistic and very economical vehicle to run, with air-assisted hydraulic brakes. Many components were common to the contemporary 'TK' truck range - in fact, the perfect choice for the small independent operator!

Model variants were the VAS1 (with '300' diesel) and VAS3 (with '300' petrol unit).

I took this photo a few years back at the Welland Steam Rally (again!), against the backdrop of the beautiful Malvern Hills.

I'd dearly love to acquire one of these exact coaches, though by the time I realised it, this particular one had been sold on - bugger!



Sorry Lizzie, I nearly forgot to add this one's history:
It spent it's working life in Herefordshire with Bengry's Primrose Motors of Leominster.
There you have it!

And there was me thinking this particular coach was named Primrose because it was loved so much!!


More great info Byron!!   You certainly know your coaches / buses!! 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

[Seth]

If it was a 29-seater Vamps, it would've been a 'VAS' - deffo!

Would that still have been an 'F' reg though? sure it was as 'K' reg was the newest at the time, but that was a Ford, Plaxton 45 seater....

A friggin' R192 - ooerr ......... 

Not sure I know what you mean by that, however I do remember this, and a slightly later 53 seater always seemed to fracture the injector pipes, we used to carry spares and spanners for a change on route....

That would've been an 'R226' chassis Vamps.

Like the Bedfords, the Fords were 'lightweights' and you really had to keep on top of 'em maintenance-wise. You also had to be choosey on who you actually put to drive 'em too - thrash 'em and you had head gasket failures, and heavy braking would result in leaking wheel cylinders. Fords also utilised an air-assisted hydraulic system - though IIRC, the later R-series were reliable 'full air' operation.

My own take on fracturing injector pipes pointed to insufficient bracketing/clamping of the pipes.

[Vamps]

If it was a 29-seater Vamps, it would've been a 'VAS' - deffo!

Would that still have been an 'F' reg though? sure it was as 'K' reg was the newest at the time, but that was a Ford, Plaxton 45 seater....

A friggin' R192 - ooerr ......... 

Not sure I know what you mean by that, however I do remember this, and a slightly later 53 seater always seemed to fracture the injector pipes, we used to carry spares and spanners for a change on route....

That would've been an 'R226' chassis Vamps.

Like the Bedfords, the Fords were 'lightweights' and you really had to keep on top of 'em maintenance-wise. You also had to be choosey on who you actually put to drive 'em too - thrash 'em and you had head gasket failures, and heavy braking would result in leaking wheel cylinders. Fords also utilised an air-assisted hydraulic system - though IIRC, the later R-series were reliable 'full air' operation.

My own take on fracturing injector pipes pointed to insufficient bracketing/clamping of the pipes.

IIRC heavy braking resulted in a lot of wobble, to the point that a lot of Ford warranty claims were made....

[Lizzie_Zoom]

If it was a 29-seater Vamps, it would've been a 'VAS' - deffo!

Would that still have been an 'F' reg though? sure it was as 'K' reg was the newest at the time, but that was a Ford, Plaxton 45 seater....

A friggin' R192 - ooerr ......... 

Not sure I know what you mean by that, however I do remember this, and a slightly later 53 seater always seemed to fracture the injector pipes, we used to carry spares and spanners for a change on route....

That would've been an 'R226' chassis Vamps.

Like the Bedfords, the Fords were 'lightweights' and you really had to keep on top of 'em maintenance-wise. You also had to be choosey on who you actually put to drive 'em too - thrash 'em and you had head gasket failures, and heavy braking would result in leaking wheel cylinders. Fords also utilised an air-assisted hydraulic system - though IIRC, the later R-series were reliable 'full air' operation.

My own take on fracturing injector pipes pointed to insufficient bracketing/clamping of the pipes.

IIRC heavy braking resulted in a lot of wobble, to the point that a lot of Ford warranty claims were made....

I bet now they wouldn't even be allowed on the road Mike!

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Now how about this Bedford Duple from 1967!

Many a school trip was taken in these, and the back seat was very wide!!  Oh yes, of course, we were just innocent little girls out with equally innocent little boys! At 14?  Oh yeah!!:




I bet Byron knows much about this one again!

[Seth]

Taken at a Winkleigh Open Day a few years back, this one .......

It's a Bedford 'VAM' - the next model upwards in the range from the little 'VAS'.

The 'VAM' was available with three engine options, including the VAM3 with a petrol unit!
The others were the VAM5, with the Bedford '330' diesel, and the VAM14 as seen here, with the Leyland 0.400 diesel.
The engine was vertically-mounted on the front chassis overhang alongside the driver, and the brakes were of air-assisted hydraulic operation. No power steering was offered, and with a good load of passengers aboard, they could be quite heavy to manouvre.

The body on the one shown above is a Duple 'Viscount' 45-seater.
When this was mounted on the little VAS chassis it was badged as the 'Vista 25', whilst that on the heavyweight AEC Reliance/Leyland Leopard was the 'Commander'.

Plaxtons also bodied the VAM chassis, as we'll soon see .........

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Taken at a Winkleigh Open Day a few years back, this one .......

It's a Bedford 'VAM' - the next model upwards in the range from the little 'VAS'.

The 'VAM' was available with three engine options, including the VAM3 with a petrol unit!
The others were the VAM5, with the Bedford '330' diesel, and the VAM14 as seen here, with the Leyland 0.400 diesel.
The engine was vertically-mounted on the front chassis overhang alongside the driver, and the brakes were of air-assisted hydraulic operation. No power steering was offered, and with a good load of passengers aboard, they could be quite heavy to manouvre.

The body on the one shown above is a Duple 'Viscount' 45-seater.
When this was mounted on the little VAS chassis it was badged as the 'Vista 25', whilst that on the heavyweight AEC Reliance/Leyland Leopard was the 'Commander'.

Plaxtons also bodied the VAM chassis, as we'll soon see .........

Wow!! I bet they were heavy on the steering!!    Mind you Byron my old 1958 Duple was fairly easy on the arms as it had a big steering wheel to 'lever' the thing about!

I am also surprised it was only a 45 seater.  Judging by the size of the body it seems it should have taken more, although whatever the number it was quite enough for a school trip with all of us talking and giggling!

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Talking about Bedford's in 1967, probably the most famous one of all featured in this 'little' film  , with some great external and internal shots of the coach .....................and The Beatles!!!
Now somewhere in the United States after being at a Hard Rock Cafe or so!

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqKSOZdcRwI[/media]

Bet this six wheeler had more seats than 45 Byron?

Do you know it's original history by any chance? :-? :-?

[Seth]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqKSOZdcRwI[/media]

Bet this six wheeler had more seats than 45 Byron?

Do you know it's original history by any chance? :-? :-?[/quote]

They used the larger Bedford 'VAL' for that film Lizzie, with the twin steer 'Chinese Six' wheel arrangement.
Sorry, don't know it's history though.

And yes, most of the bodies on 'em had around 50/52 seats.

We'll come to the 'VAL' model soon enough on here.
Gotta delve into the archives first missus!

[Lizzie_Zoom]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqKSOZdcRwI[/media]

Bet this six wheeler had more seats than 45 Byron?

Do you know it's original history by any chance? :-? :-?

They used the larger Bedford 'VAL' for that film Lizzie, with the twin steer 'Chinese Six' wheel arrangement.
Sorry, don't know it's history though.

And yes, most of the bodies on 'em had around 50/52 seats.

We'll come to the 'VAL' model soon enough on here.
Gotta delve into the archives first missus!
[/quote]


Thanks Byron

[Vamps]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqKSOZdcRwI[/media]

Bet this six wheeler had more seats than 45 Byron?

Do you know it's original history by any chance? :-? :-?

They used the larger Bedford 'VAL' for that film Lizzie, with the twin steer 'Chinese Six' wheel arrangement.
Sorry, don't know it's history though.

And yes, most of the bodies on 'em had around 50/52 seats.

We'll come to the 'VAL' model soon enough on here.
Gotta delve into the archives first missus!

Thanks Byron [/quote]


Would that be the same Model as used in the Italian Job....... :-/?

[Seth]

They used a 'VAL' on the Italian Job, yes Vamps

Actually, it was a VAL14 model with Leyland 0.400 engine and Harrington 'Legionnaire' body.