Bristol Commercial Vehicles
Encyclopedia
Bristol Commercial Vehicles was a vehicle manufacturer of in Bristol
, England. Most production was of bus
es but truck
s and railbus
chassis were also built.
The Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company
started to build buses for its own use in 1908 and soon started building vehicles for other companies. In 1955 this part of the business was separated out as Bristol Commercial Vehicles Limited. It closed in 1983 when production was moved to its then parent company Leyland
.
s of the Bristol Tramways Company ran in 1875, and in 1906 the company started to operate motor buses to bring extra passengers to their trams. In 1908 the company decided to build bus chassis for its own use, the first one entering service on 12 May.
The Motor Department was initially based at the tram depot in Brislington
, on the road that led east from Bristol to Bath. The Car Building Works there had been responsible for erecting electric tram
s and had gone on to build horse-drawn vehicles for the company. The first motor bodies built there had been three charabanc
bodies constructed in 1907 for the Thornycroft
buses delivered the previous year. During 1907 the bus fleet was transferred to the tram depot at Filton
to the north west of the city. In 1908 the company built its first six buses. The chassis were erected by the Motor Department and three bodies each at Brislington and the company's carriage works in Leek Lane, north Bristol.
In 1910 the company decided to build aeroplanes. The best place for this work was the sheds occupied by the Motor Department at Filton, so motor repairs and construction returned to Brislington. The tram depot proved too small for the volume of work and so a new 4 acres (1.6 ha) site, to be known as the Motor Constructional Works, was purchased nearby in Kensington Hill, Brisington.
In May 1914 it supplied its first bus to another operator, a C50 fitted out as a charabanc
for Imperial Tramways at Middlesbrough. The two companies shared a chairman, Sir George White, who in January had taken some buses out of service in Bristol to send to Middlesbrough when a rival company had tried to start a competitive service. The Middlesbrough order was followed by a number of trucks for the Royal Navy Air Service.
The Great Western Railway
bought a controlling interest in the tramway company in 1929 but the bus interests of the railway were transferred to Western National
in 1931. This brought Bristol Tramways and its manufacturing activities into the Tilling Group. Other companies in the group increasingly turned to Bristol to provide their chassis. Many Bristol chassis were taken to Eastern Coach Works
(ECW) at Lowestoft
, another member of the Tilling Group, where bodies were added.
Bristol Commercial Vehicles (BCV) was created in 1943 as a subsidiary of Bristol Tramways. The Transport Act
saw the nationalisation of the Tilling Group into the British Transport Commission
(BTC) in 1948. BCV and ECW soon found themselves restricted to selling products to other BTC operators. Nationalisation also brought the task of supervision of the Ministry of Supply
’s motor repair works at Kingswood. In 1955 BCV became an independent company owned by the BTC. Rationalisation of activities saw new body construction cease at Bristol in 1956.
Changes in government policy in 1965 allowed the Leyland Motor Corporation to buy some shares in BCV and ECW so that their products could once again be sold to independent operators. The last new chassis to carry a Bristol badge was a VRT/SL
double-deck bus built in 1981. For a while the factory continued to build buses with Leyland badges, notably the Olympian
which had been designed by the staff at Brislington. All work ended in October 1983 when the final Bristol-built Olympian chassis was sent to ECW to receive its body for Devon General
(where it was registered A685 KDV). Work was then transferred to other Leyland factories.
' for 'rear engine'.
Different chassis letter codes were used to identify different sizes of petrol engines, but with the introduction of diesel engines from 1933 the size and manufacturer was shown by a suffix to the main code. In this way LDL6G denoted an LDL with a six-cylinder Gardner engine and FS5B an FS with a five-cylinder Bristol engine, and so on.
All early chassis were used for either single deck buses or goods vehicles. In 1931 a longer J type single deck chassis was offered to exploit the increased length now permissible but this was replaced by the L in 1937. In 1952 by a new Light Saloon was introduced which was built on integral principles. It had no true chassis but lightweight running units were fitted to a special ECW body that gave the bus its strength and rigidity. A more conventional Medium Weight chassis was offered from 1957. A larger single deck, the rear-engined RE, was produced in 1962 and shorter versions to replace the MW appeared in 1968 along with a Lightweight Horizontal engine, the LH
.
The G was introduced in 1931 as a dedicated double deck chassis, but this was replaced by the K in 1937. Larger versions were offered as laws changed to allow an increase in both width and length, but in 1949 a radically different double deck prototype was tested. This had a specially designed chassis that allowed a conventional body to be fitted within the height of a 'lowbridge' profile, which with a conventional chassis was only possible with gangways below floor level and very restricted headroom inside. This prototype became the Lodekka
which remained in production in various forms until 1968. By this time a rear-engine double deck, the VR
was available.
The last VRs and LHs were built in 1981 and the last REs in 1982, but production switched to Leyland
-badged chassis. These included the B21 and B52 single deck coach chassis and the Olympian
double deck.
Note that the 'type' shown in the table below refers to the most common configuration. Double deck bus chassis were sometimes given single deck bodies, and bus chassis were often given goods bodies.
Bristol first offered a diesel-engined chassis in 1933. This was a JO single deck fitted with a Gardner five-cylinder engine. The GO double deck soon followed, but the petrol-engined J and G versions remained in the product range until 1936. Bristol continued to source its diesel engines from Gardner and other suppliers. In 1938 they began to develop their own but a production model was not ready until after World War II
. The 8.14 litre AVW engine was available in 1946 and an LSW horizontal version was produced for the LS integral single deck in 1950. Larger 8.9 litre BVW engines appeared in 1957. More than 4,000 diesel engines were eventually produced.
Most early Bristol chassis (and some of the few chassis that the company bought from others) had their bodies built by Bristol Tramways, but by the late 1930s most other operators were having bodies for their Bristol chassis built elsewhere. One such outside coach factory was ECW in Lowestoft where they had been building bodies on Bristol chassis for United Automobile Services
and other operators since 1929. Bristol Tramways even had a batch of K5Gs bodied by ECW in 1938.
After World War II
Bristol's old angular body designs became more like the contemporary, more rounded ECW designs. After nationalisation ECW built bodies for most of Bristol's output. In 1955 it was decided that body production at Brislington would cease. The designs for the HA lorry cab were handed over to Longwell Green Coachworks, a company based near Bristol. All work had been transferred there by 28 May 1956.
More than 1,000 aircraft were built at the Motor Constructional Works to supplement the work of the regular Bristol Aeroplane factory at Filton during World War I
. Again during World War II
Brislington was tasked with manufacturing products to support the war. The fuselages for 1,300 Bristol Beaufighter
s and 120 Bristol Buckingham
s were built and sent to Filton for fitting out. It built gas producer equipment to enable buses and trucks to use anthracite as a fuel. It also produced aircraft and tank
components, shells, searchlight
generators and other military equipment.
Brislington product's became more diverse after nationalisation. Heavy goods vehicles were designed and built for British Road Services
in both rigid eight-wheel and articulated
form. A few bus chassis were also fitted out as lorries, as they had done since the earliest days of the factory. A prototype container transporter for British Railways and a light anti-aircraft gun carriage for the Ministry of Defence also made use of BCV's expertise in road vehicle manufacture.
Bristol provided the chassis for two railbuses
in 1958. Each used a Gardner 112 hp engine and a hydraulic automatic transmission. The bodywork was built by ECW. They were used on branch lines in Scotland
, but no further orders were placed and the pair were withdrawn and scrapped in 1966.
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England. Most production was of bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es but truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s and railbus
Railbus
A railbus is a very lightweight type passenger rail vehicle that shares many aspects of their construction with a bus, usually having a bus, or modified bus body, and having four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies...
chassis were also built.
The Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company
Bristol Omnibus Company
The Bristol Omnibus Company is the former name of the dominant bus operator in Bristol, one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. The company once ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties. The name was in operational use until 1985...
started to build buses for its own use in 1908 and soon started building vehicles for other companies. In 1955 this part of the business was separated out as Bristol Commercial Vehicles Limited. It closed in 1983 when production was moved to its then parent company Leyland
Leyland Bus
Leyland Bus was a British bus manufacturer. It emerged from the Rover Group as a management buyout of the bus business...
.
History
The first tramTram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s of the Bristol Tramways Company ran in 1875, and in 1906 the company started to operate motor buses to bring extra passengers to their trams. In 1908 the company decided to build bus chassis for its own use, the first one entering service on 12 May.
The Motor Department was initially based at the tram depot in Brislington
Brislington
Brislington is an area in the south east of the city of Bristol, England. It is on the edge of Bristol and from Bath. The Brislington Brook runs through the area in the woodlands of Nightingale Valley...
, on the road that led east from Bristol to Bath. The Car Building Works there had been responsible for erecting electric tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s and had gone on to build horse-drawn vehicles for the company. The first motor bodies built there had been three charabanc
Charabanc
A charabanc or "char-à-banc" is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It was especially popular for sight-seeing or "works outings" to the country or the seaside, organised by businesses once a year...
bodies constructed in 1907 for the Thornycroft
Thornycroft
Thornycroft was a United Kingdom-based vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977.-History:Thornycroft started out with steam vans and lorries. John Isaac Thornycroft, the naval engineer, built his first steam lorry in 1896...
buses delivered the previous year. During 1907 the bus fleet was transferred to the tram depot at Filton
Filton
Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Bristol, about from the city centre. Filton lies in Bristol postcode areas BS7 and BS34. The town centres upon Filton Church, which dates back to the 12th century and is a grade II listed building...
to the north west of the city. In 1908 the company built its first six buses. The chassis were erected by the Motor Department and three bodies each at Brislington and the company's carriage works in Leek Lane, north Bristol.
In 1910 the company decided to build aeroplanes. The best place for this work was the sheds occupied by the Motor Department at Filton, so motor repairs and construction returned to Brislington. The tram depot proved too small for the volume of work and so a new 4 acres (1.6 ha) site, to be known as the Motor Constructional Works, was purchased nearby in Kensington Hill, Brisington.
In May 1914 it supplied its first bus to another operator, a C50 fitted out as a charabanc
Charabanc
A charabanc or "char-à-banc" is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It was especially popular for sight-seeing or "works outings" to the country or the seaside, organised by businesses once a year...
for Imperial Tramways at Middlesbrough. The two companies shared a chairman, Sir George White, who in January had taken some buses out of service in Bristol to send to Middlesbrough when a rival company had tried to start a competitive service. The Middlesbrough order was followed by a number of trucks for the Royal Navy Air Service.
The Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
bought a controlling interest in the tramway company in 1929 but the bus interests of the railway were transferred to Western National
Western National
Western National was a bus operating company in South West England from 1929 to the 1990s.-Early history:Western National Omnibus Company Ltd started in 1929 as a joint venture between the Great Western Railway and the National Omnibus & Transport Company...
in 1931. This brought Bristol Tramways and its manufacturing activities into the Tilling Group. Other companies in the group increasingly turned to Bristol to provide their chassis. Many Bristol chassis were taken to Eastern Coach Works
Eastern Coach Works
Eastern Coach Works Ltd was a bus and railbus body building company based in Lowestoft, England.-History:The company can trace its roots back to 1912, when United Automobile Services was founded in the town to run bus services. United began a coach building business at the Lowestoft site in 1920...
(ECW) at Lowestoft
Lowestoft
Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...
, another member of the Tilling Group, where bodies were added.
Bristol Commercial Vehicles (BCV) was created in 1943 as a subsidiary of Bristol Tramways. The Transport Act
Transport Act 1947
The Transport Act 1947 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under it the railways, long-distance road haulage and various other types of transport were acquired by the state and handed over to a new British Transport Commission for operation...
saw the nationalisation of the Tilling Group into the British Transport Commission
British Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain...
(BTC) in 1948. BCV and ECW soon found themselves restricted to selling products to other BTC operators. Nationalisation also brought the task of supervision of the Ministry of Supply
Ministry of Supply
The Ministry of Supply was a department of the UK Government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. There was, however, a separate ministry responsible for aircraft production and the Admiralty retained...
’s motor repair works at Kingswood. In 1955 BCV became an independent company owned by the BTC. Rationalisation of activities saw new body construction cease at Bristol in 1956.
Changes in government policy in 1965 allowed the Leyland Motor Corporation to buy some shares in BCV and ECW so that their products could once again be sold to independent operators. The last new chassis to carry a Bristol badge was a VRT/SL
Bristol VR
The Bristol VR was Bristol's rear-engined bus chassis, designed as a competitor to the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline.-Development:...
double-deck bus built in 1981. For a while the factory continued to build buses with Leyland badges, notably the Olympian
Leyland Olympian
The Leyland Olympian was a double-decker bus built by British Leyland/Leyland Bus in the United Kingdom from 1980 to 1993. It was the last Leyland bus model in production before the demise of Leyland Bus.-Construction:...
which had been designed by the staff at Brislington. All work ended in October 1983 when the final Bristol-built Olympian chassis was sent to ECW to receive its body for Devon General
Devon General
Devon General was the brand name for the principal bus operator in south Devon from 1919. The name was first used by the Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company which was created in 1919. In 1922 it was purchased by the National Electric Construction Company which merged with British Electric...
(where it was registered A685 KDV). Work was then transferred to other Leyland factories.
Chassis
Early chassis types were given a C-series number. When a new lower frame was introduced in 1920 they were known simply by the capacity of the body that was designed to be fitted. From 1925 a sequential letter system was given that ran from A to M, although the M type only never went into full production. This was replaced by a new series that used initials to describe the vehicle, such as 'REBristol RE
The Bristol RE was a rear-engined single-deck bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles from 1962 until 1982. It is widely considered the most successful of the first generation of rear-engined single-deckers....
' for 'rear engine'.
Different chassis letter codes were used to identify different sizes of petrol engines, but with the introduction of diesel engines from 1933 the size and manufacturer was shown by a suffix to the main code. In this way LDL6G denoted an LDL with a six-cylinder Gardner engine and FS5B an FS with a five-cylinder Bristol engine, and so on.
All early chassis were used for either single deck buses or goods vehicles. In 1931 a longer J type single deck chassis was offered to exploit the increased length now permissible but this was replaced by the L in 1937. In 1952 by a new Light Saloon was introduced which was built on integral principles. It had no true chassis but lightweight running units were fitted to a special ECW body that gave the bus its strength and rigidity. A more conventional Medium Weight chassis was offered from 1957. A larger single deck, the rear-engined RE, was produced in 1962 and shorter versions to replace the MW appeared in 1968 along with a Lightweight Horizontal engine, the LH
Bristol LH
The Bristol LH was a bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in Bristol, England. Nearly 2,000 were built between 1967 and 1982 in a variety of sizes and body types, including some as goods vehicles.-Models:...
.
The G was introduced in 1931 as a dedicated double deck chassis, but this was replaced by the K in 1937. Larger versions were offered as laws changed to allow an increase in both width and length, but in 1949 a radically different double deck prototype was tested. This had a specially designed chassis that allowed a conventional body to be fitted within the height of a 'lowbridge' profile, which with a conventional chassis was only possible with gangways below floor level and very restricted headroom inside. This prototype became the Lodekka
Bristol Lodekka
The Bristol Lodekka was a low-height double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England.Bristol manufactured over 5,200 Lodekkas from 1949 to 1968, as a standard double-deck vehicle for the UK state-owned bus sector. With all examples bodied by Eastern Coach Works in Lowestoft, they...
which remained in production in various forms until 1968. By this time a rear-engine double deck, the VR
Bristol VR
The Bristol VR was Bristol's rear-engined bus chassis, designed as a competitor to the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline.-Development:...
was available.
The last VRs and LHs were built in 1981 and the last REs in 1982, but production switched to Leyland
Leyland Bus
Leyland Bus was a British bus manufacturer. It emerged from the Rover Group as a management buyout of the bus business...
-badged chassis. These included the B21 and B52 single deck coach chassis and the Olympian
Leyland Olympian
The Leyland Olympian was a double-decker bus built by British Leyland/Leyland Bus in the United Kingdom from 1980 to 1993. It was the last Leyland bus model in production before the demise of Leyland Bus.-Construction:...
double deck.
Note that the 'type' shown in the table below refers to the most common configuration. Double deck bus chassis were sometimes given single deck bodies, and bus chassis were often given goods bodies.
| Model | Introduced | Type | Length | Engine | Number built | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C40 | 1908 | Single deck | 4 cylinder | 14 | Chain-drive transmission | ||
| C45 | 1912 | Single deck | 4 cylinder | 29 | |||
| C60 | 1912 | Single deck | 4 cylinder | 19 | |||
| C65 | 1913 | Single deck | 4 cylinder | 9 | |||
| C50 | 1914 | Single deck | 4 cylinder | 53 | |||
| 4 ton | 1921 | Double deck | 22.8 feet (6.9 m) | 4 cylinder | 649 | Prototype built 1915 as W type. Later offered as 24.8 feet (7.6 m). |  |
| 2 ton | 1923 | Single deck | 16.75 feet (5.1 m) | 4 cylinder | First chassis with driving position alongside engine. Also offered as 18.25 feet (5.6 m). | ||
| A | 1925 | Double deck | 25.5 feet (7.8 m) | 4 cylinder | 23 | ||
| B | 1926 | Single deck | 26 feet (7.9 m) | 4 cylinder | 778 | 'Bristol Superbus' | |
| C | 1929 | Double deck | 6 cylinder | 2 | Three-axle. Chassis prototypes never given bodies. | ||
| D | 1929 | Double deck | 26 feet (7.9 m) | 6 cylinder | 50 | ||
| E | 1929 | Trolleybus Trolleybus A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit... |
Electric | 2 | Three-axle | ||
| G | 1931 | Double deck | 26.5 feet (8.1 m) | 6 cylinder | |||
| H | 1931 | Single deck | 27.5 feet (8.4 m) | 4 cylinder | 106 | ||
| J | 1931 | Single deck | 27.5 feet (8.4 m) | 6 cylinder | 330 | ||
| JO | 1933 | Single deck | 27.5 feet (8.4 m) | Diesel | 606 | ||
| GO | 1935 | Double deck | 26.5 feet (8.1 m) | Diesel | |||
| K | 1937 | Double deck | 26 feet (7.9 m) | Diesel | 2774 | ||
| L | 1937 | Single deck | 27.5 feet (8.4 m) | Diesel | 2426 | ||
| LL | 1946 | Single deck | 30 feet (9.1 m) | Diesel | 387 | Export model until 1950. | |
| LWL | Single deck | 30 feet (9.1 m) | Diesel | 401 | Wider version of LL chassis. Export model until 1950. | ||
| KW | 1947 | Double deck | 26 feet (7.9 m) | Diesel | 20 | Wider version of K chassis. | |
| M | 1948 | Diesel | 2 | Chassis prototypes never given bodies. | |||
| KS | 1950 | Double deck | 27 feet (8.2 m) | Diesel | 236 | Longer version of K chassis. | |
| KSW | 1950 | Double deck | 27 feet (8.2 m) | Diesel | 1116 | Wider version of KS chassis. | |
| LS | 1950 | Single deck | 30 feet (9.1 m) | Diesel | 1409 | LS = Light Saloon. Integral chassis and body. | |
| HG | 1952 | Goods | 29.8 feet (9.1 m) | Diesel | 517 | HG = Heavy Goods. An eight-wheel rigid vehicle. | |
| SC | 1954 | Single deck | 27.5 feet (8.4 m) | Diesel | 323 | SC = Small Capacity | |
| LD Bristol Lodekka The Bristol Lodekka was a low-height double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England.Bristol manufactured over 5,200 Lodekkas from 1949 to 1968, as a standard double-deck vehicle for the UK state-owned bus sector. With all examples bodied by Eastern Coach Works in Lowestoft, they... |
1954 | Double deck | 27 feet (8.2 m) | Diesel | 2180 | LD = Lo Dekka. Prototype tested from 1949. | |
| HA | 1955 | Goods | 14 feet (4.3 m) | Diesel | 653 | HA = Heavy Articulated. A tractor for articulated vehicle (946 ST Semi Trailers were constructed), it was later built as 15 feet (4.6 m) long to accommodate a larger engine. | |
| LDL Bristol Lodekka The Bristol Lodekka was a low-height double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England.Bristol manufactured over 5,200 Lodekkas from 1949 to 1968, as a standard double-deck vehicle for the UK state-owned bus sector. With all examples bodied by Eastern Coach Works in Lowestoft, they... |
1957 | Double deck | 30 feet (9.1 m) | Diesel | Longer version of LD chassis | ||
| MW Bristol MW The Bristol MW is a bus and coach chassis., p. 6 — Photograph of chassis designed and built between 1956 and 1964 by Bristol Commercial Vehicles Ltd at Brislington, Bristol.... |
1957 | Single deck | Diesel | 1965 | MW = Medium Weight | ||
| SUL | 1960 | Single deck | 27.8 foot | Diesel | 156 | SUL = Small, Underfloor engine, Long | |
| SUS | 1960 | Single deck | 24.2 foot | Diesel | 25 | SUS = Small, Underfloor engine, Short | |
| FLF Bristol Lodekka The Bristol Lodekka was a low-height double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England.Bristol manufactured over 5,200 Lodekkas from 1949 to 1968, as a standard double-deck vehicle for the UK state-owned bus sector. With all examples bodied by Eastern Coach Works in Lowestoft, they... |
1960 | Double deck | Diesel | 1867 | FLF = Flat-floor, long, Front entrance | ||
| FL Bristol Lodekka The Bristol Lodekka was a low-height double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England.Bristol manufactured over 5,200 Lodekkas from 1949 to 1968, as a standard double-deck vehicle for the UK state-owned bus sector. With all examples bodied by Eastern Coach Works in Lowestoft, they... |
1960 | Double deck | Diesel | FL = Flat-floor, long (rear entrance). Discontinued in 1962. | |||
| FS Bristol Lodekka The Bristol Lodekka was a low-height double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England.Bristol manufactured over 5,200 Lodekkas from 1949 to 1968, as a standard double-deck vehicle for the UK state-owned bus sector. With all examples bodied by Eastern Coach Works in Lowestoft, they... |
1960 | Double deck | 30 feet (9.1 m) | Diesel | 890 | FS = Flat-floor, short (rear entrance) | |
| FSF Bristol Lodekka The Bristol Lodekka was a low-height double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England.Bristol manufactured over 5,200 Lodekkas from 1949 to 1968, as a standard double-deck vehicle for the UK state-owned bus sector. With all examples bodied by Eastern Coach Works in Lowestoft, they... |
Double deck | 30 feet (9.1 m) | Diesel | FSF = Flat-floor, short, front entrance. Discontinued in 1962. | |||
| RELL Bristol RE The Bristol RE was a rear-engined single-deck bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles from 1962 until 1982. It is widely considered the most successful of the first generation of rear-engined single-deckers.... |
1962 | Single deck | 36 feet (11 m) | Diesel | 2839 | RELL = Rear Engine, Long Low | |
| RELH Bristol RE The Bristol RE was a rear-engined single-deck bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles from 1962 until 1982. It is widely considered the most successful of the first generation of rear-engined single-deckers.... |
1962 | Single deck | 36 feet (11 m) | Diesel | 976 | RELH = Rear Engine, Long High | |
| VRT/SL Bristol VR The Bristol VR was Bristol's rear-engined bus chassis, designed as a competitor to the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline.-Development:... |
1966 | Double deck | Diesel | VRT = Vertical Rear Transverse engine, Short Low |  |
||
| VRT/LL Bristol VR The Bristol VR was Bristol's rear-engined bus chassis, designed as a competitor to the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline.-Development:... |
Double deck | Diesel | 25 | VRT = Vertical Rear Transverse engine, Long Low | |||
| VRL/LH Bristol VR The Bristol VR was Bristol's rear-engined bus chassis, designed as a competitor to the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline.-Development:... |
Double deck | Diesel | 30 | VRL = Vertical Rear Longitudinal engine, Long, High | |||
| VRT/LH Bristol VR The Bristol VR was Bristol's rear-engined bus chassis, designed as a competitor to the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline.-Development:... |
Double deck | Diesel | VRT = Vertical Rear Transverse engine, Long High | ||||
| RESL Bristol RE The Bristol RE was a rear-engined single-deck bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles from 1962 until 1982. It is widely considered the most successful of the first generation of rear-engined single-deckers.... |
1967 | Single deck | Diesel | 698 | RESL = Rear Engine, Short Low | ||
| RESH Bristol RE The Bristol RE was a rear-engined single-deck bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles from 1962 until 1982. It is widely considered the most successful of the first generation of rear-engined single-deckers.... |
1967 | Single deck | Diesel | 11 | RESH = Rear Engine, Short High | ||
| REMH Bristol RE The Bristol RE was a rear-engined single-deck bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles from 1962 until 1982. It is widely considered the most successful of the first generation of rear-engined single-deckers.... |
1968 | Single deck | 39 feet (11.9 m) | Diesel | 105 | REMH = Rear Engine, Maximum length, High | |
| LH Bristol LH The Bristol LH was a bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in Bristol, England. Nearly 2,000 were built between 1967 and 1982 in a variety of sizes and body types, including some as goods vehicles.-Models:... |
1968 | Single deck | 30 feet (9.1 m) | Diesel | 1505 | LH = Lightweight Horizontal engine | |
| LHS Bristol LH The Bristol LH was a bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in Bristol, England. Nearly 2,000 were built between 1967 and 1982 in a variety of sizes and body types, including some as goods vehicles.-Models:... |
1968 | Single deck | 26 feet (7.9 m) | Diesel | 308 | LHS = Lightweight Horizontal engine, Short |  |
| LHL Bristol LH The Bristol LH was a bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in Bristol, England. Nearly 2,000 were built between 1967 and 1982 in a variety of sizes and body types, including some as goods vehicles.-Models:... |
1968 | Single deck | 36 feet (11 m) | Diesel | 174 | LHL = Lightweight Horizontal engine, Long | |
Engines
Bristol made their own petrol engines to power their chassis. Until 1929 these were all four-cylinder, but in that year a six-cylinder model was added to the range to power the new C and D models. The C failed to get past the prototype stage, but the D was joined in 1931 by the G and J which also used Bristol's six-cylinder JW engine.Bristol first offered a diesel-engined chassis in 1933. This was a JO single deck fitted with a Gardner five-cylinder engine. The GO double deck soon followed, but the petrol-engined J and G versions remained in the product range until 1936. Bristol continued to source its diesel engines from Gardner and other suppliers. In 1938 they began to develop their own but a production model was not ready until after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The 8.14 litre AVW engine was available in 1946 and an LSW horizontal version was produced for the LS integral single deck in 1950. Larger 8.9 litre BVW engines appeared in 1957. More than 4,000 diesel engines were eventually produced.
Bodies
Bristol Tramways initially built bus and truck bodies at their Brislington Body Works which was on the same site as the Brislington tram depot. Low demand for new aircraft following World War I saw some bus and lorry bodies built in the aircraft factory at Filton, where the first bus chassis had been built.Most early Bristol chassis (and some of the few chassis that the company bought from others) had their bodies built by Bristol Tramways, but by the late 1930s most other operators were having bodies for their Bristol chassis built elsewhere. One such outside coach factory was ECW in Lowestoft where they had been building bodies on Bristol chassis for United Automobile Services
United Automobile Services
United Automobile Services or United, as it was commonly known, was a major provider of bus services across the North East and North Yorkshire for 80 years or more...
and other operators since 1929. Bristol Tramways even had a batch of K5Gs bodied by ECW in 1938.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Bristol's old angular body designs became more like the contemporary, more rounded ECW designs. After nationalisation ECW built bodies for most of Bristol's output. In 1955 it was decided that body production at Brislington would cease. The designs for the HA lorry cab were handed over to Longwell Green Coachworks, a company based near Bristol. All work had been transferred there by 28 May 1956.
Other products
In October 1913 a mobile workshop was built to repair aircraft in the field. A 'large bus body' was equipped with an electric generator which powered a lathe, bandsaw, drills, shaping machine, grindstone and lights. One of the two drills was on a long lead so that it could be used outside the workshop. It was also equipped with work benches, furnace and anvil. It was driven to the Paris Aircraft Show. It was sold to the Royal Naval Air Service in 1914.More than 1,000 aircraft were built at the Motor Constructional Works to supplement the work of the regular Bristol Aeroplane factory at Filton during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Again during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Brislington was tasked with manufacturing products to support the war. The fuselages for 1,300 Bristol Beaufighter
Bristol Beaufighter
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, often referred to as simply the Beau, was a British long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design...
s and 120 Bristol Buckingham
Bristol Buckingham
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Buttler, Tony. British Secret Projects: Fighters and Bombers 1935-1950. Hinckley, UK: Midland Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-85780-179-2....
s were built and sent to Filton for fitting out. It built gas producer equipment to enable buses and trucks to use anthracite as a fuel. It also produced aircraft and tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
components, shells, searchlight
Searchlight
A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...
generators and other military equipment.
Brislington product's became more diverse after nationalisation. Heavy goods vehicles were designed and built for British Road Services
British Road Services
The National Freight Corporation was a major British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and at one time, as NFC plc, it was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
in both rigid eight-wheel and articulated
Semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or articulated truck or articulated lorry, is an articulated vehicle consisting of a towing engine , and a semi-trailer A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) articulated truck...
form. A few bus chassis were also fitted out as lorries, as they had done since the earliest days of the factory. A prototype container transporter for British Railways and a light anti-aircraft gun carriage for the Ministry of Defence also made use of BCV's expertise in road vehicle manufacture.
Bristol provided the chassis for two railbuses
British Rail Railbuses
British Rail produced a variety of Railbuses as a means both of building new rolling stock cheaply, and to provide services on lightly used lines economically.-Terminology:...
in 1958. Each used a Gardner 112 hp engine and a hydraulic automatic transmission. The bodywork was built by ECW. They were used on branch lines in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, but no further orders were placed and the pair were withdrawn and scrapped in 1966.
Further reading
- Curtis, Martin (1984). Bristol Buses in Camera, Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1361-6
- Curtis, Martin (1994). Bristol VR, Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-2238-0
- Roberts, Duncan (2002). Bristol RE, NBC Books.
- Townsin, Alan (2000). The Bristol Story Part Two, Venture Publications. ISBN 1-898432-78-3