Dating its origins back to 1889, Park Royal Vehicles along with its Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

-based subsidiary Charles H. Roe

Charles H. Roe

Charles H. Roe Ltd. was a Yorkshire coachbuilding company. It was for most of its life based at Crossgates Carriage Works, in Leeds.In 1947 it was taken over by Park Royal Vehicles. Two years later, along with its parent, it became part of Associated Commercial Vehicles in 1949, which was merged...

 was one of Britain's leading coachbuilder

Coachbuilder

A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for carriages or automobiles.The trade dates back several centuries. Rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Anne's Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer , formed in 1810. Others in Britain included...

s and bus manufacturers

Bus manufacturing

Bus manufacturing is a specific sector of the automotive industry, which carries out the manufacturing of buses and coaches.-History:Bus manufacturing had its earliest origins in carriage building. Other bus manufacturers had their origins in truck manufacturing...

 based at Park Royal

Park Royal

Park Royal is an area in northwest London, UK. It is the largest industrial and business park in London, occupying about , and is promoted commercially by the Park Royal Partnership...

, west London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Associated Commercial Vehicles

In 1949 it became part of Associated Commercial Vehicles Ltd., which included AEC (the chassis manufacturer). This formidable combination of AEC and PRV supported the demanding requirements of London Transport

London Transport Executive

The London Transport Executive was the organisation responsible for public transport in the Greater London area, UK, between 1948-1962. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.-Creation:On 1...

 and many other major fleet owners and operators. The famous Routemaster

Routemaster

The AEC Routemaster is a model of double-decker bus that was built by Associated Equipment Company in 1954 and produced until 1968. Primarily front-engined, rear open-platform buses, a small number of variants were produced with doors and/or front entrances...

 bus was built at Park Royal.

Leyland Motors

In 1962, the ACV Group merged with the Leyland Motors group to form Leyland Motor Corporation, in 1968 Leyland Motor Corporation and British Motor Holdings

British Motor Holdings

British Motor Holdings Limited was a British motor company known until 14 December 1966 as British Motor Corporation Limited .-History:...

 merged, becoming the British Leyland Motor Corporation

British Leyland Motor Corporation

British Leyland was a vehicle manufacturing company formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd . It was partly nationalised in 1975 with the government creating a new holding company called British Leyland Ltd which became BL Ltd in 1978...

. BL (British Leyland) was nationalised by the Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 Government in 1975, following which many subsidiaries were closed: AEC in 1979 and Park Royal in July 1980.

Other vehicles

Park Royal was also responsible for many other coachworks besides London buses. It had a vast array of vehicles to its name including the first diesel

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

 London Taxi, a number of railcar

Railcar

A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...

s and railbuses (e.g. the British Rail Class 103

British Rail Class 103

The British Rail Class 103 diesel multiple units were built by Park Royal Vehicles with diesel engines by British United Traction . Ordered in the first half of 1955, 20 of these sets were built by Park Royal at the Crossley Motors works in Stockport of the ACV Group. They consisted of a power car...

 and one of the British Rail 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:...

) and 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...

 vehicles. During World War II it also played a part in the production of Halifax bombers as the outer wings and engine cowlings were built at the Park Royal site. Park Royal built 150 Green Goddess

Green Goddess

The Green Goddess is the colloquial name for the Bedford RLHZ Self Propelled Pump, a fire engine used originally by the Auxiliary Fire Service , and latterly by the British Armed Forces. These green-painted vehicles were built between 1953 and 1956 for the Auxiliary Fire Service...

es during the period November 1954 to January 1955 with PRV body numbers B37444 - B37593 and registrations PGW51 - PGW200.