Manufacturer	AEC
Production	1947 to 1957
Class	Commercial vehicle
Body style	bus single-deck
Engine	7.7 or 9.6 litre 6-cylinder diesel
Transmission	4-speed
Wheelbase	17ft 6in and 19ft 3in
Length	26-30ft

The AEC Regal III was a British Bus first built in the 1940s after the 2nd world war and was built for 10 years.

History

Introduced in 1947, the Regal III is a single-deck version of the 'Provincial' Regent III double-decker bus and is known as the 0962 model.

With a 17ft 6in wheelbase it is fitted with an AEC 9.6 litre 6-cylinder oil engine, fluid flywheel 4-speed pre-selective gearbox and air brakes, In 1948 a sliding mesh 4-speed gearbox and friction clutch was offered as an alternative to the fluid flywheel, and some months later an optional engine, the AEC 7.7 litre unit was offered.

From 1948 both 7ft 6in and 8ft wide models were available, and in 1950 a longer wheelbase chassis of 19ft 3in was produced to carry 30ft long bodywork. This had, however, been produced since 1948 for the export market, and therefore was not an entirely new dimension.

At this time the chassis classification was altered to give now four different versions, these being.

• 9621 E — 9.6 litre engine with pre-selective gearbox
• 9621 A — 9.6 litre engine and sliding mesh gearbox
• 6821 E — 7.7 litre engine with pre-selective gearbox
• 6821 A — 7.7 litre engine and sliding mesh gearbox

When production ended in 1957, over 2,150 Regal IIIs had been built for the home market.

© motorcar history