Daimler Leyland Fleetline Bus

Manufacturer	Daimler and Leyland Motors
Class	Commercial vehicle
design type	double-decker bus
Production period	1960 to 1980
engines	Gardner 6LW  Gardner 6LX  Gardner 6LXB  Leyland O.680  Leyland O.690  Rolls-Royce Eagle  Cummins Engine V6
length	30 ft, 33 ft or 36 ft  9.14 m, 10.06 m, 10.97 m
width	2,5 m

The Daimler Fleetline and from 1975 Leyland Fleetline was a  double-decker bus , which was built from 1960 to 1980.  

History

The Fleetline was built mainly for the domestic market, but many copies were also exported to Portugal , South Africa and Hong Kong . It was replaced by the integral bus Leyland Titan  and the Leyland Olympian .

The Fleetline was the second rear-engined double-decker bus, designed by a British manufacturer, after Leyland introduced the Leyland Atlantean in 1958 . From the beginning, the Fleetline had a rear axle that was designed to have a low height to accommodate the center aisle, but without creating uncomfortable seating, as in the Atlantean model of Leyland. After the market launch of Fleetline Leyland reacted with a so-called drop-down rear axle as a special feature. The then owner of Daimler Jaguar merged with British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1966 to become British Motor Holdings (BMH). After their merger withLeyland to the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) in May 1968, this option was abandoned at Leyland.

The prototype Fleetline 1960 still had a transversely mounted in the rear of Daimler diesel engine , in series production, however, were either Gardner engines 6LX with 10.5 liter displacement and 150 hp or 6LW-8.4-liter with 112 hp used. From 1968 there were either the more powerful Gardner 6LXB 10.45-liter engine with 188 hp and from 1970 the Leyland O.680 11.1-liter diesel engine with 185 hp. Gardner engines had an excellent reputation for reliability and economy, while Leyland engines were more spirited but consumed more fuel . Most customers preferred Fleetline Gardner engines. But when Gardner could no longer meet demand, the Leyland engines became more popular.

In the late 1960s, Daimler developed the longer 36 ft double-decker double-decker, which was based on the design of the Daimler Roadliner monoplane chassis . This chassis had a transversely mounted in the rear diesel engine u. a. from Cummins -V6. It was intended mainly for export, but was also bought by the Walsall transport company.

Since there were significant problems with the too noisy Leyland engines in the Fleetlines, mid-1970s, a quiet-sounding version of the Fleetline was developed, the B20 with the Leyland 0.690 11.3-liter turbo diesel engine attached to the two fan "chimneys "On both sides of the lower rear window and a smaller hood was visible. This version was still produced for the London Transport Executive with superstructures by Park Royal and MCW .

As with many British bus chassis including the comparable Leyland Atlantean, the bodies were mostly supplied by body manufacturers. Therefore, the manufacturer of the chassis is often not identifiable. Some wore a manufacturer emblem at the rear. A major difference between the Atlantean and the Fleetline was that the front of the hood on the back of the rear of the Daimler was inclined by about 10 degrees while the Atlantean was perpendicular with a notch at the top.

As early as 1965, the London Transport Board put into operation a small series of eight Daimler Fleetline double-decker PRV(XF-type) biplanes and compared them to the competition type Leyland Atlantean (XA-type). The eight XF-type buses with only double doors in front of the front axle went to the successor company for the outskirts of London's London Country Bus Services (LCBS) in 1970 , where they remained operational until 1979.Early 1972, eleven Fleetline CRL6-30 were put into service with Leyland O.680 11.1-liter diesel engine and two-door Northern Counties construction in the LCBS depot Godstone, which were originally intended for Western Welsh . Greater London Council ( London Transport Executive ) was the largest British Fleetline customer of the 1970s. Its 2646 DMS and DM models were produced from 1970 to 1978, the last 400 as noise-reduced Leyland B20. was the time of delivery of the first DM / DMS-London-transport models (December, 1970) of Daimler Fleetline already a successful model with more than 3,500 produced for other operators Fleet Line buses. The structure of the DM / DMS came from MCW or Park Royal Vehicles , which could be distinguished only by small differences (eg higher emergency exit door on the right side in the MCW structure).The first vehicle on duty was DMS 1 at 4:54 am on January 2, 1971 on the 220 line. The last vehicle was DMS 2438 on January 2, 1993 on the way back at 6:45 pm.

The first series of the London Fleetlines had Gardner engines, but overall, Leyland engines were in the majority. The last B20 specimens were the least reliable and many of them were fitted with Iveco engines (836-S11) in the 1980s . The successors of the DMS / DM Fleetlines in London were procured from 1978 parallel double-decker series Leyland Titan (T) and MCW Metrobus (M), from the mid-1980s, the Leyland Olympian .There were also a number of DMS / DM buses that were sold ahead of time, including 306 cars to Hong Kong . In addition, nearly 50 vehicles went to the United States (Chicago, New York, Washington, Denver) as sightseeing buses, some of which then received a double-folding door on the right-hand side in front of the rear axle. 

The second largest fleet in the home market was operated by Birmingham Corporation and its successor, the West Midland Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE), with well over 1000 buses, including the 1965 first monoplane fleet lines. Other WMPTE-owned municipal transport companies added to WMPTE's Fleetline fleet on more than 2100. WMPTE favored the Gardner engines. However, while Gardner had bottlenecks from 1974 to 1976, 220 Fleetlines were equipped with Leyland engines. However, the Leylands were less reliable, especially in the hilly countryside, which is why most buses were retrofitted to Gardner engines in the early 1980s. Until 1997, 700 Fleetlines were still in use at WMPTE.Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMP) got over 500 Fleetlines in addition to a similar number through acquired transport companies. One of them - No. 583 from Lancashire United - was sold to Chester CityTransport in 1992 and used there as No. 79 to May 2007 in regular service. He is exhibited in the Chester City Transport livery and regularly participates in historic rides and the like.

South Yorkshire PTE (SYPTE) operated a significant number of Fleetlines during the late 1960s and 1970s. Most were replaced after a few years. A preserved fleetline of SYPTE, WWJ754M, now owned by the Sheffield Transport Group , is exhibited in a museum near Doncaster . To the SYPTE came also a number of 1973 approved Fleetline L, as it was then Doncaster Transporttook over. They were on the popular Rotherham Sheffield 69 line for nearly 15 years. They had lower floor heights, large trunk and luggage racks above the seats, as they were used more in cross-country traffic, and had subdued bluish interior lighting. Above all, all SYPTE Fleetlines were equipped with comfortable leather or fabric-covered seats.In addition, there were larger national customers, such as Municipal Bus or Cardiff Bus, BET Group bus companies and the Scottish Bus Group .

The Walsall bus company ran some non-standard short wheelbase fleetlines, Many buyers had their Fleetlines equipped with other than the usual engines, so Walsall with a Perkins V8. Particularly noteworthy is a 1972 Fleetline by Teesside Municipal Transport (formerly Middlesbrough Transport), which was equipped with a Rolls-Royce LPG engine.

China Motor Bus (CMB) imported between 1972 and 1980 a fleet of 336 Fleetline Biplane, Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) between 1974 and 1979 450 Fleetline Biplane. CMB called their models Jumbo (Chinese 珍宝). In the 1980s, CMB and KMB acquired Ex-London Transport DMS / DM Fleetlines. Citybus Hong Kong and Argos Bus, operators of non-public transport, for example, for private rental also acquired second-hand Fleetlines, including ex-London Transport DMS / DM Fleetlines. Many of Hong Kong's Daimler / Leyland Fleetline were resold to China in the 1990s , where they were in operation for a long time.