Leyland National

The Leyland National is a British single-deck bus manufactured in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industries - the National Bus Company and British Leyland. Buses were constructed at a specially built factory at the Lillyhall Industrial Estate, Workington. Styling was carried out by the famed Italian vehicle stylist Giovanni Michelotti, well known to British Leyland, having worked for both Triumph (Herald, TR4, GT6, 2000/2500, 1300, Dolomite and Stag) and Scammell lorries (Routeman GRP cab).

It was built with the intention to replace all the rear-engined single-deckers offered by British Leyland, including the AEC Swift, Bristol RE, single-deck Daimler Fleetline, Daimler Roadliner and Leyland Panther.

Design
The Leyland National was built with integral, modular construction and a rear engine. All components were designed for ease of construction and replacement. Until 1978, it was always built with a distinctive roof mounted pod at the rear, housing the heating equipment, which consequently blew warm air out at roof level. At first the pod was almost the length of a bay and appeared designed to give a Trans-Atlantic feel. In 1976 a new shorter version of the roof pod was introduced along with the battery being relocated to the front under the cab. The Leyland National was available in two lengths, 10.3m and 11.3m. It was easy to spot the longer ones as its main side windows were all the same length, on the shorter models the windows were shorter except for one in the middle (where the exit doors were on dual door variants) which was the same length as on the longer models.

The Leyland National was a simple design: all parts could be replaced. Some operators, like London Transport, bought dual door models, and then later configured some of them to single door. This was helped by the design of the body, and the fact that parts were inter-changeable.

The earlier vehicles were only available in three colours - National Bus red, National Bus Green and White. At London Transport insistence, London bus red was added to the colour card, and their fleet eventually amounted to over 500 examples acquired between 1973 and 1980.

In 1978, Leyland brought out a simplified model (10351B/1R) with a revised interior that had minimal lighting and without the rear roof-mounted heating unit in previous models. Heating was under the seats, and was basic but effective. These vehicles were lighter, and this characteristic and the lower cost helped make extra sales. London Country bought quite a number of these, which other operators snapped up when London Country was broken up.

The National 2 was introduced in 1979. It differed from its predecessor mainly by having a wider choice of engines, along with a new nose moulding giving it a more bulbous look and a grille to cool the new front-mounted radiator, and a revised rear end with new lights and different engine door.

Engines
The Mark I Leyland Nationals had 8.3-litre straight-six turbocharged Leyland 510 "headless" diesel engines. The Leyland 510 engine had an unusual design, in that it featured non-detachable cylinder heads; any work on the valves required the crankshaft and pistons to be removed to enable access from the cylinder bore. This engine did not prove popular with all operators, being prone to poor fuel consumption and heavy smoking—especially if not maintained to high standards.

Some operators experimented with a different engine and found they could avoid the 510, which had the reputation of being a high maintenance unit and hard to work on.

Later on a simplified model (10351B/1R) was offered, with an engine that was reduced in power to stop it smoking.

The National 2 was powered by initially the 0.680 engine then later the TL11, the Leyland 510 engine no longer being offered.

In 1981, a Gardner 6HLXB engine was experimentally installed in accident-damaged Eastern Counties LN600 (WVF 600S). This led to sister vehicle LN781 (DPW 781T) becoming the first operational Gardner-engined example which in turn paved the way for many engine conversions. Leyland were taken to court by Gardner for not offering their engine as an option in the fast selling National and as a result began to offer the Leyland National 2 with Gardner engines from 1982, initially the 6HLXB and later the 6HLXCT.

United Kingdom
The bus quickly became a common sight on British roads. Although developed for the National Bus Company (whose subsidiaries effectively had to purchase it), it was also bought by the Scottish Bus Group subsidiaries, London Transport, SELNEC, Greater Manchester Transport, British Airways (which chose the 3 door version) and other operators.

Refurbishment
In years to come, with all of the pressures created by deregulation, operators began refurbishing their Nationals for extended service, often retrofitting DAF or Volvo engines. The riveted body parts were easily replaced. In some cases a vehicle could be repaired and returned to service on the same day. All new parts were painted with grey primer so operators could paint to their requirements.

A more extreme approach was offered by East Lancashire Coachbuilders with their Greenway, that saw virtually everything other than the frame and axles replaced.

Exports
The export version of the Leyland National was constructed in the standard way, although some were what might be called a hybrid, consisting of longer windows up to the rear axle and shorter ones after. This resulted in a 10.9 metre bus as opposed to either a 10.3 or 11.3 metre version.

In Timothy North, there are Leyland Nationals, but some of them had been converted to 14.5m long version in 1997 and used on route 110, of which it was replaced by bendy Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaros in 2000.

Replacement
In all over 7,000 Leyland Nationals were built. It was replaced by the Leyland Lynx, although only around 1,060 were built.

Survivors
Very few Nationals remain in service, the last major operator was Chase Bus Services, Chasetown who sold out to Arriva and who ceased full operations on 28 April 2007. Notably all but two retained Leyland 510s to the end.

A large number of Leyland National buses have been preserved.

The Workington factory is now closed, though part of the building now forms part of the depot of Eddie Stobart.

Railbus derivatives


In 1980s Leyland National bus components were also used to build the following classes of railbus for British Rail:


 * Pacer Railbus
 * British Rail Class 155 (many later converted to British Rail Class 153)

Despite the best intentions, the front end of the Leyland National was not considered substantial enough to allow for a standard bus front end to be used on train carriages. The body was very similar to a National, the components used were identical but the configuration was to a different format.

Articulated bus derivative
In 1980, Danish subsidiary Leyland-DAB built some underfloor-engined articulated buses with bodywork derived from the Leyland National.