A white 'Bluebird' (1.)
I've always been a little intrigued by these odd American imports and over the past few days I've had cause now to get intimate with one.
Back around the end of the last century some folks in authority decided it would be a good idea if we in the UK emulated the American yellow school bus system. Of course there was nothing wrong in such asperations, but the system we already had in place worked perfectly well, it just needed better funding. Riding the tide of enthusiasm for change, Leicestershire dealer Alan Wilson of Ratby struck up a deal to import complete buses built in the southern state of Georgia from volume manufacturer Bluebird. Thanfully 'we' were spared the front engined truck derived dinosaurs and at least had buses which looked like buses ... even if they were akin to European models of the 1950s. So here then was the Bluebird 'Q' bus (type QBRE ... quite self explanatory if you think about it). I'd always thought these buses were powered by a Cummins 'C' series, but no, a little 'B' as per Dennis Dart lives in the vast void under the hood. That said, performance is not lacking (around town at any rate) and the bus gives a good account of itself as it buzzes along. Bodywork is all steel and as you'd expect, is very strong but there's little by way of ambiance in the saloon, the interior of which is all painted metal too. Electrically it's typically American too with odd (to European eyes) 12 volt electricals which gives the interior lighting a glow which the proverbial 'toc H lamp' would outshine.
Notwithstanding the above, they're well built, go well, everything's easy to work on and are fairly bomb-proof. Overall, I quite like them though were it mine, the temptation would be to paint it in a manner which would make it look like a 1963 BET style saloon!
This particular bus was once one of a small fleet of Bluebirds owned by Cheshire County Council, who, I must say, weren't big on keeping them clean from what I've seen these last few days. Today the bus gained it's first new PSV MoT ever and is I gather now for sale from a fellow 'flickrite' ... who's details I can supply if anyone's interested in buying.
A white 'Bluebird' (1.)
I've always been a little intrigued by these odd American imports and over the past few days I've had cause now to get intimate with one.
Back around the end of the last century some folks in authority decided it would be a good idea if we in the UK emulated the American yellow school bus system. Of course there was nothing wrong in such asperations, but the system we already had in place worked perfectly well, it just needed better funding. Riding the tide of enthusiasm for change, Leicestershire dealer Alan Wilson of Ratby struck up a deal to import complete buses built in the southern state of Georgia from volume manufacturer Bluebird. Thanfully 'we' were spared the front engined truck derived dinosaurs and at least had buses which looked like buses ... even if they were akin to European models of the 1950s. So here then was the Bluebird 'Q' bus (type QBRE ... quite self explanatory if you think about it). I'd always thought these buses were powered by a Cummins 'C' series, but no, a little 'B' as per Dennis Dart lives in the vast void under the hood. That said, performance is not lacking (around town at any rate) and the bus gives a good account of itself as it buzzes along. Bodywork is all steel and as you'd expect, is very strong but there's little by way of ambiance in the saloon, the interior of which is all painted metal too. Electrically it's typically American too with odd (to European eyes) 12 volt electricals which gives the interior lighting a glow which the proverbial 'toc H lamp' would outshine.
Notwithstanding the above, they're well built, go well, everything's easy to work on and are fairly bomb-proof. Overall, I quite like them though were it mine, the temptation would be to paint it in a manner which would make it look like a 1963 BET style saloon!
This particular bus was once one of a small fleet of Bluebirds owned by Cheshire County Council, who, I must say, weren't big on keeping them clean from what I've seen these last few days. Today the bus gained it's first new PSV MoT ever and is I gather now for sale from a fellow 'flickrite' ... who's details I can supply if anyone's interested in buying.