The Panther with a sting in its tail
The reputation of Leyland Motors was still riding high in 1967, when this advert for the rear-engined PSUR1 Panther appeared in Commercial Motor. The calamitous acquisition of British Motor Holdings changed all that from the following year, when British Leyland came into existence.
The Leyland Panther was launched in 1964 and had a common chassis design with the AEC Swift/Merlin: Leyland had acquired AEC in 1962, so a greater degree of commonality could be expected with new bus and truck ranges.
Both the Panther and the Swift have gained reputations as unreliable products. The complex drive-line could be problematic, but the Panther was a reasonable sales success, with over 600 being sold in the UK market up to 1972, with other sales successes in Australia plus a batch of 200 supplied to Stockholm in 1967 to help achieve the rule-of-the-road change.
Sales of the Leyland Panther began to tail off when the better-regarded Bristol RE became available in the open market, and when one-person operation of double-deckers was allowed. Preston Corporation was the final customer.
The Panther with a sting in its tail
The reputation of Leyland Motors was still riding high in 1967, when this advert for the rear-engined PSUR1 Panther appeared in Commercial Motor. The calamitous acquisition of British Motor Holdings changed all that from the following year, when British Leyland came into existence.
The Leyland Panther was launched in 1964 and had a common chassis design with the AEC Swift/Merlin: Leyland had acquired AEC in 1962, so a greater degree of commonality could be expected with new bus and truck ranges.
Both the Panther and the Swift have gained reputations as unreliable products. The complex drive-line could be problematic, but the Panther was a reasonable sales success, with over 600 being sold in the UK market up to 1972, with other sales successes in Australia plus a batch of 200 supplied to Stockholm in 1967 to help achieve the rule-of-the-road change.
Sales of the Leyland Panther began to tail off when the better-regarded Bristol RE became available in the open market, and when one-person operation of double-deckers was allowed. Preston Corporation was the final customer.