Bedford buses and coaches: books - history and construction

Bedford Buses of the 1930s & '40s

In 1931 Vauxhall Motors began to design a new range of British built commercials under the Bedford name. Soon a series of good, reliable and cheap vehicles were being produced and by the end of the 1940s Bedford coaches were the predominant PSVs in Britain.

This book tells the story of these Bedford buses.

The Bedford VAL

One of the most iconic British motor coach chassis of all time was Bedfords VAL, which was introduced at the 1962 Commercial Motor Show. This was the first time that Bedford had ventured in to the large-capacity coach market, but it did it with style and a novel engineering approach. Employing a vertically-mounted Leyland engine, a low-height chassis, 16" wheels and a twin-steer front axle, it became the coach of the era. Its modest chassis price also enabled many smaller operators enter into the tour and excursion market.

This book tells the whole story of this Bedford bus.

Bedford Buses of the 1970's & 80's

The third book in a trilogy on Bedford buses and coaches concludes the firm's history from 1970 to its demise in 1986. Having reached a zenith in the 1950s and 60s, the two decades that followed saw a decline in the reliability of the marque and consequently its share of the market place.