Autobuses (años 50 y 60) - Gran Bretaña: libros - historia

The later 1940s and the 1950s saw a fascinating variety of different bus types reaching the British market.

In this book the 27 manufacturers - large and small - are dealt with in A-Z order: AEC, Albion, Atkinson, Austin, Bedford, Bristol, Commer, Crossley, Daimler, Dennis, Dodge, Foden, Ford, Guy, Jensen, Karrier, Leyland, Maudslay, Morris-Commercial, Rowe, Rutland, Seddon, Sentinel, Thornycroft, Tilling-Stevens, Trojan, Vulcan.

The author gives a brief history of each and then provides individual coverage of the models produced, using original material from brochures and advertisements for the illustrations, not only to identify the vehicles but also to give the flavour of the times when they were to be seen going about their business. This is not only a reliable and comprehensive reference book but also via its illustrations a pleasing evocation of earlier times on Britain's roads and streets.

Bus and coach manufacturers advertised in the trade magazines for various reasons - it was to sell their products, of course, but also to keep their names in front of the people who made the decisions, to keep their shareholders happy, to boast about their successes and to support the trade press.
Over the years, the number of manufacturers promoting their wares has fluctuated from several dozen bus builders competing for orders in the years following World War Two, to the late 1960s, when British Leyland had acquired much of the competition and was starting to abandon popular brands as it moved to rationalise its product range. This impacted the monthly trade magazines as the number of advertisers dwindled, and this led to the closure of the market-leading magazine Bus & Coach in 1970.

The book uses trade adverts that appeared in the years between 1945 and 1970 to illustrate the development of new bus and coach chassis and bodies, and the constantly changing visual styles used by advertisers to catch the eye of potential customers.

The buses on Britain's roads went through a period of great change between 1950 and 1986. In 1950 the bus manufacturers were at last recovering from the effects of the Second World War, and had new and innovative designs to offer.
By the time bus services were deregulated in 1986, buses were very different - longer, wider, more powerful and often with rear engines - and the industry had changed dramatically, with changes of ownership affecting nearly every major operator.

This book uses 150 colour photographs to tell the story of the buses that served Britain between 1950 and 1986 and traces the progression from the time-served pre-war buses that survived well into the 1950s, through the early underfloor-engined single-deckers; the lightweight era; the rear-engined double-deckers; the often unsuccessful rear-engined single-deckers; through to the types that could be seen on the streets in the 1990s, including the first of the new-generation minibuses.

Bus design has certainly evolved in the seven decades since 1950, but it has not been a steady process. Advances in bus design have caused manufacturers to rush back to the drawing board for fear of being left behind.
In 1950, the first of the new breed of underfloor-engined single-deckers appeared, and, just six years later, came the first rear-engined double-decker. Buses got longer, and one result in the 1960s was a rash of new rear-engined single-deck models.
Efforts to make buses accessible for all passengers led to low-floor models in the 1990s, and then, in the 2000s, concerns about the environment prompted diesel-electric hybrid, gas, electric and hydrogen buses.

Covering the designs that led the way with varying degrees of success over the past 70 years, and illustrated with over 170 colour images and period advertisements, this book showcases the good, the bad and the ugly of British bus design.

This book looks at an important turning point in the history of the bus industry in Britain. 1967 was the penultimate year to the end of an era, when private and semi-nationalized company's operated the bus networks in this country.

After 1967 the network was never the same again, with the formation of the National Bus Company in 1968. The NBC was a very bland organization compared to the colourful bus companies that had existed before nationalization, and many small municipal fleets amalgamated to form Passenger Transport Executives.

This comprehensive volume covers a large number of the bus companies throughout the country in 1967 and also has a good readable narrative describing Jim Blake's journeys travelling on these services across Britain.