(Also see the PRV Royalist Coach of 1955 as this was an AEC Reliance chassis badge engineered by Maudslay)
The nearest bus is MBY346 an AEC Reliance with PRV body B37234 also new in June
1954 and destined for Bourne & Balmer whilst the three leftmost vehicles
are from a batch of six (KCY488-93) PRV bodied Guy Arab LUF's (Body Nos.
B37225-230) new in June 1954 and destined for Neath & Cardiff.
This 1955 PRV bodied AEC Reliance was destined for Luanda, Angola.
(Image courtesy Ian McLellan-Smith).
This 1955 PRV bodied AEC Reliance was destined for Nigeria.
HHL 875 - West Riding 799 is an AEC
Reliance with Roe Dalesman C41C body GO3999. Being the first of four such vehicles
to enter service in 1956, it was withdrawn in September 1966.
This is an AEC Reliance with PRV bodywork built June 1957 (Body Nos. B40650-7) for Trinidad.
Registration LST 750 Built February 1958 (Body No. B41539) for Highland.
Registration WDG630 Built April
1959 (Body by Roe - based at Leeds) for Black & White Coaches of
Cheltenham.
Registration TFN405 Built February
1960 (Body Nos. B43856-75) for East Kent.
Registration WFN513 Built in May 1961 (Body No. B45362) for East Kent is
pictured in 2013 outside the old depot in New Romney, alongside another Park Royal product,
a BEA Regent IV coach.
Registration 425DHO Built March 1962 (Body Nos. B48686-700) for Aldershot & District.
Registration 327NMP Built April
1962 (Body No. B48740) for A.E.C [Demonstrator].
Registration 519FN Built July 1962 (Body Nos.
B48758-77) for East Kent.
Registration 473FCG Built January
1963 (Body Nos. B48796-810) for Aldershot & District.
Registration 6546FN Built June
1963 (Body Nos. B49006-14) for East Kent.
Registration
519FN Built November 1963 (Body Nos. B49105) for East Kent.
Registration AFN600B Built May 1964 (Body Nos. B50022-31) for East Kent.
Registration CTT22C Built March
1965 (Body Nos. B51691-6) for Devon General.
Registration BJX131C Built July
1965 (Body Nos. B51724-7) for Hebble Motors.
Registration DJG609C Built April
1965 (Body Nos. B52367-92) for East Kent.
Registration
GJG632D Built March 1966 (Body Nos. B54181-92) for East Kent.
Registration JPA101K Built October
1971 (Body Nos. B58245-334) for London Country.
Registration Number JPA169K Built in
March 1972 (Body No. B58313); alongside Leyland Atlantean JPL104K Built
in April 1972 (Body No. B58337); both for London Country Buses and shown here
at the PRV works.
Registration KJY996 (Body by
Willowbrook - based at Loughborough and a subsidary of Duple) for Grimsby & Cleethorpes. (Photographs
© Grimsby Evening Telegraph).
Registration 791TJO Built February
1964 (Body by Willowbrook) for Oxford (Photographed at PRV Works).
Registration 4979VT Built 1964 (Body
B3238 by Marshall - based at Cambridge) for Potteries Motor Traction -
Stoke on Trent (Photographed at PRV Works).
This was a "Mystery Bus" - There was conjecture over this vehicle. Originally it was thought to be
possibly a Plymouth Regal IV (circa July ' 55) or maybe a Reliance. It was
questionable whether it was destined for New
Zealand or a small U.K operator. The
mystery is now solved!
The following analysis was kindly given by Malcolm Tennant (a member of the Management Committee of the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum at Lathalmond, near Dunfermline).
Malcolm's perception of this vehicle was that it had a striking resemblance to a 1954/5 AEC-PRV Monocoach of SMT (by then officially renamed Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.).
He commented: The SMT livery layout (of light green lower panels with darker green wings and cream roof, waistband and wheels ) seems to be echoed here. Only the absence of the "SMT Diamond" fleet emblem on the side and the "not-quite-as-I-remember-them" rear end causes doubt in my mind. I recall that SOL Monocoaches had twin side-opening doors to the boot, rather than a lift-up flap, and the number plate aperture doesn't seem quite right. However, as Scottish Omnibuses purchased the first six production Monocoaches (MC3RV001-6) and then 50 more in 1954/5, this may have been one of the first batch pictured prior to delivery (and presumable modification).
Now a further analysis by Neil Fraser (please see his AEC site) has confirmed that it is indeed a Reliance.
Neil has suggested that the "mystery bus" is an AEC Reliance MU3RV008, a very early production chassis, with Park Royal body number B39147. In Nov 1955 this vehicle was an exhibit at the Scottish Motor Show and was in Scottish Omnibus livery. It was later registered HSD 473 and sold to Hogarth, Ardrossan, t/a Clyde Coast Services.