HGC 125 - Burton Corporation 69,
started life with London Transport G415 in 1946, as a Guy Arab with Park Royal
H30/26R body B31029. Along with others, it was refurbished by Roe before
entering service with Burton in 1953. After withdrawal it was exported to a
transport museum in Houston, Texas in June 1967 together with HGC 213, a similar
vehicle which had also passed to Burton in 1953.
Registration Number FCR 196 is a 1948 Guy Arab, with Gardner 6LW engine and Park
Royal H56R bodywork. It was fleet number 106 with Southampton Corporation.
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; whilst the nearest bus is MBY346 an AEC Reliance with PRV body
B37234 also new in June 1954 and destined for Bourne & Balmer.
This 1948 Guy Arab 5LW was destined for Khartoum, Sudan.
This 1949 Guy Arab III was destined for Kuala Lumpur, Malaya. Two were
delivered safely but one was destroyed in a terrorist attack shortly after entering service.
This Guy Arab III with Park Royal bodywork undergoes a
tilt test at LTE Chiswick Works on the 16th February 1949. The upper deck
appears unfinished (the rivets are showing) so it is difficult to determine its
destined operator from the shade of its livery (can anyone tell? Ed.). The
gentleman on the right is William (Bill)
Davis, Works Manager at PRV, and to the left is a Ministry of Transport
Inspector (probably). Photo kindly provided by Nigel Davis.
Registrations FFN 362 & 372
are Guy Arab III's for East Kent. The familiar Guy emblem of the a Native American Indian Chief with full feathered
headdress can easily be seen in the supersized middle picture (my father
had one of these treasures but what happened to it I do not know. Ed.).
Another Guy Arab III with ROE bodywork (Body No. GO3542) was found in a sad
state at
Cashmore's scrap yard, Newport, Monmouthshire in 1968 by Philip Mason who sent
in his photo of it being used as a lunch room and site office.
Originally CBR 535 (8th of
a batch of 12) had been built for Sunderland Corporation (fleet no. 135) in
October 1952. In the image half of the "B" in the registration has
broken away.
(CBR 539, the last of the
batch, is preserved at the North
East Bus Preservation Trust (the discrepancy with build/new date is
noted.)
Registrations GFN 912 & 937 are 1953 Guy Arab IV's with the same Park Royal H61RD
bodywork (Body Nos. B35928 & 53).
With a slightly different door handle and rear lights arrangement, these
vehicles,
destined for East Kent, have the Guy Motors emblem missing from the wheel hubs.
This is a 1954 PRV bodied Guy Arab III pictured here by Matthew Saunders
of the (S&DTHT). Fleet No.64 (FTR511) it is now converted to an open top along
with its companion vehicle Fleet No. 67, it is used for sightseeing tours (see Southampton
page).
Another 1954 PRV bodied Guy Arab III
pictured here by Terry Knappett of
the (S&DTHT) is No.71 (LOW217). New in 1954 this bus was never fitted with
the familiar Guy emblem of the a Native American Indian Chief with full feathered
headdress (see Southampton page).
Registration KFJ 173 is a 1956 Guy Arab IV
(Body No. 40085) destined for Kenya Bus Services, Nairobi.
Another 1956 Guy Arab IV destined
for Kenya Bus Services, Nairobi.
Built
October 1956 ( Body Nos. B40059-81); this is Guy Arab IV destined for Kenya Bus Services Nairobi. With an unladen
weight of 16856lbs (7.5 tons), it was licensed to carry 70 passengers at a
maximum speed of 25mph. In the first photograph the familiar emblem of Guy
motors (a Native American Indian Chief with full feathered headdress) can be seen
adorning the front air intake.
Registration Number MFN 883, this Guy Arab IV has Park Royal H61RD bodywork
(Body Nos. B39148-72) belonging to the East Kent Road Car Company Ltd. This vehicle was
the first of its batch of 25 similar vehicles delivered in 1957 to East
Kent. Fleet Numbers were not used by East Kent (Information courtesy of
Roger Hardy).
Registration 146 DDA Built December 1963 (Body Nos. B49911-35) for
Wolverhampton.