Iran

From 1958 to 1972 some nine-hundred buses were built for Tehran (Iran); the first batches up to 12/1967 were 250 AEC Regent V and the last batches from 1972 to 1974/5 comprised 650 Leyland Atlanteans; making the Shah of Persia PRV's most important overseas buyer.

Here is the Shah (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi [1919-1980]) - stepping out of one of his new Atlanteans circa 1972 (he is on the platform holding on to the vertical pole).  I don't know where this was pictured - it seems it might be an airfield - nor do I know who the man stepping vigorously off the platform is; anyone know?

This image is a bit of a cheat as I think this is pictured at an airfield in the UK; so here's a challenge - can anyone supply images of PRV bodied buses in Tehran?  There are no prizes just the kudos; my thanks in anticipation, Ed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi
(Image from the Don Matthews collection)

[ a ] Here is the Shah again; an earlier image to the above as this time he is pictured, no doubt in Tehran, inspecting one of the first of the AEC Regents that were delivered from 1958.
Close inspection of the front of the bus shows a plate with the words 'PARK ROYAL' prominently displayed.  I have never seen this before as the name of the coachbuilder was never displayed there.
(Image supplied by Borzou Sepasi)

[ b ] And here is one of those AEC Regent V buses, pictured somewhat later, in operation in Tehran.  The enlarged image shows an advertising plaque sited just to the left of the entrance door (something else I haven't seen before).  It reads "made by AEC of England, the producer of double deck buses for the big cities of the world".  This, message, of course, was a an exaggeration. 
(Images & translation supplied by Borzou Sepasi)

Note: This might seem insignificant, but the two images above marked [a] & [b] tell a story:
In image [a] is something I've never seen before; the front of the bus is emblazoned with the words 'PARK ROYAL' and it's even more prominent than the AEC badge. And, as it has always been the chassis manufacturer that took all the credit with the coachbuilders' rarely considered worthy of mention, this feature is somewhat surprising.

AEC would never have agreed to placing the coachbuilders' (PRV 'Park Royal') sign there as this would have defied British commercial transport industry convention; that of course suited AEC, and other chassis builders' narratives.  Perhaps Park Royal might have placed the sign on the bus itself, but AEC would have considered this act presumptuous and would have been very annoyed. 
So maybe The Shah requested it? And who would argue with The Shah?.

But Borzou Sepasi has another theory; he believes that the management of the "Vahed Transport Company of Tehran" had requested that the name 'PARK ROYAL' be prominently placed on the front of the bus.  Why?  
Vahed needed to name its new British bus in a way that would be very familiar to its travelling public. The name 'AEC' or 'Associated Equipment Company' has no obvious equivalent in Farsi (the language of Iran) and are difficult to pronounce.  However the English words PARK & ROYAL, were already 'borrowed' words (aka 'loanwords') in the Farsi language and when spoken in Farsi are pronounced exactly as in English, so no Farsi speaker would have any problem calling the new bus a 'PARK ROYAL'.

Borzou's suggestion is perfectly reasonable, even though it utterly opposed the UK Bus Industry's long-time unstated agreement on hierarchy, and this too is surprising.  However, even AEC would have agreed to it for the largest ever order of Regents at the time.  Thus AEC, for once, had to take a subjugated role and let PRV have the 'unintended' glory of it's name on the front of the bus; and that must have been irksome for AEC management. 

In my opinion AEC's vexation was demonstrated by the advertising plate on the side of those Regents.  If AEC had to accept 'PARK ROYAL' on the front of the bus then it was going to advertise itself by the entrance door.  And I've never seen that before either.

I think, from this, it can be appreciated how the archaic working relationship between the sibling companies AEC & PRV, where, from middle management down, each considering itself superior (especially AEC) to the other, didn't help their joint businesses.  In my opinion this unnecessary rivalry had harbingered during and since the Routemaster project, and perhaps ACV should have done more to smooth the relationship.

These seemingly small issues do help to tell the real story about these companies and not the one often told, even today, in commercial vehicle history publications. And, by the way, the Routemaster is still called the AEC Routemaster even though PRV built it.
(Please click here for my article 'Let's hear it for the Coachbuilders')
End Note

0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0

An AEC Regent filmed, in service, in Tehran, Iran circa 1969. Courtesy Borzou Sepasi

Please Note: This video is 31 seconds long, but is shown three times; otherwise YouTube considers it a 'short' mobile video; it then changes its format and disallows its display when embedded within Windows (as it is here).

(You can find this and other videos here)

0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0

And here is one of the 650 Leyland Atlanteans built for Tehran.  Photographed recently (October 2023) it's PRV bodywork does, admittedly, look somewhat shabby now; but, to be fair, it is well into it's 6th decade on the road.  Though I don't think it's providing commercial passenger services nowadays, it clearly provides ample shade for those needing a quiet repose!
(Image supplied by Borzou Sepasi)

Borzou Sepasi who has sent in this extraordinary image that appeared in a 1985 Iranian film entitled 'The other side of the fog'.  In the background is shown a PRV bodied AEC Regent V repurposed as a truck.  What's left of the bus is limited to the front end and door arrangement changed to a cab.  This makes for a strikingly good utility vehicle on a very strong chassis.  It's appearance is so 'fit-for-purpose' it might easily have been designed as a truck initially.
(see the LHD PRV/AEC Regent V under construction for Tehran)
(Image supplied by Borzou Sepasi)

And also, from Borzou, are these very interesting old newspaper images from Tehran:
The first is of a Regent V body being 'reconstructed' by the local 'Vahed Bus Company' in Tehran, from a 'flat-pack' supplied by Park Royal.  This was, perhaps surprisingly, an approach to order fulfilment that PRV offered where there was a local workforce capable of understanding and carrying out bus body construction with support from Park Royal.
(Image supplied by Borzou Sepasi)

It's known from this 1951 Export Brochure that Park Royal had a very successful export business, of which 'local builds' often formed a significant part; especially as there were considerable savings in transportation charges in comparison with those associated with shipping fully built vehicles.  Though I believe the 1951 'Export Brochure' was the only one ever produced since no others were in my father's collection and none have turned up since Leyland closed Park Royal in 1980.
Here shown in the 1951 Export Brochure are some 'flat packs' being assembled ready for shipping.
(This is the only image I have seen of local construction; Ed.)

The second image shows an improvement in local safety by the 'Vahed Bus Company' in Tehran; its this worthwhile, and some may conclude an essential, addition of a platform restraining panel.
Open platform buses (e.g. Routemasters') especially in London, were, and remain, a risk, due to their hop-on/hop-off nature; nonetheless Londoners' remained enthusiastic about them for that very reason and in the traffic-clogged city alighting (with extreme care) midway between official stops could be very convenient.
(I have never seen a platform restraining panel like this and what a good idea it was; Ed.)
(Images supplied by Borzou Sepasi)

This image supplied by Borzou is a bit of a mystery.  From the "Kayhan" newspaper published in October 1957, it describes an AEC bus, said to have been imported by the Galoostian Company, being shown at the British Embassy in Tehran; apparently in the presence of the Iranian Prime Minister and the British Ambassador.   Whilst it is said to be an AEC chassis, there is no indication of the marque (I am guessing a Regal III or IV), and neither is the coachbuilder named.  I can not find any evidence of a Regal being built by Park Royal for Iran in late 1957 though several Regal IIIs were built for Iraq in the September of that year and it's quite possible one might have been redirected (by Galoostian?) to the British Embassy in Tehran for the purpose of a private showing.
(Can anyone confirm anything about this bus? Ed.)