| Leyland-MCW Olympian | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer |
Leyland Motors Metro-Cammell Weymann |
| Built at |
Leyland Motors, Farington, Preston, Lancashire, England Weymanns (1928) Ltd, Addlestone, Surrey, England |
| Operator(s) | Western Welsh Omnibus Co, John Fishwick and Sons, Trinidad Bus Service, Jones, Aberbeeg, Government of Ceylon, Government of China. |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 30ft (9.5m) for 40, 41 or 44 seats |
| Floor type | Step entrance |
| Doors | 1 door |
| Engine(s) | Leyland O350H 6-cylinder horizontal diesel engine |
| Transmission | Leyland constant mesh, 4 speeds |
| Options | Option of 40 or later 41 coach seats rather than 44 bus seats |
The Leyland-MCW Olympian was an integral single-deck bus built by Weymann Coachbuilders of Surrey for the Metro Cammell Weymann group using Leyland Tiger Cub units.
British Electric Traction subsidiary Western Welsh Omnibus Co took 1 in 1954, 40 in 1956 and six in 1958. Trinidad Bus Service had four in 1956 and John Fishwick and Sons of Leyland took six in 1957. The 1954 show bus and prototype went to Jones, Aberbeeg whilst a single example was exported to Ceylon, the sole left hand drive example was sold to China in 1958, all 60 were single door.[1]
In his Classic Blunderbus column on the type in Classic Bus 63, the current Buses Magazine editor Alan Millar explained that it was a lightweight version of the Leyland-MCW Olympic, and as that used Leyland Royal Tiger or Royal Tiger Worldmaster components, so this used Leyland Tiger Cub units. The name Olympian was he says adopted because Olympic Cub would have sounded "plain daft"; that said Leyland coded the type HRC (or, for the sole left hand drive version, ELC) where HR or EL was a mnemonic for "Olympic" and C meant "Cub". Completed examples were only 3cwt lighter than Tiger Cub chassis with the same maker's body. In appearance there was little to tell them apart save that the Olympian was differently badged and had a water filler cap mounted behind and slightly above the centre line of the nearside front wheel. With 60 built and six exported this was the least successful postwar Leyland single deck. But Leyland kept hold of their registration of the name, and it came in handy for the Project B45 Leyland Olympian in 1980.
LW was the bodybuilder's identity for the vehicle, it could have stood for Leyland Weymann, or Light Weight, probably the latter. One of the Fishwick buses is preserved.
The example for China was completed sometime in 1957. If it had succeeded then no-one would now be remembering Sir Donald Stokes in connection with Cuba...
References[]
- Booth (ed), Classic Bus 63, Edinburgh, January 2003.
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