| AEC Bridgemaster | |
|---|---|
 Park Royal bodied AEC Bridgemaster (forward-entrance) | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | AEC |
| Production | 1956-1963 |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | AEC AV470 (first two prototypes) AEC AV590 |
| Transmission | AEC synchromesh |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | AEC Renown |
The AEC Bridgemaster was a front-engined low-height double-decker bus chassis manufactured by AEC.
The AEC Bridgemaster was introduced by AEC in 1956 to meet the demand of low-height double-deckers from municipal and independent bus operators across the United Kingdom, which were barred from purchasing the Bristol Lodekka. It was designed as a fully-integral vehicle, utilising two sub frames like the contemporary Routemaster. Four pre-production examples were bodied by Crossley with an aluminium body; production examples bodied by Park Royal were introduced from 1958 with steel body frames at the request of British Electric Traction. [1]
In 1960 a forward-entrance version with slightly different driveline layout was introduced. [2] A total of 180 were produced before it was superseded by the AEC Renown in 1963. [3] East Yorkshire Motor Services were the largest customer, purchasing 50. [1] [4] [5]
Bulgy the Double-Decker bus, his friend and 25 Australian buses from the Railway Series and the children's television series Thomas & Friends is based on the AEC Bridgemaster.
Crossley Motors was an English motor vehicle manufacturer based in Manchester, England. It produced approximately 19,000 cars from 1904 until 1938, 5,500 buses from 1926 until 1958, and 21,000 goods and military vehicles from 1914 to 1945.
The East Anglia Transport Museum is an open-air transport museum, with numerous historic public transport vehicles. It is located in Carlton Colville a suburb of Lowestoft, Suffolk. It is the only museum in the country where visitors can ride on buses, trams and trolleybuses, as well as a narrow-gauge railway.
The Leyland Titan was a forward-control chassis with a front-mounted engine designed to carry double-decker bus bodywork. It was built mainly for the United Kingdom market between 1927 and 1942, and between 1945 and 1969.
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A lowbridge double-deck bus is a double-decker bus that has an asymmetric interior layout, enabling the overall height of the vehicle to be reduced compared to that of a conventional double-decker bus. The upper deck gangway is offset to one side of the vehicle, normally the offside, and is sunken into the lower deck passenger saloon. Low railway bridges and overpasses are the main reason that a reduced height is desired.
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The Albion Lowlander was a Scottish-built low-height double-decker bus.
Sunbeam Commercial Vehicles was a commercial vehicle manufacturing offshoot of the Wolverhampton based Sunbeam Motor Car Company when it was a subsidiary of S T D Motors Limited. Sunbeam had always made ambulances on modified Sunbeam car chassis. S T D Motors chose to enter the large commercial vehicle market in the late 1920s, and once established they made petrol and diesel buses and electrically powered trolleybuses and milk floats. Commercial Vehicles became a separate department of Sunbeam in 1931.
Coventry Corporation Transport was the operator of trams and motorbuses in Coventry, Warwickshire from 1912 to 1974. The operations of Coventry Corporation Transport passed to West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive in the local government reorganisation of 1974.
The AEC Renown was a front-engined low-height double-decker bus chassis manufactured by AEC. It superseded the AEC Bridgemaster around 1962.
Media related to AEC Bridgemaster at Wikimedia Commons
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