Made in England

[nickjones]

Already thought of that, 5 foot hull, 15 foot routemaster and 30 foot mast = 50 feet, don't leave much room for clearance when going under low bridges and would likely cause hold ups, especially on the motorways.

[Ewan]

What sort of bus is it?

[GHOSTHUNTER]

YEAH! could be a problem...I hear there may be some of those London 'bendy busses' still available, one of those might be better, certainly lower, I'll put a 'WANTED' advert in the "VBD Times" for you Nick.

Ghosty.

[motorman]

Yep, front bushes, discs & pads, tyres, battery, rear window, fan belts, radio-dvd player,
I'm turning it into a new car bit by bit.
Actually I just offered it as a part exchange on a live aboard bus, I'm torn between a bus and a yacht, can't decide if I want to explore the UK or explore the whole world.
I wanted to be a new age traveller but I'll just have to content myself with being an old age traveller.

Nick wait a minute, are they not still auditioning for the next DR WHO?

I can see you as a time traveller. I know i would have loved to have been one!!

I would send that Tardis right back to the sixties and get on tow with one of the assembly workers at Lesney and make sure she brought plenty of lunchtime specials home to me.........in return i would give her a lunchtime special of my own!!!!

[nickjones]

I'm thinking about a ford Iveco 59-12 bus like they use for schools and disabled transport but this might be a bit on the large side so I might go for a transit with coachbuilt bus body as it has the width but is not as long so should be a bit more economical to run, 4 berth, wood burning stove and all the usual bits, I can take the grandkids away during the holidays and maybe take a few paying passengers along the way, "Toyfair Tours" anyone lol. It could be a cheap way to holiday in the UK as you would see a lot of the countryside and visit whatever toyfairs are on but you would not have to worry about transport or hotel expenses. Food for thought.

[nickjones]

I would send that Tardis right back to the sixties and get on tow with one of the assembly workers at Lesney and make sure she brought plenty of lunchtime specials home to me.........in return i would give her a lunchtime special of my own!!!!

My sister worked for lesney in the late 70s, I could get her to make colour trials to your specifications

[motorman]

I'm thinking about a ford Iveco 59-12 bus like they use for schools and disabled transport but this might be a bit on the large side so I might go for a transit with coachbuilt bus body as it has the width but is not as long so should be a bit more economical to run, 4 berth, wood burning stove and all the usual bits, I can take the grandkids away during the holidays and maybe take a few paying passengers along the way, "Toyfair Tours" anyone lol. It could be a cheap way to holiday in the UK as you would see a lot of the countryside and visit whatever toyfairs are on but you would not have to worry about transport or hotel expenses. Food for thought.

How many of us were you planning to get in this custom Transit? It sounds a bit cosy for my liking......No "Hotel Expenses"?? are you suggesting sleeping next to me NIck under the moonlight?? Very romantic but not my scene mate! I dont have a problem if you parking up over night outside the Travelodge, you can stay in the transit and i will go and get a room with a minibar. Anyway thanks for the offer.

[motorman]

I would send that Tardis right back to the sixties and get on tow with one of the assembly workers at Lesney and make sure she brought plenty of lunchtime specials home to me.........in return i would give her a lunchtime special of my own!!!!

My sister worked for lesney in the late 70s, I could get her to make colour trials to your specifications

Would she approve of a Scotsman getting friendly with her??

[Ewan]

I'm thinking about a ford Iveco 59-12 bus like they use for schools and disabled transport but this might be a bit on the large side so I might go for a transit with coachbuilt bus body as it has the width but is not as long so should be a bit more economical to run, 4 berth, wood burning stove and all the usual bits, I can take the grandkids away during the holidays and maybe take a few paying passengers along the way, "Toyfair Tours" anyone lol. It could be a cheap way to holiday in the UK as you would see a lot of the countryside and visit whatever toyfairs are on but you would not have to worry about transport or hotel expenses. Food for thought.

I ran an Iveco 35:10 and a coachbuilt Transit - there's probably photos on Flickr if you do a search for North Harris Motor Services - and they are very different. The Iveco was bought when I needed a bus in a hurry and came off ebay for around 2k. 18 months and several k more in maintenance later I sold it on ebay for around 2k. The front suspension is the bug bear, it has torsion bars and the best/easiest way to change the bushes is to drop the whole front crossmember. That's when you find out that the bars themselves are knackered..... The front crossmembers can rot, and so can the chassis above the rear axle (that's why I sold mine, the next MOT would have been scrap time). On the other hand, it was the most fun to drive of any of my buses and I would have one again for that reason alone. The 49:10 is a bit smaller than the 59:12 and should still have decent headroom, if you get one a Webasto heater you won't even need the wood stove.

The coachbuilt Transit was a much bigger investment, far newer and the best bus I had by far. It wasn't ideal for the Isle of Harris as it was very light unladen and the wind used to catch it something rotten, one of my routes involved going over a high bridge across the sea and that was even scarier because the wind used to get under the bus and lift the back end up..... I think it did around 23 - 25mpg on very hilly routes which was pretty good, and everyone can fix a Transit. The only real problems some people had with them was with the top end of the engine, but I would have thought that any that would have blown up will have done so by now. Just one thing - do not, under any circumstances, no matter how good the deal looks, be tempted to buy an LDV.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Nick's new 'Bendy bus-boat'.gif (9.16 KiB) Viewed 1844 times

Here is Nick's new 'Bendy bus-boat'.