90,000 subs! Leyland SUPER National bus walkaround and drive! 

Buy the T-shirt in this video at hubnut.fws.store - I love AU!

"Should we make a better head gasket?" "Sod that, thats exactly what they are expecting! No, instead, get rid of the head altogether!" Ah, British Leyland, never change.... (And they never did?) (Dont take the above to harshly, love this one, a wonderful machine indeed)

always used to like driving nationals on service work .fairly quick and comfortable .what i remember most is that the steering would not auto return to straight ahead after going round a corner, you had to manually return it ,to ahead .

Ahh the sound of my childhood. The racket of the National and the boomy exhaust note of the National 2 - and with the Atlanteans I'm amazed we came out of childhood without hearing damage. When the Metrobuses arrived around 1984 complete with their digital destination boards, they felt almost space age! Congrats on the 90k!

The National looks contemporary even today. If it had a step-free entrance it would be a thoroughly modern bus. Those chunky, rectangular rear lights are clearly part of the design - so much neater than the off-the-shelf, random-parts-bin lights fitted to buses now. It's still possible to travel on a Leyland National on the railways. Transport for Wales has quite a large fleet of Class 153 units, the most sophisticated variant of the National-derived trains. Cummins NT855R5 engines, and hydraulic transmission - which means acceleration requires all the revs!

Thanks Craig, thanks Ian for this awesome bus ride. My school buses in Germany were - no surprise - Mercedes, MAN and Setra. The ZF museum owns some buses with their automatic gearboxes. It's not far away from my home...

Leyland national my favourite bus in my childhood . That lovely musical engine I loved and still do . So glad these are being preserved .

I used to ride the John fishwick 109s to Preston and Chorley when I was a kid in the 80s with mi mum and nanna back then. Nanna used to go to the back and smoke some craven a cigs ( you could back then ) . Health and safety laws must be a lot stricter now ,because some of those fishwicks used to drive fast - especially onto Preston bus station apron ! When I was really young I got the sensation the bus was going to go over on its side on a corner ! Great memories but alas now a different world

These buses should never have been took out of service. Lovely to look at, lovely to be in and lovely sounds from the engine. They are a damn sight better than the buses in service now, hardly any breakdowns no fires bring them back.

The Leyland Tiger was the bus of my childhood. I still remember the sound of the diesel engines in it, as well as seeing the driver going through the pre-selector gearbox.

This was a timeless bus design - it didn't conform to styling cues from other contemporary vehicles, but made much of the fact it was an integral vehicle. I so agree about the rear pod, as it perfectly balances the overall shape. A great review - many thanks!

I remember these buses in my home town back in the 70,s 80,s ..They were bright yellow with blue and called the Super Bus . Happy days when the fair from home to the town centre was 6 pence 😁

Being Scottish, we didn’t see a lot of Nationals. Tigers and Leopards were the norm up here. I recall when a local independent bought a stack of them from Stagecoach Cumberland to compete with the dominant former SBC operator. Seemed so exotic.

Used to go on these all the time as a kid! The noise brought all the memories back!

There was only one route in the 80s that I could guarantee a Leyland National being on, and that was the 745 from Consett to Newcastle... Incredible memories!

I remember these buses from my childhood and love the sound of the engine. Thanks for sharing 😊

My dad was a bus driver. Bee Line Bus company. I would often go out on the rounds with him during school holidays. Many memories

There are genuinely nostalgic mechanical noises - if you lived near a UK airport in the 1950s, 60s and early 70s it was the turboprop whine from 4 RR Dart engines as a Viscount flew over, then on 1970s/80s roads there's the Leyland National as the engine revs climbed and dropped plus the 'pwaaassh' of the air pressure release valve opening. The huge fan at the back must've convinced gullible children that the National was a Blower Bus that was part jet-propelled... Magic! Congratulations on a fascinating video and on reaching 90,000 subs, Ian.

I drove one of the first Leyland National buses for the Northern bus Company based at Winlaton Depot. They were a breath of fresh air after driving the old style buses with crash boxes. They were great to drive, light controls and easy to handle. Great buses. The happiest days of my life.

I have no idea why I've suddenly been shown this video but I'm so happy. Since being a young girl I always wanted to become a Bus Driver for what was just Trent Buses back in the day. I even had the name of the chap at Langley Mill Depot for who to contact but I was always happy in my job at the time so didn't contact him, and then my BF at the time became a driver at the Ilkeston depot and I moved away. I'm now 51 and still to this day wish I'd gone to Trent and got my PSV. I still remember the particular routes which the Nationals were put on.

90,000 wow well done Ian. Loved the sounds of the bus makes me remember times gone by. Been a Hubnutter now for nearly 3 years. Enjoy it so much. Thank you again.

I produced and fitted all of the vinyl graphics on that! :)

That is actually my childhood dreams playing our driving a national thank you man

My favorite all time bus

Leyland national engines, the sound track from many a trip to school and home again in the 70's

I love that these special projects still survive and that it has fallen into the hands of someone who will ensure it continues in life as built. On a totally different note, I love the idea of a series where Ian goes back, potentially in this bus, to the places where he used to spend nights out in his youth. He could call it Clubnut. Congrats on the 90k. It's a brilliant achievement but easy to see how it happened.

Thanks for another great video Sir Hubnut. This one brings back memories as I worked on the National Bus development project in the Leyland Motors Central Engineering office in the early 70's as a new graduate. I must have been one of the first folks to actually drive one of these on the public roads, when asked by the Chief Engineer to take an early prototype to Preston Docks to weigh it on their weighbridge. This video brings the experience right back after 50+ years. That particular prototype had the original David Bache styling. However, Sir Donald did not much like the look of it and asked Michelotti to do a rapid redesign shortly afterwards. The redesigned version got to its launch venue at the Earls Court show with only hours to spare and the paint job had to be finished off on the show stand. Heady days!

That design takes me back! We used to have a local, council run bus company which ran a whole fleet of these.

Thankyou so much for the trip down memory lane and the sound really is what brings it back! This was my Saturday morning trip to town to go to Fidget computers in High Wycombe to buy the latest spectrum game. It was a long trip as it wound round lots of areas taking in two very steep hills from Bookerhill down to Sands and then up to Downey and back down. That bus really struggled. What fond memories, thank you

I remember these as a child when they were new in the 70s, I then got to drive them in service in 2000 when I worked as a bus driver, the company I worked for still had a few of them, but they started to go as the new low floor buses started to come into play

I gotta say that bus’ design held up SUPER well that would totally fit in in todays fleet

The sound and bus of my childhood when getting around my local area with my Mam & Dad. Happy days.

I remember travelling on them in the “80s! Midland Red from Coventry to Rugby - that noise is unforgettable! 👍🏻

I use to catch 1 of the buses every day to work, loved the sound of them.

OMG. I used to drive these for Wilts & Dorset Bus Company in the heart of Salisbury when they were first introduced. A huge overhang at the front and rear. A lovely bus to drive and a smooth ride. Thanks for sharing this experience.

I have many a memory catching these buses home back in the 1990s,to Halesowen from Broad street in birmingham at 2am in the morning. The number 9 straight down the Hagley road. Noisy,smelly and slow, but they got me home. Especially as the bus stop was no more than 5 minutes walk from my parents home, when i still lived at home. Happy days, especially waking up Sunday at midday with a killer hangover🍺😂

❤❤All I can say is, it nice to see those buses again. Don't crash them, They deserve to be repaired. How I envy you. So much apart of my childhood too. The engine sounds while standing still, Also when it drive. They did a good job on that design. One day I will get day one. I don't think, I will want to leave. ❤❤ The bus that is responsible for how future buses, looked;; and best engine location.

From Sydney , Australia, in 1969 my parents bought a house in Roseville , on the North Shore in Sydney . The privately owned bus company Forest Coach Lines serviced a large area , most of the suburbs on the high tableland above the beach suburbs where the TV show Home & away is filmed then over the far end of Middle Harbour over the Roseville bridge & to Chatswood . Forest Coach Lines were immaculately kept in pure white with a large dark green waist band , and the company name in unusual red lettering , very smart . They owned a fleet of Leyland's, AEC's , Albion's from the mid to late 1960's . Then in 1971 they received a strange new Leyland with a "modular" not coach built body the seating was staggered/stepped so the person sitting next to the aisleway seat was 6 inches rearward of the person in the window seat. I asked one of their older drivers what type of Leyland that it was & he said a pre production new National. Forest coach lines had the biggest privately owned fleet of Leyland group busses so they had been GIVEN this one for free and to keep after assessing its performance. Then during 1972 their new fleet of Nationals turned up . Forest Coach Lines kept them lovingly looked after and in service for years and years well into my adult life & yes "-Hub-Nut-" Nationals do have their own unique sound . Strangely at this time the Sydney government bus service that had a fleet of 1,000 plus Royal Leyland Tigers and double deck Leyland Atlanteans decided to buy Mercedes Benz busses as a replacement. A friend of my Grand-dads that was the chief mechanic at the Brookvale Government bus depot said the Leyland Tigers were way way better than as he called them the "rotten bloody merc's" . Frequently you would see a fairly new dead Mercedes Bus at kerbside with a whole bunch of passengers awaiting a replacement bus to collect them. For my 6 year of high school I had phase one of my 12 mile journey in a Forrest coachlines Leyland , then phase two of my daily trip in a Green Sydney Gov't transport Royal Leyland Tiger in 6 years of schooling not once did one break down . After years of service Forest Coach Lines swapped to a fleet of Volvo busses instead .

Add 40 odd screaming/ swearing school kids, fog and rain with all the windows steamed up and a stop 1/2 mile. Respect to the drivers.

Just remembered the strap line of the Leyland National Club. "Don't be odd. Get with the Pod!" 👍

Ah the 146 from Birmingham to our house in Kings Norton So many memories, thank you for reminding me of my youth

As someone who has followed you from the very beginning, I am truly chuffed for you, as you reach 90000 subs. 100000 won't be long coming. I watch a lot of YT channels...and yours is still one of the ones I go to first. Keep up the good work Ian.

seeing that cold start was like a breath of fresh air!

Headless worked very well for the Offenhauser race engines, they were basically able to handle unlimited boost because there were no head studs to stretch!

Such an evocative noise from that engine. I can remember these appearing on my school bus route in the 70s, and being excited to be on such a modern vehicle after the old Crosville buses they replaced.

When do we get HubNut Leyland National Merch?

Memories 😂😂plus the smash of exhaust as they went by! How have I not got a third nipple 🤔👍🏻either way love em!

Lovely Jubbly, a really interesting video Mr HubNut. I think Crosville buses used these when I was a child, you never forget the noise of engine, gearbox and rattles over unever roads.

Didn't think I'd hear those bus noises again! Ribble buses as they were back in the 70's & 80's had a few that whined and gasped their way around Lancashire and the Fylde. We used to slipstream them on our bikes on the way home from school! There was the Olympian & Atlantian? if I remember correctly as well as some older models. Lovely memories.

Went over that bridge at 28:00 on my first route for UPS as a delivery driver and thought that was squeaky bum time. I consider myself lucky after watching that haha 😄

You looked like you were having a lot of fun Ian. I drove buses for many years back in NZ. When I started, the fleet still included a few AEC's and a lot of Leyland Leopards, both running the pneumo-electric gearbox. That video brought back a lot of memories. Thanks for posting.

The noise of the engine takes me back to 1981 1982 in Leamington Spa getting the bus to school, operated by Midland Red, Love it!

Nice video Ian. The bus of my childhood was very much the Alexander bodied Leyland Tiger with the Gardner 6HLX back in Northern Ireland. Happy to see that they have dedicated preservation clubs for them too.

I drove these as well! What a blast!! Bristol Omni governed the engines down as the bus would barely do 4 mpg otherwise! It had a small but turbo-ed engine, a bad choice as it happened. Funny thing about the LN 1 was that the sterring didn't self-centre at all, which took a while to get used to - if you waited for the wheel to swing back after a turn, you would be off the road or into a car... The later LN 2 had a fairly grunty non-turbo-ed lump, and a fully auto 'box which couldn't cope with the hills around Bristol - you could hold the gear back until you hit the - again governed - 'red line', then manually flick it up, when it couldn't hold the revs and so either you waited for the box to change down, or do it manually before the inevitable epicyclic 'box lurch. It might take 10 or 20 such back-and-forths to get up Rownham hill towards, again, Portishead. Yes, you could hold it down in ? second I guess (it IS 45 years ago now!) and take what felt like forever to crest the long, long hill.

Oh I bet you really, really enjoyed that!

Used to hold onto the petrol cap cover on and get towed on my bike as a nipper lol there were loads of these bad boys where I'm from back in the day. Strangely nice to hear the sound of that engine again.

YES! - Another wonderful sound from my youth! Such a contrast too, with the almost turbine-like whine from the Gearbox and Turbocharger, to the 1 2 3 4 5 6 'Diesel Knock' when it was ticking-over! I believe that Chase Buses in Cannock were one of the last operators of the National, in any sort of volume. Surprisingly, they were all Mk1 Nationals with the 510 Engine.

Exactly how a bus should sound. Marvellous video! I do miss those Nationals.

Remember seeing this at wythall in perelli livery, glad it's survived and restored to almost original condition

I'm so happy to see one of these beauties preserved! Very interesting design the Super National, I don't think we had any of these up here in Finland. We did, however, have some Leopards on locally built aluminium bodies. My dad was a bus mechanic so I got to see the Leopards up close from a very young age and the very distinct whining sound of the drivetrain is something I still remember very well. Later I also rode one of the Leopards to school for a few years. It had seats with proper leopard fur velour, but I'm not sure if those were supplied by Leyland or if the coachbuilder just decided those would be a good fit... Anyway, congratulations for 90,000 subs and thank you for yet another excellent video!

That was probably the first large scale production turbocharged bus engine. And probably at least one of the first to use pneumatics for everything - suspension, brakes, doors, gearchange. Quite a number survived until the turn of the century, over 20 years old, with the original engine (or at least the original type of engine)

An upside down HubNut sticker has perhaps even more HubNut power

Sounds of my childhood also...that familiar whine of the engines. Back in the days of "O" and "A" levels at school. lol

I lived opposite Bexleyheath Bus Garage in South London from 1976, in those days they would work on the buses at night and rev them mercilessly the Leyland National is indeed a very bus of that age. Bexleyheath garage in the mid 1970's was mostly AEC Regents and Routemasters with a few Scania Metropolitan, but they did run Leyland Nationals on height restricted routes.

I remember these well, very iconic. And still doesn't look out of place today. I used to know someone, bit of a joker used to be able to impersonate the sound of one of these. Also the Morris minor and a two stroke motorcycle engine. Great video and congratulations...

I remember going to school on these in the early 80s and you're bang on the money as these buses just don't seem right when not making "that noise", bit like the Intercity 125 trains whenever they upgraded those glorious screaming Paxman Valenta engines for more boring refinement.

Even in the mid 90s we used to have these as school buses. Apart from the characteristic sound, I remember cold start ups in winter were accompanied by a massive amount of white smoke. It's a shame that modern single decker buses are shaped like a box.

School summer holidays staying at my nan's, Rainford to St Helen & back for the shopping! Started work for Arriva just as they was phasing out the Nationals swapping them out for Denis Darts, Scania's & Volvo, oh & Renault minibuses, can't remember the modals! Happier days!!!

90k with a number 90 on the front... Well done!

18:25 to 18:50 so reminded me of the bus trip to school in the early 1980s. That noise of the engine was so distinctive. Almost made me want to reach for the grab poles they had with the bell on them. Wasn't it a square button with PRESS or PUSH on it?

@22:33 I didn’t know someone with just a car licence could drive a big bus like the Leyland National providing its over 30 yrs old and not carrying more than 8 passengers. I’ve tried to pass my PCV and nerves keep getting the better of me. Really glad you mentioned that HubNut. I’d never question the legality of anything you do and assumed you had a full PCV licence (maybe you do) but that is really good information. Thank you for mentioning that.

Congratulations and well done Ian! It's been a pleasure to watch your videos!

Even as a non Brit I remember this engine sound/music from my holidays in the UK. Thank you and congratulations Ian.

Leyland always good comfort.

Great video! I love the sound of the Leyland National with the original 510 engine fitted. The idle clatter and whirring of the turbo and running gear are very distinctive. I have happy memories of riding of Eastern Counties Nationals out of Lowestoft bus station. They were mostly R reg or S reg and had the "Mk2" roof pod and indicator stalk off a late Triumph Spitfire if I recall correctly. I was always taken on how well the bus interior design was so coherent on these buses. Eastern Counties also had an early National with a long roof pod. The interior wasn't quite as well designed I felt (I was only about 11 or 12 years old).

Leopards and Tigers used to take me to school in Oz. Sydney/Newcastle actually had the largest Leopard fleet in the world in the 70's, 745 of them.

That noise is iconic, it brings back so many childhood memories. The road I grew up on was on a bus route and I must have heard these thousands of times growing up. Ours were in the orange and white livery of SELNEC. Congrats on the 90K subscribers. Used by the BBC in the 70s??!! I bet that bus has got some secrets to tell ;-)

Could smell those diesel fumes when it was reved in the bus shed. 90k fantastic effort.

A bus! Love it! Especially a National

From one school bus driver, Thank you. The job is not that bad. I'm going to miss my kids over the summer holidays. I preferred the National to the Lynx. Although, the Lynx was much quicker. Maybe a bit too quick, as stopping it was the hardest part. There was a delay to the throttle that meant the engine was still pushing as you were braking. A little green retarder light on the dashboard that had the picture of a parachute. Fills you with confidence when it's not stopping. I only drove them for my first year on the job as they were all replaced with the Dennis Dart and some Volvo B6, both Plaxton Pointer. This marked the end of good noises. I had always wondered why there was a Leyland Olympian and Volvo Olympian.

What a fabulous bus; always liked the Leyland National, but my favourite would be an RF.

Drove these in the 80's when I was a bus driver in Glasgow. Great video, brought back a lot of happy memories!

Like you this was the bus of my youth, i remember like you the noise but also sitting on those rear seats hanging right at the back window lol, swift buses too i remember but that could also be down to the nutty Merseyside Transport drivers hahaha, love these things.

My school days started and ended with that sound!!!!

Very cool. I'm sure many of us have spent time on one of those beasties in the past.

Well there goes the Atmosphere, (on start up..!) Splutter Splutter, I can smell it down here in Oz..!! 'Super National' enviromental destruction..!! Good video mind..!! 😎

.Well done reaching 90,000, no surprise either, your channel has a particular allure....

Oh the memories as a 7 year old lad catching the X71 Midland Red into Rugby from Hillmorton. Congratulation on the 90k subs.

I love the Leyland Super National and National. Part of my childhood. Boy I miss these going along the road alot. 😢

All i could think of when you were driving the bus, was the laugh from the driver and music in The Itialian Job lol.

Memories of my school days in and out of Hereford on a Midland Red liveried version!

I used to drive the Leyland National in service. This brought back many happy memories. It used to get so busy that I would get full up with people standing right up to the front standing next to me. It drove so smoothly fully loaded. I also liked the Bristol VR but used to bang my head on the roof when I went over a big bump. Ahhhh memories.

gotta love a nasher! even looks modern today, looks a proper urban bus

I used to ride the college bus down that very road in the Isle of Axholme. We didn’t have these cool buses but your video brought back some memories :).

I remember riding on one of these buses when I was six and what a revelation it was. Very good looking body design that offered a really supple and almost cossetting ride. Up till then other buses of the period were little more than cattle trucks with their cart springs and boneshaking ride. Incidentally, do you notice the how the logo on all the bus stop signs look remarkably like the Leyland National?

Bus of my childhood too. 12A Addiscombe, South London. Such a distinctive sound

Simply superb Ian you just get better as time moves on. Documentary / history vids are a real strong point for you.

I loved the Nationals when they first came to London Country in my childhood. The roof mounted whatever it is (you'll probably explain later in the video!), plus the fan which you were also fascinated by and the rear lamp clusters which reminded me of the then very trendy Mk1 Range Rover rear lights 🙂 To my childhood eyes, these buses did look bizarrely sporty - Can a bus look sporty? Clearly yes!

90,000 subs well done Ian great memories of these National buses my Dad loved working at the Workington Lillyhall factory for 20 years

We had these in Melbourne in the 70s and 80s. Same engi e sound with the turbo. I remember they were very comfy with nice brown vinyl full height seats, and brown fake wood trim. Actually faster and more comfy than anything since.