Hello its Dave Smith from , formerly Smiths of Brenzett, excellent video, love the Leopards, had over 20 of them, also owned SND352X which i am sure was new to Maynes, was a Tiger 218 though, lovely motor, memories hey. best regards Dave Smith
Regards from Denmark. Excellent sound ! It's reminding my from the time as I started to work as a busdriver. I've been driving Leyland 0680 - 0690 and TL/11. Best buses ever !
He knows how to treat a semi auto! Too many simply slammed them through on full power. I only drove one Leopard with the air change, the regular ones were electro pneumatic ones ( Alexander Y types). We had several Atlanteans with the air change though, i always preferred them though every one acted differently. Some you kept the throttle down for a moment after selecting neutral, and selected the next gear before the revs had dropped fully, knowing that by the time it gripped the gear they would have done. All delayed action. And after having the same bus for a week and got the timing perfect, it would go in for service and I'd have another for the day. Which was the same type, but reacted totally differently resulting in a few snatchy changes until one got the feel of it! To me though, the best bus to drive has to be the Tiger.
Credit to you sir, absolutely adore the Leopard as a machine. Regrettably, I had to sell mine, due to lack of suitable storage, something I now regret since mine was unique............but now in good hands! The sound from the Leyland engine coupled to that pneumocyclic 'box is phenomenal and sitting in a Leopard is a great experience.......perhaps the best bus chassis/engine combination ever built....unburstable, simple technology.
I’m not a big bus fan, but during my childhood in the 1970’s, I do remember these on the old CIE Expressway services between Dublin Busaras, Navan & Kells and later on, some Irish coach operators used these vehicles too
Reminds me of my journeys as a mid teen on the old London Link service X6 from Victoria coach station to Bracknell (Ladbrookes Mercury hotel). Lovely sounds once again. Thanks!
Hi there!! Thanks for posting this on here!! In 1997 i started secondary school and my School bus was a 1980 W Reg Leyland Leopard sounded lovely and went too!
That guy is handling the pneumocyclic precisely right, a joy to watch! The Coach looks great as well, nice condition, I think thats a Plaxton Supreme Body if I'm not mistaken.
plaxton body i used to drive a coach like this for national travel west skelhorne street liverpool love the gear box on them we had some in national holiday's livery and on motorway once you got it going 70mph + 3rd lane leopard engine fantastic dam good bloody work horse they would run all day/night not a problem thanks for posting
Used to drive an pneumocyclic Atlantean on Schools (SNU 459X), I loved driving it, used to use the gearbox exactly like this, timed perfect smooth ride! A lot didn't use the gearbox right I hasten to add!
There is something strangely mesmerising about watching this. I too spent many a journey too and from school on a Leopard, mid 70's vintage, manual door. Ah the memories. Even had a few school trips down the motorway in one. However that driving position looks so awkward, these things don't look built with driver comfort in mind
Years ago, I had a Bristol RE, with the same 680 engine, but with a 4 speed box, and "country" back axle. On a trip from Bristol to Weymouth, and back, I managed an average of 16mpg, which I think is very good!
I used to love the air & electric over air. Would pride myself on being able to change gear up and down, smoothly. A few cowboys out there gave the boxes a bad name!! Even drove an ex-military Ford bus with an air shift for a while. Turbocharged and would go like a rocket.... Aaaah.... those were the days.....
Lovely sound, good drive but they move off perfectly happily in second on the flat. This was how we were trained to do it (Wessex National, early 80s) and I must have clocked up more than a thousand hours on these.
Lovely sound on this, and reminds me of the Plaxton's Barton Transport (Chilwell, Nottingham) had back in the day, with the double "Grant" pasenger doors...... Leyland 0.680 in this old girl par chance?
What an absolutely fab machine, love these and especially Volvo B58's with the same gearshift, would love to own either, cant seem to find a clip of a B58 with same gearshift on here
Yes, I'd heard of that. a great shame, new buses whilst having lower emissions are a LOT thirstier and harder to maintain. Malta is a kind of mecca for old bus enthusiasts, I'd love to visit again.
Yes, take it from gear to neutral a second or so before releasing the accelerator, to let the gear band release. These pedestal change Leopards were a delight.
@craigybus1 Dead right mate. I've driven mk2 Nationals and Bristol VRs with the 5speed semi-auto and 2nd gear is the one you use to pull away. 1st is just a crawling gear and very rarely gets used. Lovely old vehicles and very sad indeed there not around in service any more.
You will have to release the throttle to make it change... In theory, you can select 3rd gear and still accelerate through 2nd, it will only change when the throttle is released. This gearcolumn is the fully pneumatic type (classic hissing noise when gears are changed), newer buses was electro/pneumatic, where the column was fitted with contacts instead of pneumatic valves, leaving the pneumatic part back in the gearbox itself. Correct me if i am wrong.
Maynes of Warrington had two I may have driven this one when I was working there with Doreen the used to be parked under cover garage the way I used to drive it I used to always do the college run I can’t remember if it was northwich or Nantwich
Since you have no glow plugs, consider a Webasto heating system. Otherwise, just turn the key and keep starting until a) the batteries go dead, or b) the engine starts. DON'T keep any pauses while starting: the engine loses all heat it has gained. Either it starts or you'll need aux power. Never use starting fluids, they ruin the engine. Hope this helps.
doesnt it have a cold start button? seem to remember older buses having these, like a fuel enrichment device? I agree with rekku9 about starting fluids, they are like running on nitrous and can damage the piston crowns
Probably, yes. I guess it would make for a rough ride if you were to do so when downshifting and maybe even when upshifting too. I dont know what the red button is for, i have seen it on some buses...
No need whatsoever to use first though when pulling off. Its a crawler gear. Any 5 speed semi auto is designed to be able to pul away on the flat in 2nd, and every stick box PCV ive driven pulls away in 2nd fine even on hills.
I remember my lecturer used to work for a bus company and they would call the drivers "the animals" mentioned an essential device to cut rpm to shift, he may be just saying what u r saying, I cant remember? whats the red button for that some have in middle of gear shifter gate? not this one.
In really cold weather, first remove the air intake pipe, then while an assistant presses the starter, you light a blow torch and aim it in the air intake pipe. then whern the engine is running, re-connect the pipe to the air cleaner. It sounds as if you have poor compression, which will not help your cold starting. Time for some new piston rings?
Hi there, a bit late in reply. Yeah it's a crawler gear, I'm actually looking for the bigger version of these shifters in the 5 speed , I restore these types..
Sounds like these drivers hadn't been taught the art of changing gear. Straight-through changes aren't recommended with a semi-auto box, as it ends up ruining the gearbox bands and can cause premature gearbox failure. There should always be a pause between gearchanges.
