Very nicely driven. I like the use of "Hold" pulling away from the traffic lights at about 6:20. I did similar with an Olympian the other weekend, but didn't time it as well as this!
Back in the 1990's, I used to drive mk1 nationals, some of which had volvo B10M engines. They went like hell, but the standard gearboxes just couldn't cope with it. This 680 nat 2 sounds really nice though!
I drove mk 1 & 2 Nationals when we had them in Worthing at the end of the Southdown era in the late 80's. The mk 2 engine sound was much more gutsy than the screaming mk 1. I remember the mk 2's were unbareably hot in the summer. I also remember the gear control where you could go from 5 straight to 1 & the bus would drop down the gears one at a time. If you did that in a mk 1 you would probably leave the engine in the road on fire! Take a look at my vid of a National.
Great video. I remember in the mid 1970's, the Greenline drivers use to drive their MK1s as if they were racing cars, accelerating hard away from traffic lights, changing up through their semi-automatic boxes, suprising many car drivers with their speed, and I didn't at the time, and still don't think bad-handling. Elsewhere, the MK2s seemed more restrained, but the larger non-turbo 680 sounded right, in true Leyland fashion.
It's definitly in fully auto, since he's not touching the gear selector. The selector is the small silver lever under his right hand when the wheel is straight. It will also be able to be driven as a semi-automatic
No national EVER had a manual box. They were either fully auto, or semi auto. The box itself is phisically the same, but the semi has a different gear changer. It works better as a semi, and the gearbox lasts longer, if the driver trets it properly, and doesn't slam-shift it.
