A photo montage of my former Hants & Dorset Leyland National MK1 GLJ681N during her restoration from early 2009 until her emergence during the summer of 2010.
All I can say is well done to the guys for saving one of the most beautiful buses ever seen on uk roads, they should never have been taken out of service, they are a lot lot better than the rubbish the bus companies use today. The guy who designed the National deserves a golden hand shake.
The National was truly a bus ahead of its time. Nothing about it really screams "heritage vehicle" and yet it's almost fifty years old. I'm 37 and I have distant memories of riding on these in my childhood. Gorgeous bus and so heartwarming to see it being well looked after. :)
*This Leyland National MK1 was registered on 21 January 1975 and has currently done 615170 miles.* Fabulous restoration ! Great music !!! - very good job. well done 👍👍👍
Great video and a thumbs 👍🏾 up for the early Leyland National Mk1 a specially the ones with the slimline pod. The Setra 315 GT-HD Coaches which is similar to the Leyland National with the slimline pod.
I remember these both from my home town of High Wycombe where some of the first LNC class were introduced on the Green Line 711 Route between Wycombe & Reigate via Central London & from my holidays down in Bournemouth.. having a weeks Hants & Dorset bus ticket .. Rode the X routes to Southampton & Salisbury … hard to believe that was over 46 years ago.. your wonderful example brings back so many memories .. and I’m delighted that LNC45 reg NPD145L (one of Reigate [RG] garages allocation for 711) is also being restored…
I remember riding on those buses back in the 70's in Kingston Jamaica. The nation's bus company Jamaica Omnibus Service (J.O.S.), purchased 160 units .However they were not suitable for the hot and rough Jamaican conditions. Therefore they had to change the buses and bought units that were more sturdier and could do a lot of hill climbing. The buses were Leyland Victory and Albion Clydesdales.
I worked for East Kent Rd Car Co..in Canterbury Kent 78-89..as a Coachpainter /Signwriter (both by brush). Loved hand painting these ...easy job...as we use to say. Sad they were so smoky when starting cleared us out of the works before they installed extract fans! You did a great job on her ..well done...and good music😊
Great restoration, i worked for the Red & White for many years as a fitter and loved the Nationals. A great bus which was years ahead of its time. Nice to see another example back out there.
As a mechanic for London Transport working at Poplar garage, we were allocated a little fleet of these to run under the Blackwall Tunnel to Eltham. They ran on route 108. This was in the early 1980s, and our Nationals were brand new delivered from Chiswick works. They were a superb bus, with very few problems and as a bonus the heating and ventilation system kept the drivers very happy. I would agree that on engine start up, they could be a bit smokey. However it didn't appear to affect their performance in service. We were all advised to allow the engine to idle, after working to allow the 'airsearch turbocharger' to spool down. We were told this would prolong the life of the unit. Thanks for sharing your photos with us on here. I'm aged 66 now and have been off the buses for a number of years. As for my old garage Poplar; in Leven Road E14. I have seen plans to demolish it. This will no doubt be used for multi million pound apartments overlooking the 'River Lea'. What price progress eh!!
Great video. Makes me feel old though; I remember the excitement when these appeared new on the school run in Essex (Eastern National). Where's the time gone?
i know this bus..seen it in Salisbury and went for a trip round town on her.... and in Warminster too..my pub quiz buddys brother owned this for a time...he sold her when the gear box failed..love these busses me
Not sure its the same vehicle as the gearbox has never failed on her, the engine was having troubles though which was when the previous owner sold her on and required a full strip down and total rebuild though.
What a great restoration, I loved driving the Nationals. I don't think I drove a N reg though. The L and M reg weren't fitted with anti roll bars, but the P reg ones were. Is your one fitted with the anti roll bar? It made a difference to the handling. We used to open the destination flap and have the Demister pipes blowing down on us in the Winter. Some had cab heaters fitted later, that made a difference.
No antirollbar fitted - as far as I know no Phase 1 Nationals had them. And yes she rolls well! poultyphotos.smugmug.com/The-fall-and-rise-of-GLJ681N/Rubbing-down-and-repaint/i-NB98z6C/A
Now at a guess wasn't this or a very similar one for sale on ebay a few years ago for 8k or 12k also don't know if it's this one or similar located up near Alton?
It was this one but wasn't that high a price (unless my memory is failing me of course!) and at that time was indeed kept up near Alton but left there many years ago now.
Sorry only just seen this - the work rebuilding the various bits seen in the photos and the repaint was 4k in total. I helped keep the costs down though a little as I did some bits such as some of the sanding down and whilst it sounds cheap, the paintjob still looks good ten years on, albeit patched in some places from where shes been knocked or scraped.
Great buses the nationals, really advanced for the early 70s. The only thing always seemed to be the doors never worked properly, seemed like they had an asthmatic sparrow puffing them open/closed🤣
