That took me back 50 years... these had an unmistakable sound... excellent restoration and well done on giving this 'ol gal a new lease of life - looks stunning
I remember these in Norwich in the 70s. The drivers used to slap it thru the gears with the foot flat to the floor. They used to drive with the door open in summer too. Good Times. Best thing with a Leyland badge on it.
Nice pause between the gears to allow the bands to release. Brings back some good memories in late 90’s when I drove these for a living along with Mk2’s, leyland Olympians, and Volvo B10M’s
Most drivers used to rag the hell out of them in 1st especially pulling away uphill, otherwise by the time they’d got 2nd the thing would be stationary again
@@davemarshall561 Not right. Using 1st on a 4 speed box or 2nd on a 5 speed, it was smoother and more effective to change at a lower speed and time the revs/release lag. I drove these for many years.
Bloody lovely video. Really miss riding on Southdown Nationals in the Eastbourne area. Nothing but Enviro 2/3/400s etc etc etc round here now..... 😭😭😭😭😭
Nice 2 C a Leyland National on the road again she sounds really amazing this brings back memories of when I went 2 Durham on Leyland Nationals back in the 90s really great sound & hearing the rattling again really cool
Thanks - I take pride in my driving and don't always get it right but do my best. And if I break her then I get the bills so its in my interest to treat her with the respect she deserves!!
Too many revs moving off. All that 2nd gear needs to do is get the bus moving, 5-10mph. That is sufficient for 3rd and allows for a much quicker and smoother gear change. The reason is, the National had quite a long lag releasing and an equally long wait for the revs to drop. By keeping the power on to match the release, as this driver did, and changing at lower revs, there is greater control and less chance of uncomfortable changes. Having said that, it was great to see proper use of the gearbox. I drove these on service from the 1973 production up to the final National 2 automatics.
If only they hadn't removed the ZF! No worrying about all that then. I'm surprised Leyland didn't offer a Voith option. They were introduced in 1974, in time for the series two with shorter pod. Did MCW have exclusive access in the UK?
I think they had many faults. The early ones were very light over the front wheels which could make slippery roads quite exciting, however re-siting the batteries in later models was quite a good solution. Steering was over powered reducing feel for the road surface. Another problem was the very tidy channel for the air lines which could be a problem in snowy conditions as the snow and spray compacted round the pipes and froze the air. There is a comment about driving with the front doors open. One of the reasons for this was the placing of the heating/ventilation thermostat, placed behind and to the rear of the driver. Open the cab window for fresh air and the heating would turn on! Another concern was they weren't forgiving. Bad drivers must have caused a lot of neck pain. Probably the best design was the cab layout. Every dial and control was perfectly placed, easy to reach and naturally positioned which meant minimal stretching and fatigue.
i notice the looks at 1:45 to what used to be the bus depot. Railway gone 1966 (which you just drove over the road overbridge), now bus station too ( don't know exactly when that closed )
@@MetroTitanD78 its been completely rebuilt and has probably done less than a thousand miles since then, probably a lot less than that so its still being run in really!!
