First Leyland-powered Fleetlines
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• The first British Leyland Fleetline doubledeckers to be powered by the Leyland 680 engine are currently being delivered to Southend-on-Sea Corporation Transport and Teesside RTB. British Leyland truck and bus division announced the option of the Leyland 680 for Fleetline chassis in August 1970, and exhibited the first preproduction example at the last Earls Court Commercial Motor Exhibition.
Introduction of the 680 engine to the Fleetline has enabled British Leyland to offer a wider range of specifications in the rear engined double-deck market through the Atlantean and Fleetline models and has also assisted the Radford, Coventry plant to meet some of the increasing demand from United Kingdom bus operators for Fleetline chassis.
The order from Southend-on-Sea Corporation, for 26 double-deckers, is the first to be received from this undertaking for Fleetline chassis.
The buses for Southend and Teesside are fitted with 33ft-long bodies, with forward entrance and centre exit for one-man
operation, built by Northern Counties Motor and Engineering Co Ltd, of Wigan, Lancs. A feature of the Southend order, and of the 11 buses for Teesside, is the use of CAV/Daimler automatic transmission incorporating a throttle-dip arrangement for smoother gear changes—the first occasion that this arrangement has been fitted on a production chassis. All 37 vehicles include for the first time the latest stainless steel piping arrangement along the centre of the chassis.