The AEC Regent II was a
front-engined
double-decker bus built by
AEC from 1945 to 1947. Despite officially being a new type it was very similar to the
1929 Regent. The Regent IIs were all documented as being new with the A173 (also known as the 7.7-litre) engine and a four speed sliding mesh gearbox. The only vehicles that were not standard were the 100 purchased by
B.M.M.O. (Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company), which were classified as O661/20 as the front had to be re-designed so they could carry similar
bonnets and
radiator grille
In automotive engineering, a grille covers an opening in the body of a vehicle to allow air to enter or exit. Most vehicles feature a grille at the front of the vehicle to protect the radiator and engine. Merriam-Webster describes grilles as "a ...
s that B.M.M.O. had designed for the double deckers they built themselves.
Operators
The only other Regent IIs to differ from standard were Dundee Corporation's fleet of ex-
London Transport STLs, all of which carried flared-bottomed Weymann bodies. Dundee changed the sliding mesh gearbox for the pre-selective version - a move which may have been expected from a concern like London Transport (who favoured pre-select vehicles) but not of a corporation buying vehicles second-hand. Other operators who bought Regent IIs new included Liverpool Corporation (100, A225-324), Kingston-upon-Hull Corporation, Lowestoft Corporation, Morecambe and Heysham Corporation, Mansfield and District, Reading Corporation, City of Oxford Motor Services, Ebor Bus Co of Mansfield. The twenty from
London purchased by Norths, a dealer and were sold to a variety of operators such as Grimsby-Cleethorpes Transport, Widnes and Dundee Corporations.
Survivors
Out of almost 700 produced between 1945 and 1947, only nine survive. Two of those are derelict in the United States and one in England was converted to a lighting vehicle by Morecambe & Heysham after colliding with a railway station canopy, and survives in Yorkshire. Now the only place it is possible to ride on a Regent II is at the
East Anglia Transport Museum
The East Anglia Transport Museum is an open-air transport museum, with numerous historic public transport vehicles (including many in full working order). It is located in Carlton Colville a suburb of Lowestoft, Suffolk. It is the only museum ...
near
Lowestoft
Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...
.
A former Liverpool Corporation example, GKD 434, exists but little work has been done on it since the 1970s due to obsolete parts.
There is also one in British Columbia. Canada which is running and ready to be restored.
In 1968, an ex-Reading Corporation vehicle, CRD 253, was bought by a couple of Scottish students at
St Andrews University, converted to provide sleeping and cooking facilities, and driven from Perth to Istanbul and back via various Eastern European countries. It was subsequently sold to a Belgian enthusiast and last seen in 1981, apparently abandoned by the roadside, near Brussels.
References
{{AEC range
Regent II
Double-decker buses