The AEC Q-type is an AEC-built, side-mounted-engine, single- and

double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...

that was launched in 1932. It was designed by G. J. Rackham, an employee of the American firm

Yellow Coach The Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company (informally Yellow Coach) was an early manufacturer of passenger buses in the United States. Between 1923 and 1943, Yellow Coach built transit buses, electric-powered trolley buses, and parlor coaches. Fou ...

from 1922 to 1926, leading him into contact with the

Fageol Fageol Motors was a United States manufacturer of buses, trucks and farm tractors. History The company was founded in 1916, in Oakland, California, by Rollie, William, Frank and Claude Fageol, to manufacture motor trucks, farm tractors and au ...

Twin Coach Twin Coach was an American vehicle manufacturing company from 1927 to 1955, located in Kent, Ohio, and a maker of marine engines and airplane parts until the 1960s. It was formed by brothers Frank and William Fageol when they left the Fageol Mo ...

. It was not until a visit to America in the late 1920s that Rackham noted the success of the 1925 Twin Coach which had won large sales to American operators. The result was Rackham returned to

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

(AEC's Works) with the idea of implementing American practice of side-mounted engines in British bus production.

Design

The Q-type, although based on the Twin Coach, had many differences, the most noticeable being whilst the Twin Coach had two engines (hence the name) the AEC Q only had one. This overcame the many complications arising from the need for a second engine for the transmission.

London General Omnibus Company The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer. Overview The London General Omnibus Company was fou ...

received the first Q-type vehicle with a crash gearbox although all subsequent vehicles had the pre-select version. The engine was available in either petrol or diesel incarnation and was located longitudinally behind the front axle, intended to be hidden by the staircase (double-decker version). This allowed the driver's cab to be located on the front overhang with the entrance opposite, even though some body builders didn't use this facility and had a centre entrance. Its modern full-frontal design made it look very similar to buses built in the 1950s and 1960s.

The demise, but one success

The Q failed to attract the attention of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

operators and failed to find a market in the UK, unlike Fageol in the US. One of the reasons was the Q's susceptibility to problems, the most worrying being that the carburettors on the petrol-engined models caught fire. The recommended solution was just as worrying ... increasing the revs until the fire went out! However, the vehicle was just too revolutionary for the conservative-minded bus industry, with the result was that the Q did not obtain the popularity of the other AEC models, so the project was dropped, last appearing in the 1937 catalogue. One version that was an oddity was the

AEC 761T The AEC 761T was a two-axle double deck trolleybus chassis manufactured by AEC. Based on the AEC Q-type bus chassis, only five were built; a demonstrator that was later purchased by Bradford, one in Southend-on-Sea and three exported to Sydney ...

trolleybus version, of which only five were built. However, London Transport did find the single-deck model useful for its needs and, accordingly, bought over 200 of the diesel-engined version. They led full service lives.

References

*Thackray, Brian (2001). ''The AEC Story: Part 1''. Venture Publications Ltd. *Townsin, A. A. (1980). ''Blue Triangle''. Transport Publishing Company. {{AEC range Q-type Cab over vehicles Double-decker buses