The Bristol RE was a

rear-engined In automobile design, a rear-engine design layout places the engine at the rear of the vehicle. The center of gravity of the engine itself is behind the rear axle. This is not to be confused with the center of gravity of the whole vehicle, as an im ...

single-decker bus A single-decker bus or single-decker is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term ''single-decker'' refers to a standard two- axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which ...

or single-decker

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

built by

Bristol Commercial Vehicles Bristol Commercial Vehicles was a vehicle manufacturer located in Bristol, England. Most production was of buses but trucks and railbus chassis were also built. The Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company started to build buses for its own use i ...

from 1962 until 1982. It is often considered the most successful of the first generation of rear-engined single-decker buses. Initially, the RE was only supplied to subsidiaries of the nationalised

Transport Holding Company The Transport Holding Company (THC) was a British Government-owned company created by the Transport Act 1962 to administer a range of state-owned transport, travel and engineering companies that were previously managed by the British Transport C ...

(THC), by which

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

was wholly owned. From 1965, when Leyland purchased a 25% shareholding in Bristol and the company's products became available to non state-owned bus operator customers, the RE also gained popularity with companies in other sectors, including the

British Electric Traction British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rent ...

(BET) Group and many municipal operators. From 1972, sales to the National Bus Company (NBC), which had taken over the operations of both THC and BET) began to dry up, due to the introduction of the

Leyland National The Leyland National is an integrally-constructed British step-floor single-decker bus manufactured in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industries – the National Bus Co ...

. From 1976, the RE remained in production only for the Northern Irish state-owned bus companies

Ulsterbus Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, which also ...

and Citybus, and for export to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

Transport Board, New Zealand. In

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, the RE was most commonly fitted with bodywork by

ECW ECW may refer to: Professional wrestling * Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001 * The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...

, but several other manufacturers also built bodywork on the chassis. Some

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

were fitted with Duple Commander,

Plaxton Panorama Elite The Plaxton Panorama Elite was a successful design of coach bodywork built between 1968 and 1975 by Plaxton of Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. A wide-doorway variant called the Plaxton Elite Express was also built. Collectively, they are common ...

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

M Type bodywork. In Northern Ireland, the RE was bodied by Alexander (Belfast), with the X Type bodywork. Three of the ex-Citybus REs from Belfast were acquired by

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...

in October 2005, where they appeared in movies such as ''

Children of Men ''Children of Men'' is a 2006 dystopian action thriller film co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay, based on P. D. James' 1992 novel '' The Children of Men'', was credited to five writers, with Clive Owen making uncredi ...

'' and '' St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold''.IMCDB Bristol RELL in St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold - http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_301596-Bristol-RELL.html

Variants

* RELL - long (36'), low frame (bus) * RESL - short, low frame (bus) * RELH - long (36'), high frame (coach or dual-purpose) * RESH - short, high frame (coach or dual-purpose; rare) * REMH - maximum length (12m), high frame (coach) These designations were suffixed by a code indicating the type of engine fitted: * 6G - 6-cylinder Gardner diesel (6HLX) * 6L - 6-cylinder Leyland diesel (O.600/O.680) Bristol RELL6G chassis TOI2288 underfloor engine

Bristol RELL6G chassis TOI2288 underfloor engine

What was to be the first production chassis (212.001) was changed to a pre-production model (number REX.003), with a

body built by ECW but devoid of any seats and fittings. It was used by

at its Brislington Experimental Shop for a few years. It was fitted and ran with a horizontal version of the contemporary Bristol BVW engine, and also fitted with a turbo-charger. Later the Gardner engine was refitted, the body completed and sold to West Yorkshire as their fleet number CRG1 OWT241E. The most popular model was the RELL, with 2,839 constructed; there were 976 of the RELH model and 698 RESL. The two least successful models were the REMH, with 105 sold to just three customers, and the RESH with 11 built for four customers. A sixth model, designated REML, was advertised from 1968 but none was built. This would have had the wheelbase of the REMH but a low frame suitable for a bus body.

Customers

Of the 4,629 Bristol REs built, 3,242 were sold to subsidiaries of the NBC and its predecessor groups, THC and BET; 148 were sold to members of the

Scottish Bus Group The Scottish Bus Group (SBG) was a state-owned group of bus operators covering the whole of mainland Scotland. The origin of the grouping was the operators owned by and including the Scottish Motor Traction company, which were transferred to ...

; 405 to British municipalities and PTEs; and 834 to other operators. The biggest customers were:

Bristol Omnibus Company The Bristol Omnibus Company was a dominant bus operator in Bristol, and was one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. It ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties. History ...

(439);

Crosville Motor Services Crosville Motor Services was a bus operator based in the north-west of England and north and mid-Wales. History On 27 October 1906, Crosville Motor Company was formed in Chester by George Crosland Taylor and his French business associate Geo ...

(288);

/ Citybus (620);

United Automobile Services United Automobile Services was a bus company, which operated local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It provided bus services across a wide geographical area, stret ...

(470);

West Yorkshire Road Car Company The West Yorkshire Road Car Company was a major bus operator operating in North Yorkshire, North and West Yorkshire between 1906 and 1987. History West Yorkshire The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed in 1906, running at first steam buses in ...

(259).

References

* *

External links

Website about RELH coachesWebsite about one RELH (UK registration OAX9F)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bristol Re RE Vehicles introduced in 1962 Bus chassis Step-entrance buses Coaches (bus)