The Bedford JJL was an innovative but ultimately unsuccessful

midibus A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which are generally larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between and long. While used in many parts of the world, the mi ...

model built by

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. The JJL could have been a success, but was ahead of its time in predicting the boom in the

market, as seen by the success of the

Dennis Dart The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor second ...

. Only four JJLs were produced, along with a

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content starts ...

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

, starting in 1979. The production vehicles produced were as follows: The build date of the first chassis may indicate that this was the prototype that was converted to a production bus, although the bodywork numbers and build dates conflict with those found in.

Maidstone Borough Council Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it with ...

took delivery of the JJLs in 1981/82. UKK 335X and AVS 903T were sold to Brighton Buses, and then to Northern Bus,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

in 1992. EKX 648T also went to Brighton, but was scrapped in 1988 after a collision with a tree. HKX 553V was sold to Bournemouth Transport (trading as Yellow Buses) in 1983, and then onto The Goodman Group, where it saw service with Rambler and Goodmans coaches. It is the last JJL in service and has been exhibited at rallies. HKX553V was sold in 2018 to a collector from Aylesbury In 1985, Bedford considered reviving the JJL.More minibuses, but Marshall bides its time
''Commercial Motor'' 23 November 1985 Marshall SPV had the idea to reintroduce the JJL under the

Marshall Bus Marshall Bus was an English builder of bus and coach bodies based in Cambridge. It was owned by the Marshall Group until sold in a management buyout in 2001. History Marshall Bus was established in the 1940s by David Marshall. In 1958 it bo ...

brand, although the deal never caught on.5> Tricentrol of

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...

produced a short version of Bedford's YMQ chassis, the YMQ/S, ten years after the JJL.

References

External links

{{Bedford vehicles JJL Midibuses Vehicles introduced in 1979