The Bedford SB was a front-engined bus chassis manufactured 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 t ...

in England. It was launched at the 1950 Commercial Motor Show as the replacement for the

Bedford OB The Bedford OB was a bus chassis manufactured by Bedford from 1939. History The Bedford OB was designed as a successor to the Bedford WTB. It had a wheelbase of , and was a semi-forward control model, designed to carry 26 to 29-passenger body ...

. It was the first Bedford vehicle to have a "forward control" design, with the driver's seat located at the right of the engine and the front axle underneath. It used a four-speed synchromesh gearbox, with five-speed gearboxes offered later. Initially only available with a Bedford petrol engine, from 1953 a Perkins R6 was an option, with a Bedford diesel and the Leyland O.350 options from 1957, and the Leyland O.370 from 1963.

Wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (fron ...

length was originally 17 ft 2in (5.23 m), but from 1955 an 18 ft (5.49 m) option was also offered. Bodywork was provided by a wide range of builders, including Duple,

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

Plaxton Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough. Founded in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton, it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. In 2019, the maker was acquired by Canadian bus manu ...

, Harrington and Willowbrook. It was primarily fitted with one door, although examples were fitted with two. From 1968, the SB series used computer classification codes from Bedford's parent company

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

, with the petrol-engined SB3 variant becoming NFM, and the diesel-engined SB5 variant becoming NJM. However, they were rarely referred to under these codes. The SB was built for the UK market and export. By 1980, over 54,000 had been produced, 38,000 being for overseas operators. Production ceased after 36 years in December 1986. The Army, RAF and Royal Navy, plus several other government departments took large numbers of them. The Armed Forces version was more austere than civilian versions and capable of being converted to ambulances in times of emergency. The

New Zealand Railways Road Services The New Zealand Railways Road Services (NZRRS) was a branch of the New Zealand Railways Department and later the New Zealand Railways Corporation. It operated long-distance, tourist and suburban bus services and freight trucking and parcel ser ...

were the largest operator, purchasing over 1.200 primarily with New Zealand Motor Bodies bodywork with some fitted with

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sy ...

C7 engines and

Allison Transmission Allison Transmission is an American manufacturer of commercial duty automatic transmissions and hybrid propulsion systems. Allison products are specified by over 250 vehicle manufacturers and are used in many market sectors including bus, refuse, ...

s.Railway Road Services a sign of growing importance of road transport
Kiwi Rail There were numerous variants of the SB, each determined by the engine fitted:

References

External links

{{Bedford vehicles, state=autocollapse SB Vehicles introduced in 1950