The Leyland Panther 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 ...
chassis manufactured by
Leyland between the years 1964 and 1972. A version with a smaller engine was released as the
Leyland Panther Cub
The Leyland Panther Cub was a rear-engined single-decker bus manufactured by Leyland from 1964 until 1968.
It was a derivative of the Panther that Leyland were forced into building for an influential customer, it was only offered on the home ...
.
History
The Leyland Panther was introduced in 1964. In total, over 600 Panthers were built for operators in the United Kingdom, while about 700 Panther chassis were built for export. It gained a reputation for unreliability, which to some extent was common to many of the first generation of rear-engined single-deckers.
Operators
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
Corporation Transport ordered 30 Panthers in 1965 with Stratchans bodies, all of which were delivered by December 1966; by 1971 the fleet was 90 strong.
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
City Transport ordered a total of 110 Panthers with
Metro Cammell Weymann
Metro Cammell Weymann Ltd. (MCW) was once a major contributor in transportation manufacturing in the UK and Europe. It was established in 1932 by Metro-Cammell's bus bodybuilding division and Weymann Motor Bodies to produce bus bodies.
M ...
bodywork while
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish ...
Corporation Transport ordered 22 with
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 ...
bodywork. Preston Corporation amassed a fleet of 41 Panthers, including a number with Seddon Pennine bodies and the last six Panthers built.
Hull Corporation Transport were an early adopter of the Leyland Panther with
bodywork, with one Panther being built in 1964 initially for exhibition by the manufacturer at the Commercial Motor Show. Hull Corporation would eventually take on a total twelve Roe-bodied Panthers.
East Yorkshire Motor Services
East Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, England. Prior to acquisition by the Go-Ahead Group in June 2018, the company was known as East Yorkshire Motor Services.
History
...
also ordered Panthers, ordering 19 with Marshall bodywork in 1965 and 1966, while the
West Riding Automobile Company
The West Riding Automobile Company was a bus company that served the Wakefield area of Yorkshire, England from 1922.
Company history
The West Riding Automobile Company was formed as a subsidiary of the Yorkshire (West Riding) Electric Tramways ...
took 45 Leyland Panthers in 1967 with both Marshall and Roe bodywork. One has been preserved at the
Dewsbury Bus Museum
The Dewsbury Bus Museum is a museum in Ravensthorpe, West Yorkshire, England. Opened to the public in September 1989, it is owned and operated by the West Riding Omnibus Museum Trust, a registered charity, and is run entirely by volunteer effor ...
and is restored to "as delivered" condition.
Exports
Storstockholms Lokaltrafik
Storstockholms Lokaltrafik, or more formally Aktiebolaget Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (Greater Stockholm Local Transit Company), is the organisation running all of the land based public transport systems in Stockholm County. It was previously k ...
in Sweden had 200 left-hand drive Panthers bodied by
Park Royal Vehicles
Park Royal Vehicles was one of Britain's leading coachbuilders and bus manufacturers, based at Park Royal, Abbey Road, in west London. With origins dating back to 1889, the company also had a Leeds-based subsidiary, Charles H. Roe.
Labour pr ...
.
The largest quantity of Panthers was purchased by Australia's
Brisbane City Council
Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...
, who purchased 341 between 1966 and 1970. The
Metropolitan Transport Trust
Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train op ...
,
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
purchased 127 between 1968 and 1974. A few operators including
Forest Coach Lines
Forest Coach Lines is an Australian bus and coach operator. Founded in 1930 in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney, since 2016 it has expanded with purchases in the Mid North Coast and North West Slopes regions in New South Wales. It is a subsidiar ...
,
Grenda's Bus Service
Grenda's Bus Services was a bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Australia. As a Melbourne bus company, it operated 23 bus routes under contract to the Victoria State Government. It was purchased by Ventura Bus Lines in January 2012.
History
...
,
Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines
Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines was an Australian bus and coach operator in Melbourne.
History
Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines was formed in 1954 when a multitude of operators who operated route 1 Gardenvale to Melbourne City Centre and 2 Middle Br ...
and
Rover Coaches
Rover Coaches is an Australian bus company operating services in the Hunter Valley.
History
In 1925, George Ryder purchased two small bus operators, the South Maitland Motor Company and the Marble Bar Motor Service, and named the company Rover ...
also purchased Panthers.
Some second-hand Panthers were imported into Australia from Sweden and the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and operated by
Fearne's Coaches, Forest Coach Lines, Grenda's Bus Service,
Invicta Bus Services
Invicta Bus Services was a bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was a Melbourne bus company that operated 16 bus routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It was purchased by Grenda Corporation in March 2009. ...
and
Keiraville Bus Service.
Ten Panthers were sold to
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ĺtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
City Transport in New Zealand, while another ten went to
Egged in Israel and were locally bodied by
Ha'argaz
Ha'argaz is an Israeli cooperative founded in Tel Aviv in 1932. It is one of Israel's oldest industrial companies.
History
Ha'argaz was founded on August 18, 1932, as a cooperative that produced crates for the citrus industry. The first factory o ...
.
Leylands for S Africa and Israel
''Commercial Motor'' 25 September 1964
References
*Jack, The Leyland Bus (Mark 2), Glossop 1981
External links
*
Bus Australia gallery
Flickr gallery
{{Leyland buses, state=collapsed
Panther
Panther may refer to:
Large cats
*Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis''
**'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards.
*** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in So ...
Vehicles introduced in 1964
Bus chassis
Step-entrance buses