The Leyland Panther was a rear-engined

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 status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

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. ...

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 Iris ...

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 bou ...

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

Charles H. Roe Charles H RoeCompanies House extract company no 188071
Charl ...

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 ...

. 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 o ...

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, Grenda's Bus Service,

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. w ...

and Keiraville Bus Service. Ten Panthers were sold to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) 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.Leylands for S Africa and Israel
''Commercial Motor'' 25 September 1964

References

*Jack, The Leyland Bus (Mark 2), Glossop 1981

External links

*
Bus Australia galleryFlickr 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 S ...

Vehicles introduced in 1964 Bus chassis Step-entrance buses