The Leyland Victory Mark 2 is a front-engined

double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...

chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1978 and 1981. Like its competitor the Dennis Jubilant it was specifically designed for the contemporary operating environment (hilly roads and one-person operation with a

farebox A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used. Fare structure is the system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various pa ...

) in Hong Kong. The chassis was developed from the Guy Victory J, which was also chosen by Bus Bodies (South Africa) for the development of its own double-decker. Four examples were delivered to

Kowloon Motor Bus The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB) is a bus company operating franchised services in Hong Kong. It is the largest bus company in Hong Kong by fleet size and number of bus routes. It is a subsidiary of Transport International. ...

for evaluation.Hong Kong Buses Part 3: Kowloon Motor Bus '' Fleetline'' issue 249 July 1997 page 112 It could be fitted with Gardner 6LXB engine and

Voith The Voith Group is a German manufacturer of machines for the pulp and paper industry, technical equipment for hydropower plants and drive and braking systems. The family-owned company, which operates worldwide and has its headquarters in Heid ...

D851 gearbox, but one Victory Mark 2 for

China Motor Bus The China Motor Bus Company, Limited (), often abbreviated as CMB, is a property developer in Hong Kong. Before its franchise lapsed in 1998, it was the first motor bus operator in Hong Kong, and was responsible for the introduction of double-d ...

had been experimentally fitted with

Self-Changing Gears Self-Changing Gears was a British company, set up and owned equally by Walter Gordon Wilson and John Davenport Siddeley, to develop and exploit the Wilson or pre-selector gearbox. Self-Changing Gears designed, built and licensed transmissions for ...

GB350 gearbox. Almost all Leyland Victory Mark 2s built for Hong Kong were fitted with

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 ...

bodywork, but the last 20 buses built for China Motor Bus were fitted with

Duple Metsec Duple Metsec was a bus bodywork builder based in West Midlands of England in the United Kingdom. It usually supplied body kits for bus assembly overseas. It was originated from the bus body manufacturing business of Metal Sections, know ...

bodywork. Elsewhere, single-deck versions of the Guy Victory were also operated in Southeast Asian cities like

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

and Penang.

Operators

(KMB) introduced 540 Victory Mark 2s between 1979 and 1983, including one unsuccessful air-conditioned coach which later had the air-conditioning unit removed.

(CMB) purchased 167 Victory Mark 2s between 1979 and 1982.

New Lantao Bus The New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited, commonly known as New Lantao Bus or NLB, is a franchised bus company operating in Hong Kong. It mainly operates bus routes on Lantau Island. History NLB was formed in 1973 through the merger of three b ...

(NLB) also purchased nine between 1980 and 1983, with a further six buses acquired from KMB in later years. In 1993 NLB sold 10 of its Victory Mark 2s to Citybus which took over 26 routes from CMB on 1 September 1993. This model of double-decker bus has served nearly all regions in Hong Kong, including

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

, Kowloon, Hong Kong Island, and

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

. All NLB and Citybus's Victory Mark 2s were withdrawn in the mid-1990s. KMB withdrew its last Victory Mark 2 in early 1998. CMB operated Victory Mark 2s until the takeover of its routes and vehicles, by

New World First Bus New World First Bus Services Limited (NWFB) is the third-largest bus operator in Hong Kong. Established by NWS Holdings and FirstGroup in September 1998, it took over 88 China Motor Bus services in Hong Kong Island. Since 2020 it has been a s ...

on 1 September 1998, the ex-CMB Victory Mark 2s were gradually replaced by new

low-floor bus A low-floor bus is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between the ground and the floor of the bus at one or more entrances, and low floor for part or all of the passenger cabin. A bus with a partial low floor may also be referred to as a low ...

es, the last Victory Mark 2s were withdrawn on 31 August 2000. Four Citybus Victory Mark 2s became service vehicles after withdrawal, whilst some withdrawn KMB/CMB Victory Mark 2s were sold on for use in rescue training.

Accidents

The Leyland Victory Mark 2 has a notorious reputation as an unsafe bus, mainly due to its soft

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspende ...

and high

centre of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force ma ...

, which makes it prone to overturning.

Preservation

Some of the ex-China Motor Bus Victory Mark 2s had been saved for preservation. LV2, LV30 and LV158 are preserved in Hong Kong, LV36 was donated to

Scottish Vintage Bus Museum The Scottish Vintage Bus Museum is a transport museum in Lathalmond, 2.5 miles north of Dunfermline, Fife. The museum is open every Sunday between Easter and the start of October. History The museum was established in 1986 in Whitburn, West Lot ...

.Victory towcar shipped to Britain '' Buses'' issue 769 April 2019

Trivia

*Leyland Victory Mark 2 was also known as "chicken" in Hong Kong because of its resemblance to chickens rocking back and forth while in motion, as a result of fitting in a rather soft suspension system.

References

External links

Images of KMB's Victorys
{{Leyland buses, state=collapsed Double-decker buses

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...

Vehicles introduced in 1978