The full history of Ivanhoe Bus Company was the subject of the Australian Bus Panorama 2005 Christmas Special. Alan Greenhill provided a detailed account of the company's predecessors and history until 2005. Limited numbers of this publication are available from the BCSV (PO Box 8, Oakleigh South, 3167) for $10 each, including postage (it also includes a history of Baxter's Holroyd BC from Sydney).
BCSV member Charles Craig worked for M&M Motors in 1955 before the formation of the Ivanhoe Bus Company. These two pictures were taken by him. The first shows what is probably the first new bus for M&M Motors, although not actually brand new, being a demonstrator for Commonwealth Motors (bus distributors at the time) to advertise the Vulcan chassis (this one with a Symons and Fowler body). It was shown at the 1951 Melbourne Motor Show, was probably built in 1950 and went to M&M at the end of 1952:
In a rather different Bell Street to today, here is most of the M&M fleet on an early Sunday morning before services began. Along with the Vulcan, there is also an MBA bodied Seddon (like the one in my avatar) and four International K5s, some with Cheetham & Borwick bodies and others with Symons & Fowler bodies:
Here are three John Masterton depot shots, taken in 1963, the second in 1967 and the third in 1970. It can be seen that the CAC/Comair Bedford became the backbone of the fleet during this period:
There were a number of PMCSA bodied Bedford BLPs in the fleet, this was the last, number 16 reg AVR 022, new 6/80:
Ivanhoe then moved to Elwoods, six new and three from Ventura. This one was new to Bentleigh BL in 1986, was acquired by Ventura along with the routes (27/4/87) and was then sold to Ivanhoe in October 1993:
The Ivanhoe Bus Company fleet always impressed as a modern, well kept set of buses. The yellow buses of Ivanhoe and Heidelberg will soon be blue.
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