The Leyland National was originally built in two lengths, 10.3m and 11.3m. The first intention was for it to be built in whole metre lengths, but changes to European regulations during the development period meant a slight lengthening, although this was to have a much more significant impact on design for Australia. My recollection is that in 1970, the only state where 11+ metre buses could operate, at least on metro services, was South Australia (corrections or additional info welcomed). Elsewhere, 36 feet or, about 11 metres, was the limit. So the 11.3 m version was not possible in most states, which meant the 10.3 m version was the only possible variant. But this was now at the lower level of bus length in Australia. Canberra ordered 70 Nationals but wanted a 10.9m version. This was also made available to Brisbane. The Nationals revolutionary modular design made this a reasonable proposition.
After extensive touring of a fully imported demo (the only 11.3m version to operate in Australia), orders began to be made. The demo was sold to Bowman's in Adelaide just before the STA takeover:
While some buses were imported complete (minus seating) most came in CKD (completely knocked down) versions. This meant that the whole bus was imported in bits and made up in Australia at Pressed Metal (Sydney), a Leyland subsidiary.
The first major customer in Australia was the ACT government bus operator, later known as ACTION. They took, what turned out to be the biggest order, 70 buses, with the first delivered in late 1974.
The MMTB in Victoria placed an order for 30 after speculation that 100 buses were to be ordered. They opted for the 10.3m version (33.784 feet), not least of all because of the long running dispute (twenty years) regarding one man operation of government buses. The first arrived in January 1975:
The MTT Hobart also ordered 63 of the 10.3m version, although one was rejected and later replaced with a 10.9m bus:
The 10.9m version found favour in Brisbane where the 7 buses had a distinctly Brisbane window style:
Another MTT, this time in Perth, opted to trial a National. Originally it worked in normal service and had the usual National windows but by the time it was snapped here, it was on special Clipper duties and had the Brisbane style windows fitted:
So, Canberra received 70, Hobart 63, Melbourne 30 and Brisbane 7. Perth received one and the STA Adelaide (via Bowman’s) also one. The only other government/ municipal operator to receive a new National was the Rockhampton City Council (their number 19). In addition, they received a number of second hand Nationals from Britain in the 1980s.
The private bus industry also received many Nationals – 58 in fact. Notable purchasers were Surfside with 14, Deane and Rowe with 8 each, Forest with 6 and Bender’s with 5:
The National remains a unique part of Australian bus history. The 510 motor proved to be underpowered for Australian conditions, although Leyland technicians might disagree. It would be interesting to know what might have happened if the TL11 engine had been available and fitted to these buses when new.
I welcome additions to this post to illustrate the complete history of the National in Australia.
The photographs come from the Graeme Turnbull Collection, with the exception of the Canberra bus picture which comes from the ACTbus/Leon Batman Collection and the Melbourne photos which come from the Official MMTB Collection.
