Copyright Ian Wild

East Yorkshire Motor Services
1966
AEC Renown 3B3R
Park Royal H38/30F

This was taken at Flamborough on 12 June 1968 in glorious sunshine and about to head off on a Bridlington cross town service. The top deck has the characteristic East Yorkshire inward taper to allow safe passage through the North Bar at Beverley and what an elegant and distinctive livery!! This must have been the last batch of front engined buses for East Yorkshire.

A full list of Renown codes can be seen here.

Photograph and Copy contributed by Ian Wild

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I know that the AV590/AH590 engines were a little suspect and that the Regent III/RT was better regarded but I still don’t think you can do much better than the Regent V. [Sheffield’s certainly acquitted themselves well in the mountains close to – and in – the Peak District.]
After the commercially unsuccessful Bridgemaster came the low floor Regent V – otherwise known as the Renown. I was particularly fond of the North Western beasts which batted down the A34 during my time as a student in Manchester. How true, though, about the elegant livery of EYMS.
The Bridgemaster was ungainly and almost ugly. The similar body on the Renown was just different enough that I think it avoided the vices of its big brother. It was the right bus at the wrong time, though. Time and the Atlantean overhauled it – and then came the Fleetline as well.

David Oldfield

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Some of the 1966 East Yorkshire Renowns were swapped for some older Fleetlines with the Northern General Group in the early days of the NBC. Many of these ended up in NBC yellow as they ran in the Tyne and Wear PTE area. The sharp eyed may spot one in the film version of the Likely Lads

Chris Hough

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Quite prescient, that. Many big fleets dual sourced and many, like Sheffield, went over to Daimler Fleetlines from AEC Regent Vs and Renowns. Although AEC deckers lasted to the end (1968/9), like most other half-cabs, they were a spent force by 1966 – very few being delivered in the last few years. [Regrettably, much the same thing happened with the Reliance about ten years later. Killed off for an inferior life-form. Tragic!]

David Oldfield

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I always thought the Renowns bodied by builders outside the AEC/PRV group were very handsome buses. The East Lancs examples of Leigh Leicester and West Bridgford spring to mind The later NCME examples used by City of Oxford were also a smart vehicle.

Chris Hough

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I remember reading, when AEC’s intention to build the Renown was first announced, that it was to replace the Regent V as well as the Bridgemaster. At a time of dwindling sales for front-engined buses, rationalisation did make a sort of sense. I imagine that the reason it didn’t come to pass was because, once built, the Renown was probably too pricey for operators who didn’t really need the low floor, and would have driven traditional Regent V customers to Leyland.

Peter Williamson

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Chris. I couldn’t agree with you more about Leigh and W Bridgford’s East Lancs Renowns. very handsome.
Peter. You’re probably right about the expense. Bristol had a guaranteed customer base and so achieved it with the Lodekka.
Strange that Bristol managed two world beaters (Lodekka and RE) in particular market segments where the two giants (AEC and Leyland) could hack it.

David Oldfield

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04/10/11 – 21:06

I was at Northern’s Percy Main depot at the time the Renown’s arrived. By that time most of our half cabs had gone, but we still had a few PD2’s & 3’s. They all had sliding cab doors on the inside that opened towards the front, however, the cab door on a Renown is on the outside and opens back over, a few drivers found to their cost that when going through the wash the cab door had to be held firmly shut or the brushes could quite easily open it and leave the driver a bit on the damp side.

Ronnie Hoye

Rotherham Corporation
1964
AEC Renown 3B3RA
Roe H39/31F

There has also been a 1961 Rotherham Corporation Bridgemaster on site (link here) and the easy way to tell them apart was the front off side mudguard. It is easier to show than describe so the close up on the left is the Renown and the one on the right is the Bridgemaster.

          
As you can see the Renown’s mudguard follows through the body where as the Bridgemaster’s body goes over the mudguard and this was always the case with these two buses.
This Renown has the AEC code of 3B3RA which meant it had an AEC 9.6 litre six cylinder engine with a 4 speed synchromesh gearbox and air brakes. There was only one alternative the 3B2RA and the only difference was it had the Monocontrol direct selection gearbox. One thing I have noticed which I find strange is that this Renown’s drivers cab door slides backwards on the outside of the body to open it normally the door slid forwards inside the cab.

A full list of Renown codes can be seen here.

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If you look at the position of the cab door opening in relation to the front wheel it is obvious why the sliding door is external. If it was internal the wheel arch leaves nowhere for it to go, unless the door were made unreasonably shallow to pass over the top of the mudguard. For the same reason Lodekkas and other low-height buses always had hinged cab doors. The only exception seems to be the Albion Lowlander, as bodied by NCME and Alexander, where the coachbuilders raised the cab ceiling above the level of the main upper saloon floor (and raised the foremost seats to perch on top of the cab). That gave sufficient headroom to allow an internally-sliding cab door of conventional style.

David Jones

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I’m not absolutely certain but weren’t these the only Renowns bodied by Roe? (although obviously to a Park Royal design)

Ian Wild

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Yes, Ian. As was common in the sixties and seventies, whenever Park Royal was hard pressed, they subcontracted to their (smaller) Yorkshire partner. Geoff Lumb’s excellent book on C H Roe records in words and pictures that the Rotherham Renowns were built at Crossgates.

David Oldfield

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11/09/12 – 06:43

I think I have a photo somewhere in my possession that show an EYMS Renown at Roes too, or am I dreaming there?

Graham

Leigh Corporation
1965
AEC Renown
East Lancs H41/31F

I think but I’m not over sure, but was the Renown to take over from the Bridgemaster does anybody know. This wasn’t the first time the Renown name had been used by AEC in the late 20s early 30s there was a six-wheeled chassis called the Renown. It would appear that the chassis was used for both double or single deck vehicles.

Picture here of a double decker (scroll down to first b/w picture).
Picture here of a single decker.

The Renown was a replacement for the Bridgemaster. The big problem with the former was that it was of integral construction, which at that time was unacceptable to just about every operator of any significance. In fact by the time the Renown emerged everybody was moving to Atlanteans and Fleetlines, so that was a flop as well!

Yet two more AEC dead-ends, to rank with the ‘Q’ the Regent IV and the Monocoach!

David A Jones

I remember that when AEC announced its intention to build the Renown, the shrinking market for front-engined buses was recognised, and it was intended that the new model should replace the full-height Regent V as well as the low-height Bridgemaster.  Quite why that didn’t happen I don’t know for certain, but in view of the Renown’s reputation for being over-engineered, I would imagine that production costs made it impossible to sell it at a price competitive with other full-height models. 

However, full-height Renowns were built in small numbers for Leicester, Nottingham and Wolverhampton corporations, the low floor being used to give greater headroom for passengers.

Peter Williamson

I’ve ridden a time or two on this preserved Leigh Renown vehicle and it is in very fine order indeed. I may be wrong, but I think I heard that it was involved in an unfortunate "shunt" recently on one of the Manchester Museum open days.
Quite apart from any mechanical or other difficulties I think that the lack of sales for the model can largely be summed up in three words – "One Person Operation" – it probably arrived on the market several years too late.

Chris Youhill

14/07/12 – 10:48

I have just found a brilliant facsimile of a Leigh Corporation Guy Arab model bus on EFE Models of Loughborough models, website based here in Derby.
From what I remember of the pre selnec days, I don’t think that the manufacturer has captured the original dark blue. Never the less its good to see that a model has at last seen the light of day.

Duncan N Smith

16/09/12 – 06:59

Looks like the model livery is correct. Leigh buses were light blue until a livery change in 1948. More details if you want them in the book ‘The Leyland Buses of Leigh Corporation’ Published by the Leyland Society and authored by Ron Phillips.

Frank Taylor

12/03/14 – 07:36

Oh how I remember with delight, the diversity of the Leigh Corporation fleet. I moved from London to the village of Glazebury, just outside of Leigh in the mid 1960,s and travelled daily into Leigh to work. My favourite bus was the A.E.C. Renown with it’s powerful sounding engine. My favourite journey, on the Renown, was the no.26 from Leigh to Manchester, especially if I managed to acquire an upstairs seat at the front. Another memory from those days is the TIM ticket machine, of which, I have several in my collection, including a 1930’s Leigh Corporation machine. Now resident near Plymouth, I am a member of Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group.

Eric Mansfield