Unusual Duple Door

Here is a photo of one of Don's of Southsea coaches. It's a Bedford OB/Duple Vista III coaches. At least I think it is. My doubt stems from the fact that the door opens within the body and not along the outside! Was there a stage when they did?
I briefly wondered if it was a pre-war one, but they were fitted with stretched version of the Hendonian body, which had a single front side window. The rad cap shows that it is an OB.

Chris Hebbron

23/01/14 - 17:23

Have seen that before, Chris. It's not unique. What is not widely known is that, due to great demand, there were others who built this body under (sub) contract. One of these was SMT (Scottish Motor Traction/Eastern Scottish). Don't know whether this might go towards answering the conundrum.

David Oldfield

23/01/14 - 17:40

Early examples of the postwar Vista had the internally sliding door, but following problems encountered with the design they quickly adopted the more familiar outside sliding version.

John Stringer

24/01/14 - 06:26

I also have this picture. On the right is Don driver Ernie Trigg. I believe, from photo evidence of other Don OBs that the coach is Duple-bodied DTP 149. Don had four Vista-bodied OBs, but sadly I do not have a picture to confirm the id of this one - I know for sure that it is not two of them, because they were 1948 deliveries - a picture of one confirms an external sliding door anyway. The other coach which is a possibility is DBK 461, but pictures I have show that it did not have the Don insignia visible here so that's it - elimination!

Philip Lamb

24/01/14 - 06:32

Taken from 'The Bedford OB and OWB' book by John Woodhams. "Note that the saloon door slides behind the main panelling: only the first forty six post war Duple bodies were so equipped."

Peter

24/01/14 - 12:09

I have found a photo from the old family album taken on the West Cliff in Whitby in 1947 of a Bedford OB of Howard's Tours (with me aged three sat in the Driving Seat wearing the Driver's hat!) - it is front nearside only and may not reproduce well but it clearly shows an internally sliding door.

Gordon Green

25/01/14 - 08:02

Didn't Burlingham have the same problem with the first of their Seagull coaches? I seem to remember that the first ones were fitted with inward sliding doors and due to the ingress of rainwater, some were actually rebuilt so that the door slid along the outside of the bodywork which had then become the standard arrangement.

Chris Barker

26/01/14

Thanks to everyone for your input to my query, which, as usual, provided the answer and other, related, information.
It's remarkable that I should have come across the photo, if only 46 bodies of the type were manufactured.
And we have two photos as well!

Chris Hebbron

26/01/14 - 07:41

There was only forty six Duple bodies, but how many other body builders of the OB had an internal sliding door?
There was also the seventy three pre-war OBs, fifty two of which were for the home market, did or how many of those had an internal sliding door?
Not to mention the three thousand one hundred and eighty nine OWBs built for the home market up to September 1945.
All these stats again from the very good 'Bedford OB and OWB' book by John Woodhams.

Peter

26/01/14 - 11:33

That's a Hell of a lot of OWB's built, Peter, and built alongside (not literally) many other military items such as QL, OX and OY lorries, plus numerous tanks. They surely could not all have been built at Luton: where were the OWB's built? It's a shame that the 1980's book is out of print and selling second-hand at prices ranging from £40-£60!

Chris Hebbron

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