AEC Regal 

Registration Number CGE 206 this single deck version of the AEC Regal was in service with Mac Braynes in Scotland. Dating from 1939 it was from a batch of four.

Information courtesy of Martin Ingle

This is one of three photos included in a feature in the January 1952 ACV Gazette about the MIRA Proving Ground near Nuneaton.  It is believed this LHD coach is on a Regal IV chassis (no. 9831E002) that was shown on Park Royal's stand at the 1950 Commercial Motor Show.  Apparently the body was later transferred to Crossley on the the Regal IV chassis no. 9831E004.  Can anyone add more detail?

Image and information kindly supplied by Neil Fraser of www.aecsouthall.co.uk

UMP227 is a 1949 AEC Regal IV prototype with PRV B40F body that spent some time with London Transport and is now preserved at the Cobham Bus Museum by the London Bus Preservation Trust (see also Vehicle Interiors).  It is undergoing restoration of its bodywork/interior - click for picture - by a small group of volunteers under the joint project leadership of Gerry Job and Chris Wheble.  Peter Smith is kindly reporting on progress and this can be found below.
[I hope to have restoration images in Spring 2011.]

November 2009: Much of the external panel-work had already been restored when the vehicle came to Cobham and the team has been concentrating on the interior. Re-wiring has been carried out at ceiling level for the saloon lights, bell pushes and the destination blind boxes. The ceiling is now completely repaired and repainted, with ventilation grilles fitted; the luggage racks are complete, with "Rexine'd"™ lining panels beneath. The saloon lighting units are ready for installation, but the glass “jelly-mould” style shades are missing, so any information regarding exact design (or even better, an actual shade) would be welcome. All the droplight window units (LT style rack and pinion operated) have been serviced and are being re-fitted. Below the windows, the side panels (which are structural) have been "Rexine'd"™ brown in-situ and the seat rails have been painted.

Some further remedial work is needed externally at the front-nearside corner to correct deformation to the front panelling due a collision which occurred before the vehicle was purchased for restoration and details of the entrance steps are still being sought, before the folding doors can be fitted. The main areas of the body interior still to be tackled are the floor, the passenger seating and the driver’s compartment and bulkhead. [Update from Peter Smith]

[Latest update from Peter Smith]
November 2010:  During the past year considerable progress has been made on the interior bodywork restoration having completed everything above seat-rail level to final finishes.  All the droplight window units have been re-fitted, the window rubbers restored and the "Rexine'd"™ window “shrouds” and their associated polished jointing strips or “bracelets” have been fitted. The driver’s compartment floor and the controls are being restored and re-fitted; the driver’s seat mounting is ready for installation and the seat unit upholstery has been expertly restored by a museum member. Work on re-building the various cable ducts and fairways around the cab area is nearing completion, which will permit further progress on the electrical wiring. The saloon lighting fittings have had new diffusers made, as the possibility of finding any of the exact style to fit the bases seemed unlikely. Working from an interior photograph showing the fittings in close-up and possessing the original bases, a wooden pattern of the diffuser was made and a new set has been manufactured from vacuum formed polycarbonate; the saloon lights are now installed and working.

Remedial panel-beating work has been completed on the exterior front-nearside corner; the whole of the front panel is being prepared and primed and the headlamp units installed prior to re-fitting of the horizontal scalloped beadings between the headlamps, which give the vehicle its “smile”.  Externally, all the guttering has been re-fitted and most of the “decorative” beadings around the waist rail and the cant rail have been riveted back on. The characteristic “lean back” windscreen framework is almost ready for installation, together with the front window glazing. The rear emergency door, which was badly corroded, is currently being re-clad in readiness for fitting. Construction of the entrance steps is nearing completion (there are no drawings and the steps were largely non-existent when the coach arrived at Cobham). The two-leaf folding doors have been fitted with new sealing rubbers, generally overhauled and re-painted on the inside and are awaiting the completion of the step construction and the testing of the pneumatic door engine before being finally installed. [Update from Peter Smith]

UMP227 pictured in March 2011 (by Peter Smith); there remains plenty of work to do but restoration is suspended until the museum's move to Brooklands is complete.

Peter Smith comments further: As you may know, Cobham Bus Museum is planning to move during the summer of 2011 to new purpose-built premises within the Brooklands Museum site. This means that restoration work on UMP 227 is likely to be suspended for several months whilst preparations are made for moving the museum's enormous stock of items, accumulated over many years.  I will provide images, but at present the vehicle is not in a suitable location to take external pictures and internally it is still quite full of restored parts for future installation. I hope to be able to provide some photos in spring 2011 as we will have to clear up for the move.

(In 1915, "Rexine" was a trademark belonging to the British Leather-cloth Manufacturing Co Ltd (later Rexine Ltd) of Hyde, near Manchester (now a division of ICI).  A strong, cellulose nitrate (or polyvinylchloride) coated cloth, usually in the form of imitation leather, was used widely in upholstery and other hard-wearing applications.  It remains available today! Ed.)

Can anyone help with details of the interior?  Are there any photographs of the original?  If you can help, please contact the restoration team at the London Bus Preservation Trust. 

Stop by again for further updates!