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When first delivered the Leyland Nationals suffered from a lack of front wheel adhesion, particularly in wet/damp conditions. NCT rectified this to a certain extent, after TGWU representations (Dad and Harry Ball looking after their members again), by moving the batteries to a more forward position, thereby putting greater weight on to the front axles.

Probably the most unusual vehicle to work on the free services was AEC Regent V 273 in January 1976, there is a picture of this on Flickr VRS323's photostream.

www.flickr.com/photos/william-walker/16515858343/in/photostream/

When the Conservatives took control of the council in 1976 they forced NCT to stop the Park and Ride services and to sell 14 of the 18 Lilac Leopards which were eagerly snapped up by the Maidstone Council operation. The remaining four Lilac Leopards were then more often than not used on the 45 (Wollaton Park - Wolds Estate [stanhope Square]).

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I once saw a fitter lose one on Sneinton Hermitage one Saturday afternoon when it had been raining, he was giving it some welly until realising he wouldn't make the bend & hit a lamp post at speed lifting the front end about ten feet off the ground !

There's drivers & then there's DRIVERS !

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Mick, the bus that you mention impaling itself on the lamp post was 727. Following repair it re-entered service in a mainly cream livery with green stripes, somewhat similar to the dual purpose Leopards 741-764, which in my opinion was a vast improvement over the original livery carried by the Nationals.

As an aside, there is news today on the Nottingham City Transport Fleet News Facebook page, that AEC Renown 366 has been purchased for restoration. It was widely believed that, following the devastating arson attack at Ruddington which destroyed 370, the only member of this batch to survive was 372, which is being used as a mobile home and is currently residing in Colwick.

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...a mainly cream livery with green stripes, somewhat similar to the dual purpose Leopards 741-764, which in my opinion was a vast improvement over the original livery carried by the Nationals.

Here's a photo I took of 760 in Newark sometime in the early 1970s. It's not clear, but there seems to be a sticker in the windscreen indicating it was on hire to National Express, so may have been on a Cleethorpes to Nottingham service (ex-Trent). But there seem to be no passengers on board.

NCT2076020at20Newark201970s_zpswptkdfjz.

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#34.

All those bus numbers brings back a lot of happy memories, knew em well !

If I remember correctly those white leopards were bought for stage carriage work & had normal seats fitted.

Bulwell Depot once had a trip to Blackpool & we hired five of them for the day. I piloted number four in the convoy !

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  • 3 weeks later...

Leyland Nationals were very light on the front end, I lost one Lenton Lane, luckily no passengers on.

They were noisy sods too. And rattled like hell as they got older.

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