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Southdown Motor Services, the acclaimed South Coast operator with their instantly recognisable green-and-cream livery, were loyal Leyland customers for many years. They took delivery of their first Bristol RE buses in early 1968, further deliveries in 1969 and 1971 and inherited thirteen following the take-over of Brighton Hove and District, bringing the fleet total to eighty-five.
The first batch of Bristol REs were forty-five-seaters with Marshall bodywork delivered between April and July in 1968. The second batch, seating forty-nine, also had Marshall bodies and were delivered from April 1969 onward. These buses were fitted with Gardner engines at the rear and Southdown specified manual gear boxes in both batches. Unpopular with some drivers and on some routes, they were nevertheless part of the history of the company. Nine Marshall-bodied examples were added to the fleet in 1971. These were semi-automatic, with Leyland supplying the engine, and were powerful and easier to drive than their earlier counterparts. Three more arrived that year featuring more conventional Eastern Coach Works bodies. Those acquired from Brighton Hove and District had Gardner engines, semi-automatic gearboxes and twin-door Eastern Coach Works bodies.
Simon Stanford details Southdown’s Bristol REs with previously unpublished images and detailed captions. Three buses survive, regularly attending shows and rallies in the South East, and are also pictured here.
