Hey Bill, I saw an English bus w/ 4 front wheels

Post by **matthew1** » 10 Apr 2011, 20:55

... in a movie.

The Damned United. It streams on Netflix (in the States at least) for those interested in soccer, England in the 1970s, or several brief glimpses of an absolutely immaculately restored 70s era English bus with four front wheels. They all turn.

I'll look around Google images and see if I can spot one to post.

Post by **matthew1** » 10 Apr 2011, 21:10

I struck GOLD after a bit of a search.

"It's a Bedford VAL14 with Plaxton bodywork, which spent some years in this livery with West Wight Coaches on the Isle of Wight."
-- from Busses on Screen (yes, that site is real).

Needless to say, we don't have those here in the States. I've never seen a double-front-axle anything in person, save for military or farm equipment.

Anyway, if you haven't seen the movie, check it out. The bus is shown 2 or 3 times, and you can see it's in factory-new condition. Just beautiful.

Post by **billofdurham** » 11 Apr 2011, 15:40

I only drove one for about an hour, many years ago. I was expecting the steering to be heavier than usual but it was as light as a feather. The wheels were small for a coach - 16" instead of 20" or more. In the event of a front wheel blowout it would be possible to control the vehicle and stop safely.

The original film of The Italian Job also featured a Bedford Val14, with a Harrington Legionnaire body. It didn't fall off the cliff at the end as it went back into service with its real owners. There was also a Plaxton bodied Val14 in the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour. I didn't see this one as I couldn't stand the Beatles.

For more info look here. I love coaches.

Bill.

Post by **writer100** » 11 Apr 2011, 16:22

You don't like the Beatles?

That's like me not liking Disneyland.

We still have a few English "double decker" busses running around Los Angeles for tours. They look very quaint, but not as much as this one.

Post by **matthew1** » 11 Apr 2011, 23:17

Fantastic, Bill. Count on you to not only know about them, but have driven one! I'll look at your link.

FCPEURO · Post by **FCPEURO** » 12 Apr 2011, 17:16

That is a very cool looking bus. I bet it makes it a lot easier to get around tight corners. Looks like it would be safer then the bus design that we currently use.