Leyland-MCW Olympic
The Leyland Olympic was a coach of the British commercial vehicle manufacturer Leyland Motors. The type was from 1948 to 1971 built mainly for export. It was developed by Leyland Motors along with Metro Cammell Weymann.
The first Olympic HR40 was presented at the Earl 's Court Motor Show in 1949 for the first time. With its under-floor mounted six-cylinder diesel engine of the type Leyland O.600 he should be a complement to the conventional design Leyland Tiger. The advantages of this arrangement of the engine lay in the larger seating capacity at a given length, the ease of entry and exit for passengers, better weight distribution and easier access to the mechanical components, resulting in the reduction of maintenance costs. The bus had two doors, the entrance door was placed in front of the front axle, one-man operation easier, since the driver as well as the Abkassieren the passengers could take when boarding. The Olympic was a so-called integrated bus, died in the chassis and body from the same manufacturer. In integrated structures and the production of the bus frame and structure to be optimized, resulting in a lighter body and to a simpler production. Since Leyland Motors was dedicated to the construction of chassis and engines and little experience in the development of bus bodies possessed, Metro Cammell Weymann was involved in the development. The type designation of HR is ( Horizontal, Right hand drive ), the number 40 to the number of seats on the horizontally mounted motor side. The length of the bus was 27 feet and 6 inches, the wheelbase of 15 feet 7 inches. After increasing the length restriction for two-axle buses to 30 feet in the United Kingdom in 1951, he was also offered as an HR44 with 44 seats. The buses were - also due to the size limitations - 7 feet 6 inches wide. The engine produced 125 bhp at 2000 rpm. Movement was used a manual-shift, four-speed synchromesh gearbox. Was cushioned the bus with leaf springs, the steering worked without power assistance.
From HR to 1958 182 units were produced, 147 vehicles found buyers in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man, the rest were exported. As integrated buses were not particularly popular with the operators of bus services in the UK, Leyland Motors introduced in 1950 a separate underfloor chassis with the same wheelbase on the market. This chassis series PSU1 was named Royal Tiger.
Since the size restrictions for export were not considered, Leyland took the bus as EL (export, Left hand drive ) and ER (Export, Right hand drive ) only in the 8 -foot wide version out. During the ER was built from the beginning only as ER44, Leyland initially built only one left-hand drive long vehicle and moved in 1953 to the EL44 after. Largest customers of the LHD were urban transport companies in Argentina, Belgium, Canada and Uruguay, while the right-hand went to Jamaica and South Africa.
The Olympic Series II was introduced at the Commercial Motor Show in 1955 for the first time. The diesel engine now made 150 bhp. For use was a semi-automatic gearbox. The frame was reinforced and designed the structure for larger loads. The HR was no longer manufactured due to lack of demand, continued to build the other two types as EL2/44 and ER2/44. In 1960, the market in Cuba could be tapped for the Olympic. Deliveries in the island nation were not without controversy after the imposition of the embargo by the United States. A total of around 500 buses were sold to Cuba. On October 27, 1964, Magdeburg fell to the Thames on board were among other 42 Olympic, which were intended for Havana. Some of the buses were rescued and were provided with new constructions. As a left-hand drive vehicles they were used by British travel company for travel on the European continent.
In 1967, the Leyland Olympic Series III brought with altered structure out. As EL3/41 called, he now offered 41 seats. A small number of EL3/45 was sold to the Dominican Republic, a larger series of EL3/45/34 with 36 seats went to Turkey. A right-hand drive version of this series was no longer manufactured.
Although he was not very popular in the domestic market, the Olympic had developed for export success. Especially in countries of Latin America and in South Africa, he was popular and remained a long time in use. In Havana in 2004 were still Olympic observed in use. During the long period of use the buses different upgrades and changes were subjected.