Combine UK truck and chassis manufacturer Bedford with iconic UK coachbuilder Plaxton and you can rarely go wrong – as this “cute as a button” Bedford J2 Plaxton Embassy 20-seater bus clearly demonstrates.
The Bedford J2 was a 2-ton conventional chassis built from 1958 – 1976. Besides Plaxton, Duple and Willowbrook also made coach-bodies for this chassis, though the Plaxton Embassy seemed to be the most popular model.
The Embassy was 2.4 meters wide and 5.6 meters long – making it much easier to navigate the UK’s smaller streets compared to a larger bus. Engines included a 3.5 inline six-cylinder petrol, and the more popular 3.3 and 3.6 four cylinder diesels.
Plaxton’s designers imbued the small bus with a little style – besides Plaxton’s signature oval grille in front, it added small fins at the rear, along with unique wrap-around rear windows.
Compare that with its somewhat contemporary US equivalent; the Flxible Flexette with all flat surfaces and low-cost industrial design.
I read that after retirement from service, quite a few were modified into campers and small motor homes.
Fortunately several have been saved and restored – this one is available for rent today from a UK transportation/carriage company for weddings and other events.
I think the top two would have the later end, probably with the twin round lights as on the larger Panorama coaches. I guess making a short but wide (8 foot was the maximum width allowed when these were originally designed) made sense as standard parts could be used, though the narrow track of the J does look a bit overwhelmed.
Ah, seems they did still have the vertical taillights despite the new rear screen:
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/davidslater-spoddendale/41919866
though this one has been modernised:
https://dee2fx0lhl024.cloudfront.net/auctions/images_lots/0255E029B76998745D30DC006F14C19E_joh02/1100046582_PREVIEW.JPG
I’m so pleased to see some survived .
Truly cute as buttons .
-Nate
It does look good and quite cute, for some reason it has ben thinking of Wallace and Gromit. Period paint jobs on old European coaches always look so good, thanks for featuring this one!
Always loved these highly-styled British buses, especially these short ones. What a great camper conversion one would make!
J series Bedfords were so common here when I was young I actually notice the lack of them now, We didnt get such styley buses built on their chassis as those but all sizes from J1 to J6 were used by the education department of the day as school buses,
I did see a J1 pickup last weekend for sale roadside first in a long time snapped a couple of shots and figured to go back on a day off and have a good look and phone the owner, went past yesterday and its gone just the long grass where it was left, it was on a dedicated HPMV route so many heavy trucks have been passing it someone else grabbed it
Was that how the original interior looked? It looks much more modern than the outside, and almost more like plane seats than bus seats. I love the large windows, rare for a bus designed in the ’50s.
Every Flxette (or any of the larger Flxible buses of that generation) I’ve seen has slanted pillars and windows in the style of GM new-look buses and many intercity coaches, not the vertical windows on the bus shown here which makes it look much boxier. The Plaxton reminds me much more of the Mercedes buses that shuttled students like myself around the University of Maryland in the ’70s and ’80s, which remain the only place I’ve ever seen this Mercedes bus in the US. They’re not nearly as stylish though.
You’ve mentioned you have relatives in Quebec. OC Transpo in Ottawa used the Mercedes buses for suburban routes in the mid 1970s.
I suspect that is the original 1970 interior for a coach, not a bus.
Looks like something from a Pixar movie.
Now that is one irresistible mini bus. Those emerging rear tail fins are like no other I have ever seen. Definitely set’s the world record for best rearward visibility in a bus. You wouldn’t be able to drive one anywhere in the US without getting bombarded with questions and offers for purchase. If ever a vehicle warranted a clever personalized plate this is it.
Had a big Bedford converted to carry 6 horses, tack and feed, and sleeping people in the Luton peak. Engine, a big petrol straight 6, looked like a Stovebolt Chev. Vauxhall origin, I believe.
I’m not one who uses the term “cute” very often. Maybe occasionally about a young girl, girl, not even young woman. But these are cute little busses! They rock, I love ’em.
I would love to see one of these converted to be a camper, although they look great as original too. Those fins!!
Well, maybe technically equivalent. Otherwise it looks like the love child of a mail truck and a shoebox and has a name that sounds like the member of a not-quite-the-Rockettes dance troop.
Coach bodies such as this were essentially shorter versions of the full size 45 seater. This is a 20 seater, so around 50% of the length of passenger space, plus the entry/driver’s space etc on the same width. The ends would be practically the same, as would elements of the sides and interior.
Here’s another, with some changes