I came across this small gem on Youtube recently, and knowing we have many Aussie and Kiwi CC readers, thought this may be something they might enjoy. It’s an 11 minute color featurette on traveling from Sydney to Brisbane circa 1951, and the chosen mode of transport is the iconic Ansair Flxible Clipper.
Though we’ve mentioned it in several other Clipper posts, here’s a little more detail on how Loudonville Ohio’s finest made the trip Down Under. It begins with Sir Reginald Ansett, a true industrial titan and a prominent figure in Australia’s history. Starting as a small rural bus operator in 1931, by the late Sixties his empire stretched from transportation (air and surface) to manufacturing, hotels/tourism, and television broadcasting.
His Pioneer Tours bus company imported a single Flxible Clipper coach in 1947. Impressed by its modern styling and performance, he struck a licensing agreement with Flxible for his manufacturing arm, Ansair Pty Ltd, to assemble the vehicle locally in Melbourne.
Between 1950 and 1960, 131 Ansair Flxible Clippers rolled out of the Melbourne plant. The only changes from their North American counterparts were obviously right-hand-drive and a series of different engines. Considering the standard Buick-sourced 320 cu. in. gas straight eight to be insufficiently robust for the harsh Aussie road conditions, Ansair models came with several diesels; first a Leyland, later a Cummins, and finally an air-cooled Deutz.
As in North America, Ansair Clippers enjoy an enthusiastic following, with around 45 remaining in private hands and in museum collections. The picture above of two beautifully restored models is significant – the one on the right is the original 1947 bus first imported by Ansett. On the left is a 1958 model which was one of the last few to come out of the Melbourne factory. Though period correct on the outside, the interior of the latter bus has been converted into a motor home. More info on that coach for those interested can be found here.
The End…
A much more in-depth Ansair Clipper article with a variety of period photos is here.
Related Posts:
Flxible Clipper – The Motor Coach Style Leader of the 1950’s by JB
1938 – 67 Flxible Clipper – Do You Know Your Clipper? by JB
1947 Flxible Clipper Mobile Airship Mast – Blimp Catcher by JB
Vintage Instamatic Snapshot Classic: 1955 Flxible Visicoach – Starting Young by TJ1977
Very interesting. Years ago, I visited the Flxible factory. I also remember Flxible buses being used in airport to city service from New York City’s Idlewild (now JFK) and La Guardia airports. Those were painted dark green with gold leaf striping. I can see how the Buick 320 would not hold up in the heat of Australia despite it being a bear of an engine. Great essay!
Fabulous-looking busses these. I’ve only seen one in the metal here in New Zealand, about 10 years ago. It was in an isolated area and being used as accommodation – I doubt it was remotely mobile. Very stylish accommodation though!
Fabulous
I love these!
Never actually seen one in Australia, but I might have seen one in a front yard near Ellen Grove in Queensland. I doubt it’s there now. It was the right shape, but I could not see the front.
They had Deutz engines among others.
“The Department of Public Instruction” wasn’t the moniker for the some commie indoctrination society but in fact the Queensland Department of Education. (Queensland, or QLD, a state 2.5 times the size of Texas, is our US “south”, even though it’s north, stretching up towards the equator: always a bit behind the times and inclined to redneckness. Theory goes that their brains all go soft like bananas in the tropical heat, but I digress).
Cleary, the poor old dept, trying to teach their sweated-up snotty-nosed kids over vast areas, had only a pissweak-beer budget for a champagne product (and none at all to throw some prawns on the barbie), for informative, this output is not. In reality, the 600-odd mile drive is truly breathtaking if you stick to snaking up those coastal roads. Fecund countryside, forested mountains, and endless, gorgeous beaches. Unfortunately, the inadvertent shaky-cam here made me carsick pretty quickly, I’m afraid, and if it actually felt like that on the bus, I’d have had a technicolor yawn every few miles.
Interesting artefact though Jim, and thankyou for it. Noticeable what a very, very white country it was then (and for years afterwards).
Pretty startled to realize those super-stylish, utterly dashing Deco Flxibles had no aircon. The pics here show them in some pretty damn hot and dusty outback places.
I moved from Sydney in 1996 to Park Ridge, south of Brisbane. In those days, it was all chicken farms and it smelled pretty bad. Like you said, the place was no different to small town Georgia USA. Pine trees, rednecks, old shacks on big acreage lots and stifling humidity.
It’s changed massively since then.
Of course it has (though PH, there IS that phenomenom, you know?).
Still makes for a fun poke, if an obscure one to the vast majority US readers here.
As older times descend upon me, the Victorian cold of un-Australian duration makes me think of QLD quite kindly, if not often…
Always great to see these. I may have posted this pic of one I found a couple of years ago, but it seems appropriate again here
These Flxibles have an irresistible draw.
They’re a very sociable person’s VW Type 2 bus. Like those, some alchemy makes the very functional become an art piece.
So familiar are they, and so sweet to behold, that I swear I saw them in service as a kid.
But even I doubt that, and I’m me.
What a stunning beauty .
Nice to know almost half have survived .
-Nate
Great article and many thanks for the film. I live just south of Brisbane, and things have certainly changed – mostly!