Trolleybuses were still in favour when this magazine first appeared. Now other forms of electric propulsion are challenging the once universal diesel engine and the manufacturers adopting them are scattered around the globe.
The changes in bus and coach manufacturing over the past 75 years have been even more dramatic than among operators. In 1949, every bus or coach sold in the UK was British built, while many today are wholly or partially manufactured in China, Egypt, Sweden, Germany, Spain or the Netherlands. Even some of those produced by British brands have significant imported content.
Propulsion systems are different, too. Most buses in 1949 had a diesel engine, many bought to replace electric trams, though factories were still building electric trolleybuses. Vehicle layout was poised to change, as manufacturers were on the brink of introducing mid underfloor-engined single-deckers and the first double-deckers with a rear engine would be on the road within ten years.
Today, electric buses —powered by batteries or hydrogen fuel-cells —are steadily taking the place of diesels.
Many of the coaches bought 75 years ago had a petrol engine. Diesel would reign supreme by the end of the 1950s but tod…
