Harrington Legionnaire: The 3-Axle Motorcoach That Became a Movie Star [UK Bus History]
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- In September, 1963, Thomas Harrington Coach Builders announced an all-new motorcoach design called the Legionnaire. First built upon the 3-axle Bedford VAL chassis, it would soon be available on the Ford Thames 676 chassis, plus two that were built on the Guy Victory platform.
The Legionnaire was somewhat rare; only about 58 are known to have been built.
But, the Legionnaire's biggest claim to fame was its use in the 1969 movie "The Italian Job." For this, coach ALR 453B, new to Batten of London was used and extensively modified for the movie. After the movie, it was restored to being used as a coach, and was scrapped in 1990.
See and hear the story of the Harrington Legionnaire, one of the most famous motorcoaches in history!!!
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#buses #transportationhistory #transportationdesign #vehicledesign #vehiclehistory #vehicles #transport #motorcoach #ukhistory #bedfordtruck #automotivehistory #busmanufacturing #automotivedesign #busmania #gerryanderson
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It's a shame TH-cam reward quantity over quality, I'm just glad amongst all the dross out there they somehow randomly recommended an upload by Jeffrey and I've been hooked ever since.
Yap, same here. Greetings from Germany ;)
Hello!!! I'm so glad my video found you!! And thank you so much for watching!!!
We'll said ...&... same here. 🚎
I never knew I needed all this nerdy detail about old buses until I found Jeffrey
A shortened version of this chassis sat under the full-scale version of Lady Penelope's pink Rolls Royce to promote the Thunderbirds movie spin-off from the TV show. So it was twice a movie star!
Oh, yes, maybe that could be in a future video! Thanks for watching!!
The Italian Job, one of my all time favourite films
Yes, a great film! Thanks for watching!
when you see the coach hanging over the gap watch the airplane vapour trail it gets shorter
I did not see that movie, but I remember seeing that bus in the Magical Mystery Tour.
Having subscribed to Jeffrey only recently I have been binge watching all his videos excellent research and presentation.
Hello! Thank you so much for your very nice comment, I'm really glad you enjoy my videos!! And thanks so much for watching and subscribing!!!
Another wonderful video from Jeffrey. The fact that he is not someone you are going to spot with a camera and bus fleet notebooks at Sheffield bus station, makes his interest all the better!
Hello Melanie! LOL, now you peaked my interest about that bus station!!! Thanks so much for watching again!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein Hello Jeffrey. Thank you for taking such trouble to respond. Actually, the Sheffield bus station that I flippantly referred to is actually called the Sheffield Interchange; the Sheffield in South Yorkshire, UK. Indeed, you have referred to Sheffield and to South Yorkshire's buses in a number of your videos. If you happen to be a fan of the British television programme, Doctor Who (and if you are a fan of buses there is every chance that you will like Doctor Who too!!!), if you've watched the early episodes with Jody Whittaker in the title role, you will have seen Sheffield Interchange play a star part! Funnily enough, I saw a couple of chaps with cameras and note books at Sheffield Interchange as I left on a bus for Derbyshire this morning! Thank you again for what you do.
Great job, Jeffrey. You certainly know your onions with all the research you put into these videos.
Hello! Thank you for watching, I'm really happy you liked the video!!
Jeffery can I just say on behalf of all your subscribers….Thankyou….this channel really does deserve far greater recognition, I do hope that happens soon, you put so much work into it, and it’s genuinely a wonderfully nostalgic look at what was a great era in Bus and Coach design…..I am thoroughly enjoying your videos , long may this continue…👍🇮🇲👌
Hello!!!! OH, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your very kind comments!!! I am so happy you are enjoying my videos!! Yes, I also hope my channel gets more exposure somehow!! I'm really happy you found my channel (or perhaps my videos found you!) and I hope to create more content that you will enjoy into the future!! Thanks again!!!!
I feel like, while everyone else is watching fail videos and death by selfie.. We're all here learning about busses from Jeffrey 💪
Hello! I'm so happy you like my videos!!! Thank you very, very much for watching!!
Oh nostalgia! There were a couple of picture in the vid of VALs belonging to Harris Coaches - I certainly rode on those several times! Curiously one of the prototype VALs(with an ugly rather 50s style body) was sold to another local operator who used it on school trips, which passed my door twice a day. I never realised that only 58 Legionnaires were sold - I didn't realise how lucky I was to ride on one!
Hello! Oh, yes you are lucky to have ridden a Legionnaire!! Thanks for watching!
Jeffrey,I am not a coach 'nerd' but find your videos well researched,informative and very enjoyable,thanks for all your hard work!
Hello Christopher! I'm really very happy you like my videos even though you are not (yet?) a bus nut, and thanks very much for watching!
@@JeffreyOrnsteinI basically think the same as Christopher Franklin !
As I’ve stated before I’m not really that interested in buses or coaches but your videos are so good they’re getting me hooked !
With the amount of detail and hard work you put in to your work I think you’ll get a bigger following in TH-cam . Thank you .
Hello!! I'm so happy you find my videos interesting!!!! Thank you so much for the feedback and for watching!!!
Once again another great video.
I mentioned to my dad about your bridgemaster video. I'm from Hull originally, and fortunately just old enough to remember the last of the Beverley Bridgemasters running. My dad can remember them entering service in the 60s. (Beverley's only a few miles from Hull.)
By the early 80s, the roads around Beverley and Hull had been improved, which was the death bell for the Bridgemaster, as most buses could now go around Beverley Bar, rather than through it.
Hello! I'm really happy you liked the video and that you let your Dad know about the Bridgemaster video! Too bad there is no Beverley Bar version of a double decker today - I think it would be fun have one - to go through the Bar...just to do it! Thanks for watching!
I'm a Mini and I. Job fan and wondered where the coach went. It was chosen , I believe, because the 6 wheel design would balance on the cliffhanger stunt; they couldn't lose it as the coach actually carried all the camera gear etc., to Italy. Film vehicles have a hard life, (none of the Minis exist either), so it's no surprise ALR453B was scrapped. Preserving movie vehicles in a modern phenomenon..
Hello! Thanks for the additional info on movie vehicles! Thanks for watching!
How did they get it off tow it?
Not sure if I'm honest! The coach was chained to hooks fitted into the cliff face. I assume they hired a local recovery truck or similar. After all, the interior filming at the end (" hang on lads, I've got an idea..") was done in the studio, so they had to drive the coach back.
The Bedford VAL was a very popular chassis dependent on gearing a coach would plod along at 60 ish mph all day. Another great video from Jeffrey
Hello! I'm very glad you liked this video!! Thanks for watching!
Unless going up hill
@@davidrumming4734 Yes especially Rhuallt out of St Asaph on the A55 in North Wales, an old Duple bodied Commer with a Rootes 2 stroke engine would have climbed faster.
Another famous movie coach was the Plaxton Elite Ford R-226 in 1971 British comedy movie Carry on at your Convenience which was set in a factory called W C Boggs & Son. (W C & Bog is slang for restrooms) that made restroom ceramics. The factory’s union representative was very lazy and called strikes for stupid reasons so he can attend soccer games. The coach was supplied by Jack Crump near Pinewood Studios the R-226 was used in the works outing to Brighton scenes which was a complete drunken affair.
Hello! Thanks for the info on the Plaxton Ford! I probably have not heard of that movie before, but maybe I'll look it up! Thanks for watching!
Fascinating Jeffrey, thank you.
Hello! I'm really glad you found the video fascinating!!! Thanks for watching!
Great video Jeffrey. Your knowledge of British coaches is outstanding. Great presentation keep them coming
Another quite modern vehicle with wood . Can't believe they scrapped the Italian job one, it would have been worth a fortune
Cheers Russ
Not worth a fortune as a horse box.
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the video!!! Yes, too bad nothing of the Italian Job bus was salvaged! Thanks for watching!
8:07 Here in England I learned that you never call a coach driver a bus driver - they know the difference!
LOL, yeah, there's a big difference! Thanks for watching!
Yeah Coach Drivers got taxed often at flat rate , on tips from passengers , every day trip esp if private hire , would do a whip round the payoff sometimes being dropping off folk a near there homes on the way back.
The Legionnaire was beautiful. Some say it was box like, but just look at early 80s Van Hools.
Hello! Yes, it was a pretty nice looking vehicle! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for sharing this mate. Very interesting.
Very glad you liked it!! Thanks for watching!!!
'Hang on, lads, I've got an idea!'
LOL! Thanks for watching!
Excellent stuff Jeffrey - thank you! I remember travelling on a Bedford VAL when I was a kid on a school holiday, and the driver did figure of 8's on the sandy beach in north Wales! It would have been a Plaxton though and not a Harrington, sadly.
Hello! I'm really glad you liked my video!! Oh my gosh!! I can't possibly imagine doing figure 8's with a VAL on a beach! Must have been fun, but maybe illegal, LOL. Thanks for watching!!!
@@JeffreyOrnsteinsome beaches you can drive on Pendine Sands in South Wales being one such famous place
Great video on those coaches, I knew Leland would have their hand in there somewhere , the bodies built by others, Being modified for the movies was a different twist also ,too bad it was scrapped,
Hello!! Oh yes, it's so unfortunate it doesn't exist anymore.... Thanks for watching!
Yes, the actual "Italian Job" coach, after the film, was sold to Wood's Brothers who traded as Seagull Coaches of Blackpool.
I have an original slide photo of it, still in it's red, white and blue film livery, arriving at Fylde Coachworks on Hawes Side Lane in Blackpool, to be resprayed into Seagull's livery of grey and black.
I know we are probably all appalled that such a "film stsr" got scrapped, but to be fair, in its day "The Italian Job" original version in 1969, wasn't the iconic film that it is today.
Even by 1990 it was still just a fairly mundane "also ran" movie.
So coupled with how remote it was by then, way up in Scotland, it just didn't really register as the iconic part of an iconic film, that it does today.
No one is more miffed than me that such a famous vehicle has gone to that great bus garage in the sky, but it just wasn't such a big deal back then, sadly.
Excellent video Jeffrey.
Many thanks.
The bus had many lives after its use in 'The Italian Job'.
I’m surprised they didn’t go for the Leyland 600, the 400 fitted must have struggled when the Coach was full.
Hello! Oh yes, they didn't see the value in this coach back then....today it would be in a museum if it survived! Thanks for watching!
@@dancedecker mundane, also ran movie?? I think a LOT of people would argue that point. Hundreds of thousands of people remember this movie fondly from being a kid. I guess it depends on how old you were in 1990 and whether your Christmas Day viewing showed it year after year.
Super interesting.
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the video!! Thanks for watching!
10:37 in the mid 1970s it was fairly common at any UK motorsports venue to see coaches that had been converted into racing car transporters. In recent times lorries with a hydraulic drop tail lift are used or bespoke vehicles that include some living/place to eat space and workshop space as well as room for one or more racing cars.
Hello! Thanks for the additional info!! Thanks for watching!
Subbed. Your content is quality. Pure and simple.
Plus the fact it's hard to believe that an American has such a deep interest in British buses.
But they were the golden age of all buses.
I remember going on a school cruise that stopped in Greece and Italy and being impressed by the Continental busses which seemed very "swish" - air con etc compared to ours at home.
I felt we were being left behind until our bus broke down.
Being dependable matters!
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the video!! Yes, I have a really great interest in British buses!! Thanks for watching!
Why is an American or Canadian, so knowledgeable about British buses and coaches??
One of life’s great unanswered questions!!!
As a Bus (also HGV) drivers, brilliant videos!!!
P.S. I LURRVE a Bedford VAL!!!!
Also any HGV Chinese 6!!!
Hello! I'm really happy you like my videos! LOL, this American really likes those British buses!! Thanks for watching!!
Another magnificently fascinating video Jeffrey.......thank you!!
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the video! Thanks for watching!
Another great video Jeffrey 🙂
I'm really glad you liked the video! Thanks for watching!
Superb, Jeffrey as always!
Thank-you.
It's sad that Harrington's were closed. Such magnificent products!
Hello John, I'm really happy you liked the video! Yes, they met an early demise. Thanks for watching!
Used to travel in one frequently,operated by Davis Coaches of Mitcham in the 1960s,trips to the south coast were very comfortable
Hello! Thanks for the memory of riding in a Legionnaire! Thanks for watching!
I knew Davis had VALs but though they went with Plaxton bodies , but I only knew them in the 70s
Superb Film Superb Coach 👍
Hello! I'm really happy you liked the video!! Thanks for watching!!!!
Thanks for the great videos. Love your style.
Hello T.E.S.S.!! Thank you so much for the super thanks!!!! I very much appreciate it!! I am so happy you like my videos!! More to come!! Thank you so much again!! Jeffrey
I’m so here for this, and I haven’t watched it yet.
Hello!! Thank you and I hope you like the video!!!
Great video. I own 2 of the legionnaires pictured in the video. Neither roadworthy unfortunately.
Looking forward to the next video.
Oh, that's fantastic that you own two of the Legionnaires shown!!! Thank you so much for watching!!!
Talk to pete and his bus and get at least one working, difficult I know with one person and big machinery
Interesting vid, thank you. It's my belief (but happy to be corrected) that 3 axle buses and coaches have traditionally struggled to gain traction (is that a pun?) in the UK, with, in many operators eyes, the benefits of the additional seating capacity more than offset by the increased complexity and cost of adding a 3rd axle. Often, the additional axle was at the rear rather than the front. I can't recall if you've had a look at the Leyland Gnu. A real curiosity.
Hello! You are probably right about the three-axle bus, especially one with the third axle up front! Nobody really does that today! Oh, thanks for reminding me of the Gnu! That's a really cool looking bus and if there's enough info on it, it would be a great subject for a video!!! Thanks for watching!
@@JeffreyOrnstein Neither does anyone build a bus chassis with a front engine... The twin axles with have enabled lighter duty springs which would Improve the ride quality...
The first ever coach I remember was a Bedford VAL…..by that time it had already been superseded, but obviously slightly older buses aren’t just junked….so it was relegated to local school run.
It was slow….and very slow going up hills
And very load thanks to the diesel engine being in the bus - the dog house design.
I assume due to age it was without a turbo.
Another excellent video.
Hello! Glad you liked the video and thanks for the Bedford VAL memories! Thanks for watching!
As I understand it the Bedford Chassis had to add a second front axle because the weight exceeded the rated load.
Probably! Thanks for watching!
A very well researched and informative vlog on these coaches. Well done Jeffrey.
Hello! I'm really glad you found the video interesting!!! Thanks for watching!
one with a gardener wow
That was the second of the two Guys for Penn Overland Travel. The Victory Trambus was a chassis normally supplied to African operators, and like the AEC Kudu had a vertical engine on the front overhang rather than the horizontal engine beneath the frame on the standard Victory.
Penn specified Gardner 6LX engines rated at 150bhp on both of theirs and the body had other unique features compared to the version on the lightweight Ford Thames and Bedford, the passenger door opened outward to give clearance into the coach up the entry steps and the body had more shorter windows and more upright pillars to give a stronger roof.
Penn ran very long distance services such as London to Calcutta.
Thanks for watching!
Nice video! Quick note, when you are saying differences between the Thames and VAL, the red and white one with the CVJ 709C plate is actually a Guy Trambus chassis.
Hello! Glad you liked the video! Oh, yes, thanks for the clarification of the Guy. Thanks for watching!
Another great history. Fantastic. Thanks.
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the video!! Thanks for watching!
3:40 Unfortunately, the "gentle rise" taper made the back end tilt further over the cliff edge, making the gold bars slide backwards; the predicament only gets worse.
LOL, yes, you are right about what happened in the movie! Thanks for watching!
I remember the Heaps coaches based in Leeds in the 1960s, but we called it Eapsys, and Wallace Arnold was called Wals Trols 😅
Hello! Thanks for the coaching memories!! Thanks for watching!
That 🚍 as been hanging there for 60 years
LOL, that's a long time. Thanks for watching!
I had a corgi or dinky 6 wheel coach, called a Vega Major, back in the early 1960s. It had flashing indicators powered by a battery.
Oh, I wish I had one of those now!! Thanks for watching!!
Awesome channel mate. Hope you soar
Hello! Thanks so much for your very nice comment! I'm really glad you like my videos! Thanks for watching!
Nice mini documentary. As a child I wondered why the coaches I went on had Duple as well Bedford names. To make it clear, in this case the Bedford VAL was a type of chassis, a twin steer type, small wheels made by Bedford. A number of coachbuilders or body-builders would be commissioned, either, Harrington, Duple, Viceroy, Plaxton and others made to fit on the chassis. I later found out that was mostly the case with all buses and coaches.
Hello! Yes, it's so interesting that there so many different body builders with so many designs for a single chassis! Thanks for watching!
Just to note here that viceroy is a duple trade name for a body style. Duple were based in Hendon at the time then acquired Burlingham of Blackpool as Duple Northern before moving entirely there, though Duple Midland I think was the same as Willowbrook
@@highpath4776 Yes, Willowbrook and Marshall also supplied to Bedford. I thought Duple and Plaxton had link.
The wraparound glass is a nightmare to replace at best. The glassy roofline looks very flimsy. This bus would suck as a modern day motor coach for campers.
I think at least one of these is a camper! Thanks for watching!
Very enjoyable and well researched. Channels like this are why I haven't watched TV in ten years.
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the video! I don't watch TV either!! Thanks for watching!
loosely related, the original FAB 1 pink Rolls Royce was built on a bus chassis.
Oh yes, Lady Penelope!!! I'm a big fan!! Thanks for watching!
Never saw the movie. But certainly a handsome line of coaches. Still though the 2 axles in front had to be a pain to maintain along with the front engine being less popular at that time. Regardless, as a bus nut, it’s quite interesting. Looking forward to your next one Jeffery.
Hello! Yes, sometimes twin-steer buses were not well-liked by crews - very hard steering. Glad you liked the video! Thanks for watching!
The triple axle arrangement is more stable and has better, positive steering and braking. I think it is a good design for long distance coaches.🐞
Hello! Yes, the twin steer has pluses and some minuses as well. Thanks for watching again!
When did buses in the UK, especially premium tour buses with glass roofs, actually be epuipped with real air conditioning?
Nothing before the 1980s and even then it was rarely specified...
Hello! A couple of decades, at least!! Thanks for watching!
Thank you, I was hoping you'd discuss the Italian Job coach.
Were the rear doors a genuine thing for race transport? How did the frame keep its rigidity?
Still common conversions today for race transporters in UK, though rear engine arrangements have reduced the choice of chassis...
Hello! I'm very glad you liked the video!! Thanks for watching!
I wonder what younger generations will preserve
Hello! Good question!!! Hopefully at least one of everything, LOL! Thanks for watching!
The present lot do like pre hybrid double dockers
Another engaging video. Cheers!
Hello! I'm really glad you found the video interesting!! Thanks for watching!
Guessing there’s few left because of the “Del Boy” fitted radios 😉
LOL, maybe!! Thanks for watching!!
I do wonder if Corgi simply modified their "Magical Mystery Tour" coach to produce their Italian Job" one🤔 That said, they do produce models of the regular version of this coach, so maybe not!😁
Hello! I think they just modified the Bedford VAL model...I have one, but not the Magical Mystery Tour version...looks like they just decorated it for the movie version. Thanks for watching!
Does anyone know who modified the coach for the film, The Italian Job. I have spoken to David Salamone, who supplied most of the second hand vehicles for the film.
Good question!! Maybe we'll find out soon! Thanks for watching!
HA! The mark 1 was a forerunner to future trends with it's squared roofline. They went backwards both in style and practicality with the mark 2 because of the box like remarks.
Can't believe the IJ bus got got converted to a car carrier twice!
Hello! Oh yes, unfortunately it does look like we went backwards in bus design!! Thanks for watching!
What was the story with the two back doors on the coach in the Italian job? I can't understand what the purpose of those would be in a regular coach, I can only think it would have been a custom build as a race car transporter/team bus.
Hello! Yes, I believe those doors were to load the minis! Thanks for watching!
The back doors on the movie coach were added for the film, it was welded back up again after when it returned coach use.
Having four steered front wheels must have increased the complexity and cost significantly. So I wonder why they were necessary? Because of the higher weight?
Hello! Yes, that's most likely the reason! Thanks for watching!
The VAL14 benefitted from not having the wheel arch intrusion common to the 20” wheel coaches of the time. However the smaller 16” wheels had a reputation for brake fade. A conventional twin axle design would have had impossibly poor braking.
@Jeffrey Ornstein - you are a *brilliant* Narrator.
Absolutely fantastic.
In fact, you should be on television.
Hello! Thank you so much for your very kind comment!! It is much appreciated! And thanks so much for watching my videos!!
They scrapped the most famous coach in movie history? 🤦♂️ Great video, as always, Jeffrey 👍
Back then it was just an old worn down bus. But at least it worked after the film for many years, even became a racecar transporter.
A matter of culture times perhaps? Nowadays Heritage Everything. Then, Progressive New is Best.
Hello! Yes, unfortunately there was no thought of preserving it back then.... Glad you liked the video and thanks so much for watching again!!!
'Siamese 6' as they were known, dunno why British buses don't still come with the twin steer axle, anyone that has tried driving a large forward control bus on an english country lane will know what a bonus the extra turning circle gives with these beauties.
Oh yes, you are probably right about that!! Thanks for watching!!
Think you mean Chinese six.
@@stevepoulton8826 I actually wrote that first, then second guessed myself. Been a long time since I was playing with busses and was very few of these by then.
What a shame this famous coach wasn't preserved.
Yes, it is a shame it wasn't presevered! Thanks for watching!
a 36ft bus with a 400 leyland?,wow that woulld have been slow,the tiiger cubs we had in perth india rejected were only 28ft long and were well known for their lack of power
Hello! Yes, it must have been interesting to see how it ran! Thanks for watching!
Hi Jeff Is Was There Ever An American Double Decker The New York Tour Buses Are ADL's From The U.K.
Hello! Yes, that may be a good subject! Thanks for watching!
What About The Leyland Lowlander Or The Leyland PD2
Maybe eventually! Thanks for watching!
¡ GIBRALTAR ESPAÑOL !
Thanks for watching!
4 on the front 2 on the rear oh dear
LOL, Thanks for watching!
It's a Bedford V. A. L., rather than pronounced Val as in the girl's name... 😉
LOL, I like saying the word better, Ha. Thanks for watching!
There were also VAM and VAS chassis, being medium and short wheel base respectively.
@@JeffreyOrnsteinyeah some say as a word
♫ "𝘓𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘩-𝘥𝘪-𝘥𝘢𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦,
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺.... ". ♫
“Get the wheels in line! Get the wheels in line and use your brakes or we’ll end up in the bluddy cabin!’
Thanks for watching and for the musical note as always!!!
Only 1 in preservation society?
Supposedly, yes. Only one. Thanks for watching!!!
In the film there is a song "This is the self preservation society" Hence my remark.
Great content! And I’m sure the coach would have been more popular if it didn’t give riders legionaries disease…
Kidding! 😅
Hello! I'm really happy you liked my video!!! Oh yes, that dreaded Legionnaire's disease.... Thanks for watching!
To increase your axle count, please do a video on the Canadian built Prevost articulated. th-cam.com/video/aY6zr_fWbCc/w-d-xo.html
Hello! Looks like a subject for a possible video! Thanks for watching!
I dare you in one of your upcoming videos instead of saying "Let's get started" to say the much preferable "Let's begin". I wonder how many people will notice.
LOL, change is hard....Thanks for watching!
chinese six
Yes! Thanks for watching!!