1962 Leyland Routemaster

The Routemaster was developed by AEC in partnership with London Transport, the customer for nearly all new Routemasters. In all, 2,876 Routemasters were built, with approximately 1280 still in existence today. A pioneering design, the Routemaster outlasted several of its replacement types in London, it survived the privatisation of the former London Transport bus operators and was also used by other operators around the UK. The 'city route' versions had an open platform, which, while exposed to the elements, allowed boarding and alighting away from stops; the presence of a conductor allowed minimal boarding time and optimal security.

The Routemaster featured a lightweight aluminium body that used production techniques that had been developed for aircraft production during World War II. As a result it was lighter than any of its predecessors as well as many of the designs that followed it. As well as this ground breaking weight-saving integral design, the Routemaster also introduced, for the first time on a bus, independent front suspension, power steering, a fully automatic gearbox and power-hydraulic braking. The Green Line RMCs had modified suspension and interiors to allow a longer range and a more comfortable ride. They also had an electrically operated rear door rather than the open platform found on 'City' route buses. Originally RMC 1456 would have carried 57 passengers, 25 downstairs and 32 upstairs and have been powered by a 6.9 litre diesel engine, pushing out around 115 HP. Compared with more modern vehicles the Routemaster's light weight design was, at the time , unique and throughout its operational life they achieved good fuel consumption figures that were often better than vehicles that replaced it.

RMC 1456 was first delivered to London Transport in July of 1962 and actually remained in active service well beyond its active life expectancy, so much so that it even survived the privatisation of London Buses in September of 1994 and remained in the ownership of Stagecoach up until 2003 when it was sold into private preservation. It wears the red and gold lined livery of one of its former uses on the X15 Beckton Express in London, a London Buses commuter route started in 1989. The current owner has used the bus for ocasional summer trips and historic vehicle displays, we are informed by the vendor that LFF 875 performs well on the open road and is easy to drive with both power steering and automatic gearbox, and will be sold with a new MOT, this vehicle is also tax exempt, this has to be one of Britains most iconic vehicles and as such we expect an enormous amount of interest in this vehicle.