P8
1924 LB5 Reg. XU 7498 Chassis No. 12920 Engine: Leyland S19/5.36hp 4 cyl Petrol Gearbox: Leyland 4 speed manual.
Body: 1924 Dodson 48-seat Open top D/D bus (Ash frame, aluminium panels) Chocolate Express was the first and most famous of all the London "Pirate" operators of the 1920s and early 1930s, being legislated off the road in 1933/34 and merged into the London Passenger Transport Board. The body was a standard design for London, where the Police were very backward and thought that windscreens and headlights were very dangerous and banned them for buses; they even didn't allow roofs on double deckers as they though that they would be top heavy and fall over! This bus was originally on solid tyres and was converted to pneumatics in 1930. Its derelict remains were found on a farm near Norwich and rescued by Mike in 1984 in the same week as the Todmorden G restoration was finished - just at the right time to start another! It was completed in 1987 and has since won many awards, as have all of Mike's buses.
Entered by Mr. M.A. Sutcliffe M.B.E. of Totternhoe, Beds.
© Leyland Society, 2008