1568 (1180)
| Registration Number: RN 7824 |
On arrival at Blackburn Feb 1976 more or less as it was when it left RVPG ownership |
| Chassis: Leyland Cheetah LZ2 | |
| Body : Brush | |
| Seating Format: C31F | |
| Built in: 1936 | |
| Original Owner: Ribble | |
| Fleet Number: 1568 then 1180 in 1950 | |
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Notes Nowadays the Cheetah is a less well known model than the TS-series Tigers which were bought in large numbers by many operators including Ribble. However, Ribble was an enthusiastic operator of Cheetahs and bought 309 in total, both buses and coaches. They were, in fact, the biggest buyer of the model.1568 was one of the first batch of 40 which were coaches delivered in 1936. They had LZ2 chassis with 6 cylinder 4.7 litre petrol engines and Brush 31 seat bodies. They were used mainly on shorter distance coach services. The LZ Cheetahs were a lightweight design derived from the small Cub chassis. The Ribble coaches had an unladen weight of less than 5 tons and it has been suggested that the petrol engine was chosen as much to keep the weight down as to ensure smooth running. 1568 spent all its life after the war at Bolton Depot before being sold in 1953 to Croft & Sons (contractors), Preston who did a lot of the building work for Ribble. It was last licensed by them in June 1961 and then passed to David Ellor of Belle Vue Garage in Blackpool (where it would have been kept with the Lytham Leyland Lion now at Freckleton). In 1970 it passed to Tom Hollis of Queensferry and in February 1976 it was purchased by 4 members of the RVPG (Blackburn branch). No work was done on it until the end of 1978 when the panels were removed from the wooden frame and the body was separated from the chassis. The chassis was cleaned and painted and the engine was run for the first time possibly since 1961 in July 1979 .Restoration continued through to 1989 when with the death of one owner and loss of premises 1568 passed to members of the Manchester Museum of Transport where it has remained since having just had a coat of undercoat applied in red/cream. When the museum advertised it for sale in September 2008 theRVPT trustees decided we would like it for our collection and submitted a bid along with a plan for its future. Fortunately our bid was successful and 1568 moved to Freckleton on 25 Jan 2009. |
