Bedford SB

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Bedford SB3 with Vega body by Duple

The name Bedford SB refers to a bus chassis made by the British manufacturer Bedford Vehicles . First introduced in 1950 at the Commercial Motor Show, it replaced the older Bedford OB . It was produced until 1987. It was replaced by the VA series, but was produced in parallel for a while.

The basis for the SB was the chassis of the S-type, with which Bedford had developed a chassis for the 7-ton class for the first time. Also known as "Big Bedford", it served, among other things, as a chassis for the Bedford RL truck .

The SB (the B stood for bus) was Bedford's first cab . Originally designed for buses with 33 seats, it was the largest chassis for buses that Bedford had developed up to that point. The SB was also the first Bedford chassis to be offered with different engine variants.

A manually shiftable, synchronized four-speed gearbox was used , a five-speed gearbox was optionally available from 1960. Usually a six-cylinder gasoline engine with a displacement of 4.9 l was installed, six-cylinder diesel engines were also offered. From 1953 the Perkins R6 with a displacement of 5.6 l was available, from 1957 it was replaced by a Bedford diesel engine with a displacement of 4.9 l. The more powerful Leyland O.350 with a displacement of 5.8 l was preferred by the larger bus route operators. From 1962 a larger Bedford diesel engine with 5.4 l displacement was offered, from 1963 the even larger Leyland O.370 with 6.1 l displacement.

The chassis wheelbase was initially 17 feet and 2 inches and was raised to 18 feet in 1955. The superstructures came mainly from Duple , Marshall, Plaxton, Strachans, Thurgood, Willowbrook, Wright, Yeates, Harrington, Mulliner and Burlingham. The Super Vega and Super Vista from Duple in particular have become generally known. There are currently still some buses with this structure in use in public transport on the island of Malta . Some chassis were also given special bodies, for example as a mobile library or mobile cinema.

variants

SB
designation engine annotation
SB, SBG, SB3 Six-cylinder gasoline engine with 4.9 l displacement General Motors internal code: NFM
SBO Perkins R6 six-cylinder diesel engine with a displacement of 5.6 l
SB1 Bedford six-cylinder diesel engine with 4.9 l displacement
SB5 Bedford six-cylinder diesel engine with 5.4 l displacement General Motors internal code: NJM
SB8 Leyland O.350 six-cylinder diesel engine with 5.8 l displacement
SB13 Leyland O.370 six-cylinder diesel engine with 6.1 l displacement

  • Bedford SB with Super Vega body by Duple

  • Bedford SB with Riviera body by Yeates

  • Bedford SB3 built as a mobile cinema by Plaxton , built in 1967

  • Bedford SB with heavily modified Super Vega superstructure from Duple in Malta

Web links

Commons : Bedford SB  - collection of images, videos and audio files