The Leyland Swift was a

midibus A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which are generally larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between and long. While used in many parts of the world, the mi ...

chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1987 and 1990 as a successor to the Leyland Cub. It shared many components with the Roadrunner

light truck Light truck or light-duty truck is a US classification for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight up to and a payload capacity up to . Similar goods vehicle classes in the European Union, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are termed light ...

but with the engine relocated to behind the front axle which was itself set back to permit a passenger entrance in the front overhang. Mechanically a 6-cylinder Cummins B turbo-diesel powerplant was standard with the choice of

synchromesh A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system where gear changes ...

or Allison automatic gearboxes. It was available in a choice of short wheelbase ( or long wheelbase (). The first entered service in November 1987 with

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

Independent Travel. A number of coachbuilders produced bodies on the Swift with

Wadham Stringer Wadham Stringer was an English ambulance and bus manufacturer. History Wadham Stringer was formed when Wadham merged with Stringer Motors in 1968. It was a distributor for Morris cars and British Leyland commercial vehicles. It also was an A ...

enjoying healthy sales with a very tidy adaptation of its Vanguard II body. The Reeve Burgess Harrier was also popular, while

Wright Wright is an occupational surname originating in England and Scotland. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a ...

of Northern Ireland produced Consort and Handybus variants, and Elme 2001 of Portugal supplied a number to Orion coach specification and also to Welfare CareCoach specification with a centrally mounted underfloor wheelchair lift. Welfare and Bus versions were also constructed by Potteries Motor Traction to the Knype outline, mainly for their own use, although a demonstrator was built. Several Swifts were built as mobile libraries. Sales declined markedly once production of the lower-floor

Dennis Dart The Dennis Dart is a Rear-engine design, rear-engined single-decker bus, single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles, Dennis of Guildford, England, in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a ...

was in full swing. The Elme Orion and Vanguard II proved particularly popular with operators on the Channel Island of

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

and Elme on

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

owing to its close fit to the maximum vehicle size regulations, seating up to 43 and allowing the replacement of elderly Bedford SB coaches. Otherwise, the Swift was only a moderate success in an uncertain UK marketplace and was disadvantaged by the relatively high floor necessary to clear the mid-mounted powertrain. After Leyland Bus was purchased by

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

, the Swift was phased out and in some respects replaced by the rear-engined Volvo B6.

References

External links

* {{Leyland buses, state=collapsed

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...

Midibuses Step-entrance buses Vehicles introduced in 1987 Bus chassis