Leyland Cub Bus
Built by Eric Smith in June 2010
The rear-engined Cubs were born out of their time. The concept was much the same as for the Dennis Dart that followed fifty years later: small compact bus, rear-engined with one person operation capability. They were in a strong line of bus development being pursued by the single deck bus designers of London Transport. There had been the revolutionary AEC Q’s, earlier in the thirties, with offside counter-rotating engine. There had been the elegant TF coaches, Leyland Tigers with engines flat under the floor.
So when LT came up with a requirement for more small buses to replace the remaining Dennis Darts (DA class) and small Bedfords (BD), the designers produced the Cub Rear rather than ordering more C class Leyland Cubs.