Late last season we learned that the group that have owned an important local bus were looking to pass it on for long term preservation in the Aberdeenshire area. We inspected the bus and decided to make an offer and were successful in taking it over.
The bus in question was GWG472, a 1955 AEC Monocoach with Alexander 45 seat bodywork that had been operated from new by Alexanders in the North East of Scotland. It became an Alexander Northern vehicle fleet number NAC68 when the company was split into three regional companies and latterly wore that company’s yellow and cream livery.
The AEC Monocoach was a rare vehicle normally built as a chassis-less bus by Park Royal vehicles of London using the same running units as the heavier AEC Reliance. This batch of thirty buses ordered by the Scottish Bus Group was specified to have Scottish built body by W. Alexander of Falkirk and its frugal specification must have meant it used low fuel compared to other vehicles with the same number of seats in the fleet.
We believe this bus is one of only two of the type remaining.
NAC68 was rescued from its open storage in November and moved to our store. We shall bring it into our workshop as soon as we have a space and assess the condition, develop a preservation plan and make it ready to display.