Classic Bus Histories Episode VII: AEC Regent V

Hello!
Here's the latest episode of Classic Bus Histories and in this one I'm looking at the mighty AEC Regent V. Now I know that I should really do the whole Regent series but how can you condense a 40 year history into 20 minutes? The other Regents will follow in due course.
This might be a bit biased towards the East Kent buses as I'm heavily involved with AFN780B so I apologise in advance.
Please share any memories of Regent Vs - or indeed any other Regents - in the comments below. It's always nice to read them. Personally, I remember them in service in the late 1970's/early 1980's in Ramsgate, also the full front PFN open tops too. I would sit upstairs and pretend to drive (I tried this recently to rekindle my childhood memories but my manager said it's too dangerous and I must stay in the cab!).
If you enjoy the video please like and share it and please don't forget to subscribe to the channel.
Thanks for watching!

[@chris_3636]

Another cracking video. The AEC engined Regent V is, in my opinion, THE best sounding bus ever built, closely followed by the RT. Music to the ears 👍

[@jakeyb2003]

Thanks Chris. Yes they're very tunefull as most AECs are.

[@garrymartin6474]

The bus of my childhood, (in Sheffield Transport livery). Many years later (still in Sheffield) during deregulation , I was waiting for the bus to work one murky morning, when a heard a familiar sound approaching out of the gloom . What appeared to my surprise and joy was a bright yellow and red liveried Regent with Douglas Corporation Transport written on the side. A real WTF moment !

[@alancordwell9759]

I was a boy in Sheffield in the 60's too! The whine of the transmission is the sound that I most associate with the Regents. I seem to remember that the fare into town was 6d or thereabouts, it's about £2.00 now! :)

[@denovemportem]

12:14 I miss our double deckers so much!!!!!! The one in the picture has the later livery, originally they were dark green, just a tone darker from the one you see at 4:47. Thank you for waking such fond memories ;) Greetings from Lisbon

[@jakeyb2003]

Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@unclenolly3207]

The more I watch your videos, the more I’m amazed at how many bus operators there were - not just the municipalities, etc, but the smaller independent operators.

[@craigsibley8161]

Nice video 👍👍👍

[@paulbennell3313]

6:22, This is one of the buses that made the Regent V my favourite. Owned by A. Mayne and sons of Clayton, Manchester, it was one of three they had and I regularly rode on it when I was a kid in the seventies. They were in service until about 1981, by which time they were becoming somewhat tired. One was restored (and now lives in the Manchester Museum of Transport), one was sent to China (not sure if it still exists, last picture I saw of it didn't look promising) and I don't know what happened to the other one. The sounds in this video took me right back! Absolutely unmistakeable.

[@1mgvideo]

Nottingham City Transport had 65 Regent Vs in 1955/6 with attractive Park Royal bodywork. Fleet number 266 (XTO 266) from the second batch was restored but, sadly, this bus is in Stafford I'm told and has been hacked to pieces.

[@alanoliver535]

Leigh corp had i think 5 off these with east lancs bodywork they transfered to SELNEC in 1971.

[@leswall3061]

Mayne of Manchester featured in this video is now in Japan and sister bus 8860VR is in preservation in the Museum of Transport Manchester , great video you have made

[@jakeyb2003]

Thanks for the info and the compliment 👍🏼

[@WOLFIE-96B-UK]

I well remember as a boy Newcastle Corporation Regents in their beautiful livery of yellow and cream with maroon trim. I also remember riding on the trolleybuses until they were all finally withdrawn in the mid '60s. Public transport was so much better back then.

[@jakeyb2003]

Lovely colour scheme.

[@arthurfarrow]

I used to ride one to and from school, Herne Bay to Canterbury, every day for eight years

[@minimaxi802]

Front engined double deckers, Leyland Titan, Daimler CVG, Guy Arab, Bristol Lodekka, Dennis Loline, AEC Routemaster, Regent and Renown.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Don't forget the Titan's cousin, the Lowlander!

[@drmagnificentdesigncontrap3377]

Classic car nutter here gradually getting converted to bus enthusiast via your videos!! Good work - keep it up! 👏

[@jakeyb2003]

Thanks and welcome to the dark side... 😉

[@drmagnificentdesigncontrap3377]

​@@jakeyb2003😅

[@crazyleyland5106]

The pop musician Fuzz Townshend has done a series about classic cars. He's also a bus enthusiast, and I think it's a great pity he doesn't feature this on his programmes. I would have thought there could be a programme made about classic cars and buses, and maybe classic lorries as well.

[@drmagnificentdesigncontrap3377]

Agree - good idea.

[@andrewrice6596]

Very interesting. Looking forward to your AEC Swift vlog. I served my apprenticeship in St. Helens in the late 70's and although we still had a few Regent V's in the fleet, the majority of the fleet was Swifts.

[@reverendbarker650]

I used to ride these practically every day in the late 60s, South Wales had a large fleet of Regents, Bridgemasters and Renowns that were on my regular service from Port Talbot to Swansea ( where they were often driven VERY fast on the dual carriageway ) as well as the routes to Mumbles . They remain among my favorite buses, although now living in Australia , you do not see many ( if any ) around......

[@johnkent-thanet-uk]

Who doesn't love the AEC Regent V. I remember very well M & D route 57 Gravesend to Hastings going through Strood, Rochester, Maidstone and Hawkhurst to Hastings 😉 Now they were the good old days 😂

[@jakeyb2003]

The M&D ones sounded amazing.

[@sameyers2670]

East Yorkshire's Regent Vs were unusual in another respect, they, as most EYMS double deckers were back then, were built with specially shaped roofs to fit through the Beverley Bar, the last surviving medieval gateway in Beverley

[@petersmith4455]

hi there, great video, i used to work at AEC in the 70s but these buses were long gone then,the reason was when BL took over Donald Stokes stopped production of the double decker.so we could only build single deck chassis,ie, the Reliance and the Swift, we completed an order for Bagdad around 1976 but used Mercury chassis with AV505 engines and left hand drive. all had wooden seats, body by Marshalls of cambridge. [ P smith ex AEC ltd]

[@steamfandan9682]

My nans late brother in law at one time worked for AEC at one point

[@jakeyb2003]

Hi Peter. Glad you liked the video. That's a very interesting memory. I bet those wooden seats were uncomfortable

[@andrewforeman5716]

I loved the east Kent regents such a great sounding bus, i also remember delivering to the old Canterbury depot. Great content keep it up.

[@jakeyb2003]

Thanks Andrew

[@richse188]

Excellent fascinating videos keep up the brilliant work!

[@jakeyb2003]

Thanks. Glad you liked them

[@danielparrott8339]

In Southampton, they had traditional rear platform Regent Vs delivered until 1967- they are what I remember travelling to town on in the early 80s.

[@geoffcorker6882]

Remember them well.... watched the 'Saints' late 70s/early 80s, used to be lined up in Vincent's Walk in the town centre.🙂

[@danielparrott8339]

@@geoffcorker6882 They were incredibly smart!

[@Captainpubwatch]

Thanks for such a lovely video, I enjoyed it very much and appreciate the time taken to post, excellent work indeed. Cheers and best for now : )

[@jakeyb2003]

Thank you for you nice comments. I'm glad you liked it.

[@Captainpubwatch]

@@jakeyb2003 Cheers Jake, just to say your videos are top drawer, so professionally filmed and presented - your style could give a few VO artists a run for their money! Plus I love seeing the renovation shots, reminds me of my times in a certain yard on the south coast (home of L1 and RML2660 amongst many others) seeing the expertise and graft going on…..when I got married and had some kids too those opportunities went, so it’s great to see all this on your channel. Cheers and hopefully I can make July 14th, the weather is usually decent then and my eldest daughter loves travelling, especially buses! Cheers Jake, Alex

[@robertp.wainman4094]

What an excellent video - thank you. I'm watching this instead of the Budget on tv at the moment......and have to say your AEC Regent V story is definitely more interesting! Can anyone explain why AEC Regent's had 'such' musical transmission sounds? As other gearboxes of the time used straight cut gears, but didn't quite have the beautiful whine as those of Southall. I hope you do as good a job on your upcoming Bristol RE video!

[@jakeyb2003]

Thanks for your lovely comments. The synchro gearbox on the Regent is very forgiving and quite smooth. I would imagine that has a lot to do with the noise. It's the sound of quality I would think.

[@fluffybadger9832]

Great, informative video. I've often wondered if there were any similarities between the Regent V & the Routemaster as they were both from the same stable & the same period?

[@robertp.wainman4094]

@@jakeyb2003 Great answer!

[@jakeyb2003]

@@fluffybadger9832 the Routemaster has more in common with the Bridgemaster that the Regent.

[@robmarples1732]

I've driven buses in Sheffield since the mid 70s which included the AEC Regent V which I also conducted on. One of those is preserved 7874 WJ fleet number 874. What I really liked about the AEC buses was the way the engine would sing to you when in the lower gears. 50 years later I'm still driving buses in Sheffield and although I like all buses, the old half cabs were my favourites

[@BibTheBoulderTheOriginalOne]

I assume you love your job to still be doing it so many years later.....?

[@anthonywarrener1881]

What a great video !

[@jakeyb2003]

Thank you.

[@michaelkeen5010]

Great video, my memories are of East Kent Regent V’s and Reliances plying the roads of East Kent where I lived for the first 35 years of my life.

[@jakeyb2003]

Thanks Michael

[@user-fn2ee1di3c]

Hi i'm viatron from Sheffield again, I did remember all about one greater Manchester city who did taken delivery of A.E.C. Regent Mk.Vs with Weymann Arora double deck bodies was Rochdale Corporation with the first batch fitted with a Gardner 6LW 8.4 litre 6-cylinder diesel engine via an A.E.C./Wilson 4-speed pre-selector gearbox what sounds like a Guy Arab Mk.IV version from Birmingham Corporation. But in a later order from A.E.C. Regent Mk.Vs fitted with the standard A.E.C. AV590 9.6 litre 6-cylinder diesel engine, plus having rear platform doors. But I hope that you make another Classic Bus Histories videos with my other favourite bus types what includes the Guy Arab series single & double deck buses what will includes NO.23 from Lincoln corporation what had been fitted with a locally built Rushden & Hornsby 8.6 litre 6-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine via it's very NOISY! & this is a victory for the Guy Owners Club for the former Wolverhampton bus chassis manufacturer & that's my good idea for your Classic Bus Histories also including two Guy Arab Mk.lll & a Guy Arab Mk.IV currently in the East Kent Bus Preservation Group. Thank you for your co-operation on this subject from A.E.C. Regent Mk.V to Guy Arab Mk.lV buses. From David Viatron Esquire of crookes in Sheffield.

[@jakeyb2003]

Hi David, I will certainly be do a future episode of the Guy Arab.

[@highpath4776]

Wasnt the Crossley Demonstrated as a ACV (Associated Commercial Vehicles - being the sales and marketing name of AEC and its acquistions/partners- and so badged as there was a limit each manufacturer could have for floor space at the commercial motor show etc (some got round it by putting their chassis out on the bodybuilder;s stand !)

[@jakeyb2003]

Yes that could well have been the reason.

[@a11csc]

a definite favourit,and i would have driven both of the yorkshire woollem lynxs

[@69Phuket]

Appreciate these CBH's. Learnt a lot. Was into buses in the 90's. Volvo Ailsa is interesting.. Any plans? The Liverpool Regents were Corpy austerity which befits the area completely. Has a Manc..I loved Liverpool's unique style ;) And Sheffield of Course....Don't forget Leeds... ;o

[@jakeyb2003]

Glad you're enjoying the series. Yes the Ailsa will be an interesting one for series 2.

[@northernblue1093]

A nice concise and well-presented history of the type.

[@jakeyb2003]

Thanks. Glad you liked it.

[@nigelbranthwaite8471]

Do like the Regent Mk V , unfortunately they weren't operated in New Zealand by bus and coach operator preferring single deck AEC Regal's and Reliance's.I enjoyed your u tube history of the Ŕegent Mkv . I do have some un made East Kent AEC Regent MKV , Reliances models in 1/76 scale not knowing the interior colours stops me from doing them. The Rover shape Radiator always looked smart on the AEC Bus and truck range..

[@marksinthehouse1968]

I agree with you about the swift or Merlin as LT called it ,it worked ok on the limited stop Red Arrow 500 and the XMS buses looked nice All the best 😊😊

[@jakeyb2003]

I'd love an LT Swift or Merlin.

[@BibTheBoulderTheOriginalOne]

Is that an Alexander bodied Fleetline you use in your little red bus?

[@jakeyb2003]

My channel logo? It's a Bristol VR. I think KZbin have distorted it slightly

[@martinhudson2552]

Brilliant video as always. 👍

[@jakeyb2003]

Thanks Martin

[@topmandog1]

id love to see a video on the history of blackpool transports buses, its very varied history and doesnt really cross with the tram history minus one talbot road route

[@jamesfrench7299]

I stumbled on an ex HK Regent V three years ago parked in a street in Cessnock NSW, still in faded CMB blue and cream (now white) livery The owner has since moved it to a location unknown. I believe it's the only one in Australia and I stumbled on it. The grill was missing. I took a couple of pics. Why do some Regent IIIs, Regent Vs and Regal IVs have flat faced rims with bigger tyres and others like the RT with regular split rims that protrude abit? What's the deal with the Renown and Bridgemaster models? They have what looks like the RM type rear wheel hubs as opposed to the flange hubs of the Regents.

[@ROCKINGMAN]

Nice video. Would like to know what the difference is between AEC Bridgemaster, Regent V and Renown all look similar to me.

[@jakeyb2003]

Thanks. Glad you liked it. OK, here goes in layman's terms as I'm no expert. A Regent was the original design and was very traditional too. The Bridgemaster was designed as an integral low height vehicle using many Routemaster parts. However, the Bridgemaster was very complicated and expensive plus operators didn't like the integral construction. This lead to the Renown which was a more traditional design with a separate chassis but one that could be built as a low height design - unlike the Regent.

[@ROCKINGMAN]

@@jakeyb2003 Thanks very much, sounds right to me. You could do a mini documentary on these? I'm also a fan of french buses namely their Saviem SC10, Renault TN 4 and 6 and Berliet PCMR again success in bus design. I'll be watching more of your videos tonight, all great absorbing stuff.

[@john1703]

Do they not require working speedometers?

[@jakeyb2003]

780 has a tacho fitted so the speedo doesn't work.

[@STEVEHARLEY1956]

Swansea Bus Museum has a good selection of Regents.inluding SWT no 38...last single deck of that batch...plus 407 the oldest open back Regent V left ..well worth a visit..especially on event weekends. On my KZbin Channel I have several videos of driving some of them + their resident Routemaster ...filmed around 2014...but good quality footage with Excellent sounds....Steve Lewis Video Channel. If your interested ⭐👍

[@gifferray9144]

'Promosm'