1959 Bedford SB3

The wrap around windscreen Bedford truly captured the styling of the late 1950s

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About This Bedford SB3

Driver Classics' Bedford SB3 was new to Willis in Vermont, eventually passing to Craig Coop of Nuline Bus Service before being acquired by Driver Bus Lines in 1994. It has been meticulously restored to represent No. 5 HHS-805, a Bedford SB3 'wrap around' originally operated by Driver Brothers.

This Bedford SB3 is powered by a Bedford 300ci, 6 cylinder petrol engine with a 5 speed Turner constant mesh transmission. The model designation SB3 stands for – S – model series, B - bus, 3 - petrol engine.

The Story

General Motors UK Vauxhall-Bedford division unveiled the forward control ‘S’ model truck and bus chassis at the 1950 Commercial Motor Show in London. Bedford ‘S’ model bus chassis arrivals in Australia began in 1952. Initially launched in Australia by GM-H (General Motors-Holden Australia) as the Bedford Model SB Transit Bus, the new SB featured a larger Bedford 300ci 6-cylinder petrol engine with a smoother and quieter drive line.

When GM UK Vauxhall-Bedford introduced a diesel model for the UK market, utilising Perkins, Leyland or AEC engines, the nomenclature became SBO (Oil) and the petrol model became SBG (Gasoline) and sometime later SB3, 3 being the new code for a petrol engine. The SB buses were built on a longer 206” wheelbase with a higher floor line than their predecessor Bedford OBs.

The first version of the GM-H designed body for the Bedford SB chassis was built under contract by CAC (Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation) of which GM-H was a shareholder. This body design would in time become known as the ‘flat screen’.  Like its predecessor Bedford OB, the Bedford SB ‘flat screen’ was a major success with 818 being built in Melbourne between 1952 and 1957. On very early Bedford SBs produced in 1952, CAC body production used carryover smaller Bedford OB side windows before offering the larger design side windows, but still with flat front windscreens like the OB series.

When the larger side windows were introduced, they offered greater vision and an enhanced appearance, but the large windows had a downside… they rattled considerably.  In the 1950s, tear off block type tickets were widely used by private operators, and the cardboard backing for each ticket block became invaluable…it could be jammed in the window frame to stop it rattling! By 1954, GM-H had adopted GM UK Vauxhall-Bedford’s marketing and referred to the new SB models as the “Big Bedfords”.

In 1955, GM UK Vauxhall-Bedford announced a new, longer 216” wheelbase version which became the standard wheelbase for GM-H’s facelifted, bigger 1957 ‘Wrap Around’ curved screen model in Australia. The ‘Wrap Around’ SB Bedford was a stylish bus with a design that took full advantage of the wrap around windscreen trend, and it truly captured the styling of the late 1950s. The 1957 “Wrap Around” 216” wheelbase models have 10” longer, more elongated rear side windows on their GM-H designed body. For a time in the late 1950s, GM-H referred to the SB3 as the 7SB for reasons known only to GM-H.

In 1957, GM UK Vauxhall-Bedford introduced its own Bedford 6-cylinder 300ci diesel engine for the UK market with a model designation of SB1. GM-H would eventually offer the Bedford 300ci diesel option, as the SB1 for the Australian market, but not until 1961 with the release of the first Bedford SB chassis with a production Comair body. Uptake was slow, as many operators had misgivings about vibration and harshness of diesel engines.

Of the 377 Bedford SB 'wrap arounds' that GM-H built, 217 were directly sold by GM-H dealers as a complete bus. In 1958, GM-H decided to remove itself from direct marketing of complete buses and handed over the sales role to Bus Sales, a division of Victoria’s Road Passenger Service Operators Association (RPSOA), later Bus Proprietors Association VIC (BPA). A further 160 Bedford SB 'wrap arounds' were built by CAC and directly marketed and sold by Bus Sales.

Other bus body builders were once again able to build bodies on Bedfords, as Bus Sales were now able to provide Bedford SB chassis’ to any bus body builder. The Bedford SB was now widely sold throughout Australia. Ansair, a division of Ansett Transport Industries and a major bus builder, saw the potential to compete with CAC and acquired significant bus body builder, Symons and Fowler, to increase its sales volume of the Bedford SB.

The ‘Wrap Around’ Bedford SB was the last model designed by GM-H in Australia. The next model was fully designed and built by CAC for the Bedford SB3 chassis. It was the first time that the builders name, Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, abbreviated to ‘Comair’ CAV 12 was used. It wasn’t until August 1962 that GM-H would offer the Bedford SB5 chassis, replacing the SB1, with the new Comair body and the venerable and long serving Bedford 330ci 6-cylinder diesel engine.

The Bedford SB3 with the 300ci petrol engine was a delight to drive. It was easy to manoeuvre, had an easy shift Turner synchromesh or crash gear box and although not quick, it had enough power to drive comfortably in most situations. But most importantly, it was a bus that private operators could make money with.

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