Leyland Panther Cub Bus

Manufacturer	Leyland Motors
Class	Commercial vehicle
design type	Bus
Production period	1964 to 1968

The Leyland Cub Panther was a rear-engined small bus, which Leyland Motors produced in the 1960s.

History

At the Commercial Motor Show 1964, the Leyland Panther Cub was first introduced. The sale was slow, however. In addition to Manchester which declined as promised the twenty copies, the model was also sold to the transport companies of Sunderland, Eastbourne Company, BET Group, Thomas Brothers, South Wales , Stockton and Middlesbrough Company, Ashton-under-Lyne, Brighton, Oldham, Warrington and Wigan each sold in single or maximum 7 copies. East Yorkshire Motor Services was one of the largest buyers with 16 copies, where the 1967 Portsmouth Transport Company was the largest. After Manchester had lost only 30 Panther copies until 1968, the production of the Panther Cub 1968 ended.

In the United Kingdom, the Panther Cub had a bad reputation because of the weak engine and the lack of coordination of chassis and suspension. In the former British colonies, however, they were gladly accepted as used vehicles. Twelve of the 20 Manchester buses landed in Australia and continued to be used there for up to a decade.

The  Leyland Cub Panther was made only for the domestic market. Only 94 copies were built. The background of the development lay in the fact that the Manchester Corporationby Leyland as a potential first customer for the Leyland Panther. The Manchester Corporation wanted to take the Panther but only if there was a shorter version of the model in at least 20 copies for outlying districts, otherwise Manchester wanted to make use of the competition. 

Thus, the Leyland Cub Panther was built with shorter wheelbase than the Panther with similar steel ladder frame but over 2ft shorter, with a wheelbase of 16ft 6in instead of the Panther Standard 18ft 6in, optionally also 17ft 6in. The Leyland O.600H engine of the Panther could not be installed due to the maximum rear overhang length construction and deployment regulations in the United Kingdom . Instead, it was fitted with the  engine of the Leyland Tiger Cub. Manchester already had 15 Tiger Cubs with Park Royal body construction. All other technical equipment, in turn, came from the Leyland Panther.