Leyland Swift Bus

Manufacturer	Leyland Motors
Class	Commercial vehicle
Type	bus
Production period	1987 to 1992

The Leyland Swift  was a single deck bus chassis of the British commercial vehicle manufacturer Leyland Motors built from 1987 to 1992.

History 

The Leyland Swift chassis is based on the Leyland Roadrunner light truck. In contrast to the truck, the Swift's engine was mounted behind the front axle, allowing the entry to be made through the front overhang can. The chassis was available with a 3.6 m or 4.4 m wheelbase. The main engine was a Cummins turbocharged six-cylinder diesel engine with synchronised gears, but an Allison automatic transmission was also available.

The chassis were built with bodies from different manufacturers. Both travel and city buses were produced. Wadham Stringer modified the Vanguard II setup for the Swift, securing a large number of assignments. Also popular was the Harrier construction of Reeve Burgess . The company Elme 2001 from Portugal developed not only the Orion but also a special version for disabled transport with integrated wheelchair lift . Wright in Northern Ireland put on two different body styles. Some chassis were also built as mobile libraries at the time.

The Swift with the Orion or Vanguard II construction was particularly popular on the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey . They took full advantage of local size limits for buses, accommodating 43 passengers, enabling the replacement of buses built on older Bedford SB chassis. Overall, the bus was not a commercial success, it could be sold only 345 buses.

 After the acquisition of Leyland by Volvo production was stopped, especially since Volvo had a similar model with the rear-engined B6 . An evolution of the Swift was produced by Cannon Coaches in small numbers.