In 1961 Southdown received their first Leyland Leopards in the form of a batch of 30 Harrington ‘Cavalier’ bodied coaches for the touring fleet. Coaches were then regularly purchased until the last batch of Plaxton bodied vehicles in 1982. Saloons had arrived in 1963 and the latest of these in 1969. The last deliveries were the Northern Counties bodied dual-purpose vehicles that looked so fine in their traditional green with dark green band special livery. I remember when I first saw one negotiating the sharp bend on the A27 at the top of Queen Street in Emsworth (pre-bypasses) it looked enormous to an 8 year old! They still looked good in NBC dual-purpose livery I believe.
The changeover years….