Albion was one of the oldest company producing buses and trucks in United Kingdom. It was based in Glasgow and started in the beginning of the 20th Century. It had been producing both single and double deckers. The principal British operators included Glasgow Corporation and White of Chepstow. Although not many British operators chose Albion in the past, it had a very large export market in Asia, East Africa, Australia, India and South Africa.

Albion buses were usually straight-forward derivatives of equivalent trucks. Nevertheless, they were soundly constructed and had an enviable reliability. It's motto for reliability "Sure as the sunrise" was even stylished in the sun ray pattern incorporated in the radiator design of some models, as shown above. Each Albion bus was given a name beginning with "V", the models being the Victor, Valiant, Viking, Valkyrie, and double-decker Venturer. All of them had vertical front engines. Gardner engines had been offered as alternatives to Albion engines in all heavier models before World War II and all engines had been flexibly mounted since around 1936.

In 1951, Leyland Motors Limited purchased this famous old-established manufacturer. After Leyland and Albion design teams co-operated with each other, Leyland engines were seen in Albion vehicles and Albion gearboxes and axles turned up in Leyland trucks and buses. The Leyland-Albion radiator badge was based on the Royal Tiger design. The leaping tiger was replaced by the St Andrew's Cross of Albion, which the Leyland model name superimposed on.

After the British Leyland Motors Corporation was founded in 1968, Leyland removed the less popular Albion models. By 1970 only the Clydesdale and Viking models were available, and the engine options were confined to Leyland 401, 600 and 680 engines. The prefix 'E' gradually appeared in all Albion export market designations at that time, so the Viking VK55s exported to Hong Kong were designated EVK55.

Albion Clydesdale (Hong Kong)

Albion Nimbus MR9 (United Kingdom)

Albion Venturer CX37S (United Kingdom)

Albion Viking EVK41 (Hong Kong)

Albion Viking EVK55 (Hong Kong, Singapore)

Albion Viking PM28 (United Kingdom)

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Page Created: 19 January 1999

Last updated: 29 November 2009