Leyland Olympian

The paragraphs in the sub-pages describe the Olympians with the Leyland brand name. If you want to see Olympians with Volvo brand name, visit Volvo Olympian.

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Since the story of Olympian is very long and there are many variants, this page only talks about some general ideas. The whole story is split into sub-pages with respect to different chassis lengths.

Leyland Olympian (2-axled 9.5m)

Leyland Olympian (2-axled 10.3m)

Leyland Olympian (3-axled 10.4m)

Leyland Olympian (2-axled 11.2m)

Leyland Olympian (3-axled 11.3m)

Leyland Olympian (3-axled 12m)

The Olympian has been the best seller of double-deckers in the world since early 1980s. It is said to be the most successful double deckers as more than 30,000 were sold in the past 15 years. The introduction of Leyland Titan showed the idea of a new generation of double deckers. It can be bought off-shelf and fitted with integral body. However, Leyland had recognised that operators may not like them and preferred to continue the standing connections with specific bodybuilders. On the other hand, due to the shipping reason, some of them would like the ckd manufacture. Therefore, a new project codenamed B45 was launched to develop a new chassis with advanced features of the Titan. In 1980 Commercial Motor Show, Leyland unveiled the project to public and named the chassis Olympian. The basic chassis layout consisted of three elements: the front axle and front end, the rear axle assembly, and the engine compartment. The section between the axles could be extended due to wheelbase and overall length requirements. The main frame was of bolted construction, running round the perimeter, including up and over the wheels because this type of construction would distribute the loads more uniformly than ordinary chassis. In order to suit the design, Leyland introduced in-riggers to support the inner frame. This type of chassis is said to be semi-integral, as it requires the bodywork to give complete stiffness. Before the chassis is bodied, a pair of temporary side members are required to maintain the stability. There is another innovation. Unlike the double deckers in the previous generation, such as Fleetline and Atlantean, the position of engine and radiatior is separated. The engine remained at the rear vertical position, but the radiator is situated in the front. The two units are connected by steel tubes which let the liquid flow between the two units. This enhances the cooling rate of engine and it is very suitable in hot and humid areas like Hong Kong and Singapore.

Leyland Olympian was originally offered with 2 overall lengths: 9.56m and 10.25m, with wheelbases of 4.95m and 5.64m. The designation of a chassis type is started with ON, then the engine type LXB or TL11. After that, suffixes of 1 (9.56m) or 2 (10.25m) and L or R (steering) were added. Later, 3-axled models were developed to meet the demand from Far East operators. The development was described in sub-pages.

After Volvo took over Leyland Bus, the design has been retained, although there are some amendments to the parts used.

Leyland Olympian (2-axled 9.5m)

Leyland Olympian (2-axled 10.3m)

Leyland Olympian (3-axled 10.4m)

Leyland Olympian (2-axled 11.2m)

Leyland Olympian (3-axled 11.3m)

Leyland Olympian (3-axled 12m)

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Page created: 31 May 1999

Last updated: 15 January 2001