Vintage Cyprus Buses

[Dominic]

A year ago we had to visit the Department of Road Transport, off the Mesogi Road. While there I noticed three old-style Cyprus buses parked in the carpark. I returned a year later, and they were still there, so I thought I would photograph them for posterity. I also found some more modern friends of theirs, who's retirement was a bit less pleasant...
 
Read the article and chat about it below...
 

cyprus_buses_masthead.jpg (73.13 KiB) Viewed 9595 times

[ApusApus]

Don't they still use these? I've seen something similar taking people to Adonis Baths while I was having lunch at Vathoukia one day.


Shane

[Dominic]

There are some still around. I don't know if these three are used though. They are certainly in exactly the same place as they were a few years ago, judging by an older photo I found of them. So unless they parked them with their tyres over the line in the same way, they haven't been moved.

[WHL]

On Holidays here in the 60s we used these Bedford Buses to go from Famagusta-Nicosia, even used them to go up to the Mountains, scary moments going round little dirt track roads, hanging off the side of the mountains...over here in the east, theres some that have been restored looking brand new and are used for Weddings, private hire etc

[Lofos-5]

There are 2 nice old ones just outside Pachna as well. I think these were used as school buses some time ago.

A.

[cyprusmax47]

The only interesting bus of the three is the one on the lefthand view. It is much older than the others as the number plates indicate. This one should go in a Museum as it is one surviving the war 1974. It was used on the road to Galini before the war, from the Morphou-Xeros area. It is in a amazing good condition though.

[WHL]

The only interesting bus of the three is the one on the lefthand view. It is much older than the others as the number plates indicate. This one should go in a Museum as it is one surviving the war 1974. It was used on the road to Galini before the war, from the Morphou-Xeros area. It is in a amazing good condition though.

Surely they are before 74?

[exodus]

The only interesting bus of the three is the one on the lefthand view. It is much older than the others as the number plates indicate. This one should go in a Museum as it is one surviving the war 1974. It was used on the road to Galini before the war, from the Morphou-Xeros area. It is in a amazing good condition though.

Surely they are before 74?

They sure are. There are still a few in service in the Ayia Napa region, and we saw 2 in use near Kyrenia (in the north) recently.
Amos.

[WHL]

The only interesting bus of the three is the one on the lefthand view. It is much older than the others as the number plates indicate. This one should go in a Museum as it is one surviving the war 1974. It was used on the road to Galini before the war, from the Morphou-Xeros area. It is in a amazing good condition though.

Surely they are before 74?

They sure are. There are still a few in service in the Ayia Napa region, and we saw 2 in use near Kyrenia (in the north) recently.
Amos.

I remember the Turkish Cypriot buses, were the only ones painted Red.

[Kili01]

I’ve been told that in those olden days most villages would have had a bus, often painted distinctively to make it easily recognisable. In those days very few people owned a car or a lorry, so the usual transport was either on foot, or by the family mule or donkey. So the bus was really important and would be full particularly on market days when it was far quicker to bring goods to sell into town by the bus. Extra bags could be carried on the roof. The heavily laden bus would grind its way up the steep hills en route. As the roads were mostly very narrow with tortuous bends, traffic consisting of the old Bedford lorries and buses would take a long time ot reach their destinations, even without any accidents or mishaps. Because of this on some routes like the old road B6, between Limassol and Nicosia, there was a handily placed taverna, roughly at the half way point where most travellirs would stop. In the Britsh Services, it was calked the Half Way house. Not sure what its real name was!

Dee

[Yioula]

I remember village buses like these in and around the old market in Kitma on a Saturday morning with produce and chicken on the roof........it was a fabulous market back then totally buzzing with people.
These old buses are fabulous..........they should be restored .....great for agro tourism ......I know some are now used as tourist wedding buses.

[WHL]

Got a feeling they were based on the Bedford J type lorry, with a straight 6 engine, anyone know some facts about these buses?

[Devil]

Wouldn't be the first time to ride with a goat in the bus in the 1950s!

[PaphosAL]

Got a feeling they were based on the Bedford J type lorry, with a straight 6 engine, anyone know some facts about these buses?

You are indeed correct, WHL! But to be pedantic, it's the Bedford TJ model. Specific info on these models is sadly a bit sparse on Wikipedia, but I'll do my best, based on local knowledge and early employment history...

In 1941, Vauxhall Motors in Luton won the WD contract to build Churchill tanks at their factory there. Some 5,640 tanks and 2,000 spare engines rolled off the production lines, not to mention steel helmets, rocket bodies, and top-secret components for Frank Whittle's jet engine (from a 99.9% female workforce!!)

At the same time, the British military's demand for Bedford trucks still needed to be satisfied. Vauxhall did this by 1942, by opening a huge new Bedford trucks 'shadow factory' in Boscombe Road, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, so truck production continued for the wartime effort.

This factory was extensively rebuilt and extended into the northern countryside between 1955 and 1957. In 1958, along came the Bedford J type Commercial truck. It's straight 6 petrol engine would have been the same 2.6 litre lump used in the top end Vauxhall E Wyverns and Velox saloon models at the time. But their compression ratio was dumbed down, in order to run on 2* petrol (rather than the 4* grade needed in their cars, difficult to find in developing countries). From 1958 until 1986 (when the Bedford truck factory had to be shut down by GM, on account of Thatcher's political decisions favouring Leyland military MOD truck supplies...) production was strong.

Later, the straight 6 petrol engine would have kept pace with the car engines, growing to 3.3 litres by the mid 80's (but still low compression). The J type was manufactured from 1958 until 1986 (when the factory ceased becoming GM Bedford). The other side of the road was a similar sized factory- Commer Commercials (Rootes Group).

I have more personal historical stories to relate about both factories, from 1967 and 2002 respectively, if anyone is interested? Suffice it to say for now, the Bedford J Type lorry rolled off the Bedford one mile long production line in either Chassis-Cab or Chassis-Cowl variants, for export all around the world, from 1958 to 1986. A sad resource now lost...

I guess the Cypriot coachbuilders would have used the Bedford J chassis-cowl import on which to handbuild their wood-framed bus bodies onto the back? They still look beautiful to this day, and it's great to know that a few of them are still getting TLC and are keeping going...

AL

[WHL]

Fantastic post,,,,thank you Al

[PaphosAL]

Check out a Bing or Google search for Bedford J Type Lorry, WHL. You'll be astonished at what's up for sale on this front!

AL

[ryanaldi]

the knackered bus, number plate TM 69 is parked up on a lane in episkopi village, i have the same photograph that i took at least ten years ago, and it's obviously been there many years before that.

[Dominic]

Just added some pictures of the Episkopi Bus to the blog, courtesy of Max.

[Ted_C]

I have fond memories of the Akrotiri to Berengaria school bus run in the mid 1960’s usually a red/green bus with a Turkish driver taking short cuts across country tracks and the obligitary collision. Always try to get photos on holidays last one I saw was rotting in a field about five years ago.

[Kili01]

There is a vintage car museum near Limassol, but I guess that they are not interested in all types of classic or vintage vehicles.. which if its true would be a pity.