Bus or Spaceship? Australia's Futuristic 1940s Transit Coach! [Australian Bus History]

The Bedford OB - a very recognizable classic bus with an engine-out-front design. Starting production in 1939 and ending in 1953, over 13,000 were built, not including the OWB, its wartime version.
Australia also had the OB. But, in 1946, GM Holden, or GM-H, which was GM's subsidiary in Australia, and which owned Bedford, wanted something much more streamlined than the UK version.

And so, the streamlined Australian Bedford OB was born. At first, GM-h built a scale model of a concept bus, that soon became a real full-size vehicle. Mechanically similar to the UK version, it was its concept bus-style and motorama aesthetics that made it very different. It could be said it looked more like a spaceship than a bus! It came in two versions - a transit bus and a parlor coach with three lengths seating either 21, 27 or 31 passengers.

The bus was very successful in Australia, with a total of 933 being built. The first prototype clocked over 1,000,000 miles in its lifetime!

See and hear the story of the Australian Bedford OB!

Also, I would like to thank driverclassics.com.au for giving me permission to use their photos, etc., in producing this documentary.

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