Leyland National II GCK 428W From the Cab

[shadoogie555]

hi GuyWulfrunian i think the Ths bus GCK428W look a fantasic Leyland National MK 2

as i also remember these buses from the 70'S and 80's. All the best

[lgu954k]

Tell you what...this is a seriously good driver. For all the ' hand over hand' steering, he handles the auto-box well and drives confidently and positively. Some of the London drivers I grew up watching could learn from this guy...

[Rekku9]

How do yo get the box to switch between semi-auto and auto mode?

[keef71]

@Rekku9 you don't. it's either semi- or fully auto, notice here the driver doesn't touch the gear 'stick' - presumably is in the 'drive' position

[volvomantom]

A fine bus.

[NORTHGATE183]

The finest modification to the Mark 1 National was carried out in very limited numbers by Crosville for other operators. West Yorkshire 1494 was treated thus and returned with a Gardner 6HLX (involved altering the structure slightly - expensive in mid life), This changed the bus from a screaming "500" smoke belching contraption into one of the sweetest performing and most civilised motors you could wish for - but the cost prevented any more being done which was a shame.

[craigybus1]

I notice towards the end he is driving it like I do Hydracyclic fully autos..As a semi auto using hold gears. Made it sing....

[kevr83]

That really is a great sound at 5:05. It's such a shame they don't build them like they used to!

[HondaH100A]

British engineering is responsible for many marvelous achievements. The Routemaster, Concorde, the Mini and various other milestones acheived over the last hundred years or so. Often, there are Nat Gio programs giving an insight into such interesting subjects. But, never and to my disappointment, no program has given an insight into the development and technical advancement of the Leyland National, which deserves important mention, in my strong opinion.

[drewerz01]

Great sound at 5:05 but the 510's always sounded better! The National 1 & 2 is still in every way that matters, the best bus ever made!

[keef71]

0.09 that's the sound of a mk2 right there :)

[volvomantom]

Anyone know what's become of this bus? It's showing as unlicensed on the DVLA website..

:(

[GuyWulfrunian]

I believe it has been sold for preservation

Paul

[jaggass]

fishwicks had GCK428W from new. it would of been to gooder bus to scrap anyway

[veolia215]

i belive it belongs to the south west preservation group

[reynardbizzar]

A true amateurs bus; but what a sound these National 2's made.Why can't they make buses sound this good anymore or like the RELL6L!

Thanks for sharing.

[tribit1]

Great video. I remember in the mid 1970's, the Greenline drivers use to drive their MK1s as if they were racing cars, accelerating hard away from traffic lights, changing up through their semi-automatic boxes, suprising many car drivers with their speed, and I didn't at the time, and still don't think bad-handling. Elsewhere, the MK2s seemed more restrained, but the larger non-turbo 680 sounded right, in true Leyland fashion.

[smiffy1071]

Back in the 1990's, I used to drive mk1 nationals, some of which had volvo B10M engines. They went like hell, but the standard gearboxes just couldn't cope with it. This 680 nat 2 sounds really nice though!

[heene]

I drove mk 1 & 2 Nationals when we had them in Worthing at the end of the Southdown era in the late 80's. The mk 2 engine sound was much more gutsy than the screaming mk 1. I remember the mk 2's were unbareably hot in the summer. I also remember the gear control where you could go from 5 straight to 1 & the bus would drop down the gears one at a time. If you did that in a mk 1 you would probably leave the engine in the road on fire!

Take a look at my vid of a National.

[jaggass]

does it have two functions this semi auto transmission? auto and semi auto?

[e37405]

yes

[mondyboy81]

Semi auto is clutchless manual changing via the little gear lever on the right which operates a series of compressed air valves to change gear. With a semi auto, the driver had to select the correct gears. Leyland also did a fully auto which looked much the same but the gearbox had a H (Hold) setting for the lower gears and a fully auto (A) setting. If the driver used H2, it would hold the bus in 2nd gear, but the driver could use flick the stick in and out of the posistion to manually change up

[Imatt33]

It could be a Volvo repower. Some Nationals were re engined by Volvo Truck and Bus francised dealers. If it is it will have a ZF box.

[mondyboy81]

Its not a Volvo, from the sound of the engine it is clearly an L11 or Leyland 0680 engine.

[ChrisCooper312]

It's definitly in fully auto, since he's not touching the gear selector. The selector is the small silver lever under his right hand when the wheel is straight. It will also be able to be driven as a semi-automatic

[HKBusFan]

This is a semi-auto one.

Need clutch for semi-auto?

[iwbus]

Nope

[DundonaldDen]

Defo a MK II National. The dashboard gives you the biggest clue from the start of the film.

[HAIGH2179]

this is autobox in D (DRIVE)

it also has S to START the engine

R reverse

H hold

the other gbox is 1 2 3 4 5 r

I KNOW I DROVE A FEW IN THE EARLY 90'S

I DROVE RHG 879X A RIBBLE LANCASTER BUS 879

WHICH WAS STOLEN SMASHED UP AND RE BUILT

[anglia47714]

yep, I once got a fully auto mk2 national when First Glasgow had some on hire from Lothian...that was rare lol, only lasted for a short time.

[jaggass]

it does sound like a manual gearbox

[smiffy1071]

No national EVER had a manual box. They were either fully auto, or semi auto. The box itself is phisically the same, but the semi has a different gear changer. It works better as a semi, and the gearbox lasts longer, if the driver trets it properly, and doesn't slam-shift it.

[jaggass]

i always thought it was a semi automatic

[fodenalpha]

I love Nationals!

[RianTrace84]

Looks like a mk1 & not a mk2

[CrazyStingbee]

Its a MK2 becuase MK1's dont have the grill with leyland writen on them on the front of the bus.

[peter352779]

This bus was new to Fishwicks, *CK is a Preston registration mark

[Rekku9]

Thanks. I was never able to translate the British registration marks except for the year code.

[Rekku9]

And now that I've checked, the Red Arrows were mostly GUW*W. Another registration mystery for me!

[Rekku9]

This gearbox must have been the sweetest of all. Is this bus a London refugee? GCK***W sounds a pre-Greenway Nat.

[AdrianFull]

Very nicely driven. I like the use of "Hold" pulling away from the traffic lights at about 6:20. I did similar with an Olympian the other weekend, but didn't time it as well as this!

[video47]

I didn't know this bus was an automatic

[e37405]

didn't seem like it your vid!

[Robster981]

Hydracylic gearbox, same as we had in our Mk2 Nationals at B&H

[awolwakefield]

Thought that all National 11's didn't have the bulge at the rear ? Nice film, pity about the weather.