Leyland Olympian

Leyland Olympian
Preserved Bristol Omnibus Company Roe bodied Leyland Olympian in August 2011
Overview
Manufacturer	Leyland
Production	1980 - 1993
Body and chassis
Doors	1, 2 or 3
Floor type	Step entrance
Powertrain
Engine	Leyland TL11 Gardner 6LXB Gardner 6LXCT Cummins L10
Capacity	67 to 100 seated
Transmission	Leyland Hydracyclic Voith DIWA ZF Ecomat Maxwell
Dimensions
Length	2-axle: 9.56m, 10.25m and 11m 3-axle: 10.4m, 11m and 12m
Width	2.5 m
Height	4.2m or 4.4m
Chronology
Predecessor	Bristol VRT Leyland Fleetline Leyland Atlantean Leyland Titan (B15)
Successor	Volvo Olympian

The Leyland Olympian was a 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1980 and 1993. It was the last Leyland bus model in production.

The Olympian shared the same chassis and running gear as with the Leyland Titan integral double deck bus which was ordered en masse by London Transport. At the time there was a demand for non-integral vehicles, with operators wishing to have the chassis bodied by other manufacturers. Thus Leyland created the B45 project, which was named Olympian, in 1979. This was in many ways an update of the popular Bristol VRT (Bristol Commercial Vehicles merged with Leyland in 1965), with many VR customers choosing Olympians. Later the Olympian also replaced the Leyland Atlantean.

The Olympian was unveiled at the 1980 Commercial Motor Show. It was available in two lengths, 9.56m and 10.25m. Engines were either the Leyland TL11 unit (an 11.1-litre development of the Leyland 0.680), or the Gardner 6LXB or 6LXCT. Some later Olympians had Cummins L10 engines; one had a 5LXCT.

For the export market a three-axle version was built with lengths of 10.4m, 11.32m and 11.95m. This was very popular with operators such as Kowloon Motor Bus. In 1988, Leyland developed an air-conditioned version of the Olympian, with the air conditioner driven by the main engine instead of a separate engine.

Between 1979 and 1981, nine demonstrators were built, before the first production Olympian entered service with Ribble Motor Services in August 1981.

The Olympian was initially manufactured at the former Bristol factory in Brislington with the first thousand completed here. In 1983, production transferred to Leyland's Farington and Workington plants. The last was completed for Singapore Bus Service in March 1994.