1965 AEC Regal VI (MTT 654)
AEC Regal VI — MTT 654
The vehicle
| Year | 1965 |
|---|---|
| Make / model | AEC Regal VI |
| Fleet number(s) | MTT 654 |
| Manufacturer | Associated Equipment Company Ltd (AEC), Southall, England |
| Model | Regal VI |
| Engine | AEC AH590 6 cylinder 9.636 litre diesel, 153 bhp, horizontally mounted, centrally under floor |
| Transmission | Fluid flywheel with electrically controlled, pneumatically actuated 4 speed semi-automatic 'Wilson type' epicyclic gearbox |
| Brakes | Drum type, air operated |
| Suspension | Semi-elliptic leaf springs |
| Body: Manufacturer | Martin Nixon Ltd, Osborne Park, WA |
| Body: Seating | 46 adults |
| Length | 35 ft 0 in (10.67 metres) |
| Width | 8 ft 0 in (2.44 metres) |
| Wheelbase | 17 ft 6 in (5.33 metres) |
| Height | 10 ft 3 in (3.12 metres) |
| Unladen Weight | 8tons 5cwt 2qtr (approx 8.4 tonnes) |
| Status | Not recorded in the crawled source — confirm operational/restorable/spares status with BPSWA before publishing. |
The story
No 654 was the last of a batch of 55 two-door bodied AEC Regal VI buses (nos 600-654) ordered by Perth's Metropolitan Transport Trust (MTT) and entered service in July 1965. The two-door 46 seater units joined 20 single-door 49 seater AEC Regal VI buses delivered in 1963-64, but had virtually identical appearance to 50 Leyland Worldmaster two door buses which were also delivered in 1965 (550-599). 654 was the last bus of AEC manufacture to be ordered by the MTT, and ended a very long tradition of AEC buses in Western Australian fleets.
Most of 654's working life was spent operating from the MTT's Morley Depot in Camboon Road, although it was transferred to the new Malaga Depot when that facility opened in December 1986. It had been renumbered 1654 earlier that year to make way for deliveries of new Renault buses. As 1654, the AEC was withdrawn in April 1987 and stored pending sale. It was bought for preservation by the Bus Museum of WA (since renamed Bus Preservation Society of WA) in 1988. Externally, 654 is preserved in its original 1965 MTT livery.
Photos
Captions above are auto-derived from the source filenames as a starting point — a volunteer should confirm/replace them with real what/where/year/photographer credits per the Design System's imagery rules.