CROSSLEY VEHICLES TODAY

1915 20/25 Bus

Crossley 20/25 bus
Crossley 20/25 bus
Crossley 20/25 bus
The bus at the 2004 Crossley Centenary Rally.

(photos - Malcolm Asquith)

Originally built for the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), this 20/25 from 1915 was shipped to Ireland after the war. In the early 1920s a family of carpenters from Palmerston, Dublin purchased 10 tenders and converted them into buses. Eventually they were abandoned and this one was discovered in a scrapyard in the 1960s by Jim Boland. Jim was approached by the film director David Lean as he had heard that he had a vintage bus suitable for his film "Ryan's Daughter". The body of the bus was actually in a Dublin garden being used as a shed. The owner of the shed was unwilling to sell and so an exact copy was made. (Apparently the "shed" is still there and very rotten.)

The bus was bought by Frank Smith in 1974 and returned to England where it has starred in several other films and TV series. The current owner also has a replica RFC Tender (light truck) body which also can be fitted on the chassis. In Tender guise it has appeared in the films "Michael Collins" and "The Wind that shakes the Barley". In "Ryan's Daughter" both bodies were used. During filming, to change the vehicle's colour, a temporary water based paint is used which can later be removed with a jet wash.