The name Crossley is probably associated mostly in peoples minds with one thing - buses. The story can be divided into two parts, 1918 to 1939 and 1944 to 1958.

  The earliest buses were not made by Crossley themselves however. After the First World war the government sold off many thousands of surplus vehicles including many Crossleys. Being large vehicles they were eminently suitable for conversion and lots of them were converted to buses and charabancs. Because of the hard life they led few, if any, have survived.

(F Higham collection)

(John Warburton collection)

The decision, which involved major capital investment, for Crossley themselves to go into full scale bus production came in 1926 with the first model, the single decker Eagle appearing in 1928. This model had a 4 cylinder 5.3 litre side valve engine generating 70 hp and was said to be good for 50mph at 10mpg. Approximately 80 were made.

In 1929, as well as launching a smaller version of the Eagle, the not very successful 26 seat Hawk, Crossley expanded into making complete buses and launched a 6.8 litre 6 cylinder model, the Alpha and in 1930 the first double decker, the Condor, arrived. A Manchester Corporation Condor gained a lot of publicity by taking a group of delegates from the Municipal Tramways and Transport Association to a conference in Paris.

Also in 1930 the diesel era had arrived and three 6 cylinder 8.4 litre Gardner engined Condors were built, making history as the first British diesel bus in service on the 27 September 1930. The Gardner engine used had been designed as a marine engine and was very heavy but by the end of the year Crossley's own 9.11 litre 6 cylinder engine was ready. This engine went into production not fully developed and gained a poor reputation.

In 1933 a new engine was developed using Ricardo direct injection which in theory gave higher efficiency and should have been good for 100bhp but also proved troublesome. It went in a new chassis to become the Mancunian.

In 1934 a major change to the body building methods occurred with the change to metal framed structures and in 1936 the Mancunian was modernised with a more streamlined body, otherwise the range continued up to the outbreak of war. The main customer continued to be Manchester Corporation.

In the 1930's many towns were turning to Trolley Buses for their public transport needs. Crossley were late in the market producing prototypes in 1936 and starting production in 1938. A new customer appeared when Hull Corporation bought twenty in 1938 and these carried on in service until 1959 by which time they were the last pre-war Crossleys in use.

Post war

Some production of buses and Trolley Buses had continued during the war but production was mainly concentrated on military vehicles. Future peacetime requirements were not forgotten and in 1943 design work on a new model was started with a prototype ready in 1944 which with a second hand body fitted went on trial with Manchester Corporation. This model, designated DD42 had a new 6 cylinder direct injection diesel of 8.6 litres giving 100bhp at 1750rpm and was available with a variety of manual and semi-automatic transmissions.

In 1946 production moved to the Erwood Park site in Stockport. With war time damage to be made good production boomed.

(Mike Sutcliffe collection)

A single decker equivalent to the DD42 called not surprisingly the SD42 was also produced and this led in 1946 to Crossley's biggest order ever with Netherlands Railways ordering 1125 vehicles including some tractor articulated units. The SD was made in three wheelbases the longest being 20ft 3ins. The SD42 also was used by private operators and appeared with coach bodies from several makers.

Photo - Peter Caunt

Trolley Bus production also restarted in 1948 even though the days for these vehicles were now numbered. In 1950 two new double deckers, the 30 feet long three axle Dominion and the 26 feet long two axle Empire, were launched with Metro-Vickers motors. Production continued until 1958 with a final order for Glasgow.

By the end of the 1940's the post war boom was coming to an end and company rationalization and mergers were starting throughout the industry. It was clear that Crossley was too small to survive on its own and in 1945 the board decided to look for a partner or buyer. In 1948 the Crossley board decided to sell to AEC who themselves almost immediately became part of ACV ( Associated Commercial Vehicles) who allowed Crossley to continue until 1950. From then new orders for complete Crossleys were discouraged with the last genuine Crossleys constructed in August 1953 for Rotherham Corporation. Body manufacturing continued though from 1954 these were based on AEC types From then onwards it was badge engineered AEC's that left the Erwood Park factory. 

The end came in 1958 with the Errwood Park plant being declared surplus by ACV and closing down. The last Crossley bus in service is believed to have been with Blackburn in the late 1970s and a handful have been preserved. In total 5,500 buses left the Gorton and Stockport factories.

There is however a final twist. In his researches for his forthcoming Crossley book Michael Eyre has discovered that as a company Crossley Motors Ltd was never wound up but lay dormant until in 1969 it was renamed Leyland National who then built 7700 buses in Workington between 1972 and 1985. The company was renamed again twice and not finally wound up until 1992.

• Home Page
• Company Origins
• Pre First World War cars
• Cars of the 1920's
• Cars of the 1930's
• Pre war buses
• Post war buses
• Commercial Vehicles
• Military Vehicles in the First World War
• Military Vehicles after 1918
• Associated Companies
• The Crossley Register
• Crossley vehicles today

 

© Malcolm Asquith 2001