AEC Swift

AEC Swift
London Country Bus Services Marshall bodied AEC Swift in St Albans in May 1976
Overview
Manufacturer	AEC
Production	1964–1980
Body and chassis
Doors	1 or 2
Floor type	Step entrance
Related	Leyland Panther
Powertrain
Engine	AEC AH505 AEC AH691 AEC AH760
Capacity	9.6 litres 11.3 litres 12.4 litres
Dimensions
Length	various
Width	2.5m
Height	3.0m

The AEC Swift was a rear-engined step entrance single-decker bus chassis manufactured by AEC between 1964 and 1980. The chassis design was closely related to the Leyland Panther. It was available in 33' and 36' lengths, with an AEC AH505 or AH691 engine.

The design was suitable for driver-only operation which helped bus operators to relieve the problems of labour shortages and costs, and became one of the alternatives to the traditional British double-decker buses (operated by a driver and conductor, such as the London AEC Routemaster or Bristol Lodekka), as British legislation prevented driver-only operation of double-decker buses until the late 1960s.

The largest fleet was operated by London Transport and London Country Bus Services, with over 1,500 in total delivered between 1966 and 1972. Bodywork was supplied by Strachans Coachwork (prototypes only), Park Royal Vehicles, Metro Cammell Weymann and Marshall, to basically the same design.

The fleet was made up of a number of variations. The Longer 36' versions were referred to as Merlins, and divided into MB (single or dual door), MBS (dual door), and MBA (dual door with turnstile payment for use on Red Arrow services) classes.

The shorter 33' versions were known as Swifts. There were three variants of this model upon delivery. In the central area SM (single door saloon) and SMS (dual door with automatic fare collection) classes were painted red. London Country operated green SM-class dual door, fully seated saloons that had been ordered by London Transport. Subsequently, London Transport converted a number of SMS vehicles to conventional one-man operated saloons by adding more seats and locking the centre exit out of use. These were renamed the SMD class, but retained their original fleet number.