Oxford's single deck coach is a replica of a Beadle Integral
rebodied vehicle from J C Beadle of Dartford in Kent from the early
1950s. The company specialised in taking running units from pre-war
vehicles which had been withdrawn from service into which they
incorporated new style full front bodywork, generally on either AEC or
Leyland chassis for onward sale to coach companies. East Kent was one
of many operators to use rebodied buses as a way of extending their
service life. Restored FFN 446 started life as a Leyland TD5 double
decker and was rebodied by J C Beadle in 1951 into a 35-seat coach. It
was withdrawn from service in 1964 and passed to a church group in
Perivale, London before being acquired for preservation in 1972.
Here at Oxford, we are pleased to launch our model in its original
livery of deep red as used by the East Kent Motor Company. The colour
scheme incorporates cream masking and lots of chrome coachwork detailing
to the exterior, including the superbly fashioned sweeping wheel
arches. Other details on our model of FFN 446 include red and silver
front wheels, red rear wheels, yellow East Kent graphics along the sides
and rear of the coach and ‘Private’ destination blind above the
windscreen. The interior is finished in red to match the body colour.
In real life, the livery of this rebodied coach was updated a few years later when it was given a cream roof.