West Midlands Ford Transit D553 NOE

1980s MINIBUS

In the run-up to deregulation of bus services in 1986, the minibus was seen by some operators as the answer to commercial success. For a short time, minibuses based on light goods vehicles were produced in large numbers, and often derided as 'bread vans'. They did, and still do, have some advantages for penetrating into housing estates and serving lightly-used rural routes, but larger and purpose built minibuses soon came onto the market.

D553 NOE is a Ford Transit with a parcel van shell by Dormobile, and bus bodywork completed by Carlyle, the successor to Midland Red's manufacturing facility. It was new to West Midlands PTE in August 1986, but did not enter service until 'arm's length' company West Midlands Travel took over in October. It served at various garages - Central Coachways (Walsall), Hockley (Birmingham), Walsall, Miller Street (Birmingham), and Wheatley Street (Coventry) - until withdrawn in 1996.

D553 NOE, and similar D554 NOE, then passed to T J Walsh in Halifax, where it was reregistered as B14 TJW.

Preservation
In January 2005, the 4738 Group acquired D553 NOE, plus its companion D554 NOE, intent on making one good vehicle from the two, replacing missing parts, reinstating its original registration, and recertifying it to return to the road. D553 NOE was repainted into its original West Midland Travel's Mini Buzz livery in March 2006, and soon had a fan base at Wythall.

It was then acquired by the Museum in August 2007, thus filling a gap in the collection as a representative of this phase in the bus industry.