7143 (XJA 534L)

As The SELNEC Preservation Society had acquired three of the quorum of the basic chassis/body combinations of Type ii - Park Royal Body/Daimler Fleetline chassis with 7185, Type iii - Northern Counties Body/Leyland Atlantean chassis in EX1 and Type iv - Northern Counties Body Daimler/Fleetline chassis in 7206, it just left Type i - the Park Royal bodied Atlantean missing from the rank of The SELNEC Preservation Society's range of vehicles.

It is true that this type of vehicle is represented by 7001, the first production Standard, held by the Museum of Transport, but The SELNEC Preservation Society felt that it might like its own version of this vehicle.

The first batch of Park Royal bodied Leyland Atlanteans being 145 vehicles were split three ways amongst the three Divisions, Central, Northern and Southern as follows:

                        7001-7071 Central                         7072-7109 Northern                         7110-7145 Southern

Consequently, 7143 is the third to the last Southern Park Royal bodied Atlantean.

The vehicle in question was left in the ownership of the PTE with many other hundreds of other Standard vehicles at de-regulation on 26th October 1986 and did not pass into the ownership of GM Buses Ltd. The PTE, after selling-off 559 surplus double deck vehicles, kept 7143 themselves and it was, in fact, the last vehicle retained by them from the 560 vehicles left with them at de-regulation. Rather than being sold, however, it was used by the PTE as their publicity vehicle and it was also used to test out various turning circles, bus stops' etc.

The SELNEC Preservation Society entered discussions with the PTE and eventually purchased the vehicle, on 1st November 1991 and intend to return it to its original SELNEC livery of sunglow orange/mancunian white, when it will represent a SELNEC Standard displaying the Southern green flash.

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