Manchester Corporation Transport Department had always been keen users of double deck vehicles, and after the Second World War, built up a large fleet of conventional front-engined/rear platform Crossleys, Leylands and Daimlers, which were the backbone of the Motorbus Fleet, along with the Trolley Buses, which had first been introduced in 1938, the last batch 1301-1362 having been delivered in 1955. The Trolley Buses occupied the Fleet Numbers in the 1000 batch. By 1959, the large batch of conventional post-war motor buses in the Manchester Fleet were in three separate numerical blocks. Crossleys 2000-2219, Leylands 3000-3620, Daimlers 4000-4579. The last Crossleys had been delivered in 1949, however, Leyland and Daimlers deliveries continued, the latest batch in 1959, being Metro Cammell bodied Leyland PD2's in the batch 3521-3620.

After the radical change in Bus Design with the introduction of the Leyland Atlantean prototype in 1956, Manchester Corporation Transport Department purchased 10 of these vehicles in 1959 for evaluation, being numbered in the ordinary sequence of conventional Leyland Titan PD2's deliveries as 3621-3630. They were on Leyland PDR1/1 chassis with Leyland 0600 engine and H44/33F Metro Cammell bodywork. Upon entering service, they were so different they attracted the attention of the public, and were nicknamed 'Red Dragons'.

Conventional PD2 Leyland deliveries continued in 1961 at 3631, and in 1962, three years after the trial with the 10 Red Dragons, Manchester Corporation Transport Department purchased 40 further rear-engined vehicles, but this time they were the Daimler Fleetline versions, being two batches 4590-4609 and 4610-4629. The first of these, 4590, appeared at the 1962 Commercial Vehicle Motor Show.

They were on Daimler Fleetline CRG6LX chassis with Metro Cammell H43/33F bodywork, and the Fleet number of 4590 followed on from the normal Daimler numbering from the last batch of vehicles which had been purchased in 1961, being the batch of CVG6's 4580-4589. The fronts of these Daimler Fleetlines, like the 10 Leylands before them, were flat, and the internal features had the same colour co-ordination as the conventional back-loaders of green/cream/brown. However, the penultimate of the Daimler Fleetline deliveries, 4628, was delivered in a more modern design, with a shaped Windscreen and Fibreglass front.

After this initial batch of 40 Daimler Fleetlines, Manchester purchased more conventional front-engined Daimlers, as they had done with the Leylands - the next batch being 4630-4654 in 1963. However, from 1964 onwards, all deliveries were to be of rear-engined design after the delivery of the last Leyland Titan PD2, 3720 in June of 1964.

The next batch delivered in 1964 was a repeat batch of Daimler Fleetlines with the CRG6LX chassis and Metro Cammell H43/33F bodywork, numbered in the batch 4655-4684, and had, as all subsequent rear-engined deliveries, the more modern style of bodywork that appeared initially on 4628.

The next delivery, after a six year gap, was a repeat order for Leyland Atlanteans. These were 72 vehicles on a PDR1/2 chassis with Leyland 680 engines and Metro Cammell H43/33F bodywork, and were numbered in the ordinary Leyland sequence following on from the last of the batch of Titans, as 3721-3792.

The third batch of Daimler Fleetlines was delivered in 1965, and a third batch of Leyland Atlanteans in 1966, being 4701-4760 and 3801-3860 respectively. These had the same body and chassis specifications as the previous Daimler and Leyland batches, but these later deliveries had a different interior colouring, including Red Melamine and Red and Black Seating.

In total, 49 of the original Flat Front design and 223 of the later Curved Windscreen and Fibreglass Front design of these buses were delivered, making a total of 272 vehicles in all. These vehicles were delivered in Manchester red with a cream band, but a few received the short lived white band when Manchester Corporation Transport Department was renamed Manchester City Transport.