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THE SELNEC PRESERVATION SOCIETY

All content is copyright The SELNEC Preservation Society.

INTRODUCTION - SELNEC/GM MINIBUSES

Since de-regulation in 1986, Minibuses have become an integral part of most Bus Fleets, and Greater Manchester is no exception. Greater Manchester Buses purchased nearly 400 Minibuses of varying designs and sizes.

However, way back in 1972, before this vogue for Minibuses started, SELNEC purchased 43 small single-deck Seddon Pennine Minibuses, Fleet Nos. 1700-1742, which were used on some local services, and particularly, most of them were used to shuttle passengers between the two major Railway Stations, these being Victoria and Piccadilly.

The total batch was as follows:

1700 - 1742 Chassis: Seddon 'Pennine' Mk IV/236 built 1972 - 1975
Body: (1700 - 1703) Seddon B25F
(1704 - 1714) Seddon B23F
(1715 - 1742) Seddon B19F+19
1700 YDB 453L 1711 XVU 341M 1722 XVU 352M 1733 XVU 363M
1701 YDB 454L 1712 XVU 342M 1723 XVU 353M 1734 XVU 364M
1702 YDB 455L 1713 XVU 343M 1724 XVU 354M 1735 BNE 729N
1703 XBN 976L 1714 XVU 344M 1725 XVU 355M 1736 GND 509N
1704 XVU 334M 1715 XVU 345M 1726 XVU 356M 1737 HJA 121N
1705 XVU 335M 1716 XVU 346M 1727 XVU 357M 1738 HJA 122N
1706 XVU 336M 1717 XVU 347M 1728 XVU 358M 1739 HJA 123N
1707 XVU 337M 1718 XVU 348M 1729 XVU 359M 1740 HJA 124N
1708 XVU 338M 1719 XVU 349M 1730 XVU 360M 1741 HJA 125N
1709 XVU 339M 1720 XVU 350M 1731 XVU 361M 1742 HJA 126N
1710 XVU 340M 1721 XVU 351M 1732 XVU 362M  

These Minibuses principally fell into three batches as indicated on the above table. The first batch of four commenced with the initial vehicle, 1700 which at the time, was numbered EX56 and was followed by three similar vehicles, EX57-EX59 (1701-1703). EX58 (1702) appeared at the 1972 Commercial Vehicle Motor Show along with 7206, both with the registration 'SELNEC 72'. EX59 was a one-off vehicle delivered to Bolton, whilst the previous three had been delivered to Stockport and had Stockport registrations.

The SELNEC Preservation Society has managed to acquire for preservation at least one bus from each batch:

Batch Numbers Fleet Number Registration Date First Registered Chassis Number
1700 - 1703 1700 YDB 453L 1st November 1972 52567
1704 - 1714 1711 XVU 341M 11th September 1973 54679
1715 - 1742 1733 XVU 363M 1st July 1974 56098
1715 - 1742 1735 BNE 729N 16th August 1974 57090
1715 - 1742 1737 HJA 121N 16th August 1974 ?????

Details of these five buses and their histories are produced on the next pages:

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