P491 MBY was one of 22 Alexander bodied Volvo Olympians to H45/25D layout delivered to Metroline London Northern between October and December 1996. They were numbered AV1-22 (P481-95/74-80 MBY). AV11 (P491 MBY) was allocated initially to Willesden garage, moving to Harlesden in April 2001 and then to Holloway in May 2005. It was withdrawn in December 2005 and sold to Ensign (a dealer) in January 2006 together with several others of the batch. Six of them, P479-81/5/7/91 MBY were refurbished and converted to partial open top for Glasgow’s City Sightseeing service, then run by GVVT member Alex Pringle who has a long history of providing tourist services in the city. The Olympians replaced older ex-London MCW Metrobuses. The Olympians have in turn now been replaced by new generation low floor Scanias.
The Trust was delighted when West Coast Motors (which now owns City Sightseeing Glasgow) offered to donate one of the Olympians to the Trust. It represents another chapter in Glasgow’s transport, social and economic history and will provide some relief to our hard pressed Leyland Titan open topper L108.
As P491 MBY only ever wore City Sightseeing livery as an open topper, it has been repainted into an early Strathclyde Buses “coach” livery, applied to various Metrobuses, Atlanteans (both open and closed top), Metroriders and even Leyland PD2 L108, another member of the GVVT collection.
Photographs
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Perhaps you travelled on it, saw it at work, or know part of its story we have not yet recorded. Use the comments section below to share what you remember – every detail helps build a richer picture of Glasgow’s transport history.
- Registration
- P491 MBY
- Chassis type
- Volvo Olympian YN2RV18V3
- Chassis number
- YV3YNA414TC027025
- Body type and seating
- Alexander POH43/23D
- Body number
- 9601/11
- Date new
- November 1996
- Original operator
- Metroline London Northern (AV11)