The Harrington Legionnaire is an 11 metres (36 ft) passenger coachbody built by Thomas Harrington Ltd in Hove, Sussex between 1963 and 1965. It was built on three-axle Bedford VAL, two-axle Ford Thames 676E, and two specials on Guy Victory tram bus chassis.
Harrington Legionnaire
Harrington Legionnaire on Bedford VAL chassis, CDK409C
The Harrington Legionnaire was a square-rigged body with straight waist rail and five deep windows per side. It also differed from the company's Cavalier and Grenadier models by having plated window surrounds; a large brightwork grille with twin headlights; and a Grenadier-style front windscreen duplicated as a rear door. Above the windscreen was a destination box or illuminated nameboard beneath a prominent peak.
At the rear the illuminated nameboard was inside the rear glass and fitted the other way about to the front, meaning the first and last pillars had a pronounced forward rake to them whilst all the others were vertical. The cantrail flat above it was a roof section of very shallow curvature.
The Mark 2 following in 1964 for the final two seasons omitted this flat cantrail and had a roof of compound curvature, which reduced the tall square effect of the original but reduced space in the overhead luggage racks.
The Italian Jobedit
The Harrington was featured in the 1969 film, The Italian Job,[1] Legionnaire bodied Bedford VAL14 'ALR 453B', new in April 1964 to Batten of London.[2]
For use in the film, it was modified to reinforce the bulkhead behind the driver's seat to allow the Mini Cooper S getaway cars to be driven into the bus safely. Even still, there was enough force in the event to push the driver into the steering wheel.
True to the film story, the destination displays on the coach showed London-Turin and then the opposite at the end of the film. It also displays 'Charlie Croker's Coach Tours' logos on the rear and both flanks, a reference to Michael Caine's character.
After the film, in 1969, it was converted back to a coach by William Marshall of Blackpool. In 1971 it was in use by Edmund Birch of Liverpool, who ran it as 'Wendy's Coaches.' It was then acquired by dealer Andrew Drummond, Harthill, Scotland, who sold it to James Meffan in Kirriemuir, Scotland. It was then purchased by Archie Cromer of Bridge Garage, Anstruther, and converted into a racing car transporter/caravan. It then became a horsebox, in 1983, and a motorcycle/sidecar transporter in 1986. In 1990 it was broken for scrap by Bill Davie of Fife. Corgi Toys released a sought-after gift set which included the three Mini Cooper cars (albeit incorrectly modelled on much newer Minis) in 1:36 scale and a 1:50 scale Plaxton Panorama 1-bodied Bedford VALcoach, in place of the Harrington Legionnaire which accuracy demanded.[3]
harrington, legionnaire, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, 20. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Harrington Legionnaire news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Harrington Legionnaire is an 11 metres 36 ft passenger coach body built by Thomas Harrington Ltd in Hove Sussex between 1963 and 1965 It was built on three axle Bedford VAL two axle Ford Thames 676E and two specials on Guy Victory tram bus chassis Harrington LegionnaireHarrington Legionnaire on Bedford VAL chassis CDK409COverviewManufacturerThomas Harrington LtdProduction1963 1965AssemblyHove SussexBody and chassisDoors1 doorFloor typeStep entranceChassisBedford VALFord Thames 676EGuy VictoryPowertrainEngineLeyland O 400 straight six diesel engineTransmissionManualDimensionsLength11 Meters 36ft The design was never a success and very few were built Contents 1 Design 2 The Italian Job 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksDesign editThe Harrington Legionnaire was a square rigged body with straight waist rail and five deep windows per side It also differed from the company s Cavalier and Grenadier models by having plated window surrounds a large brightwork grille with twin headlights and a Grenadier style front windscreen duplicated as a rear door Above the windscreen was a destination box or illuminated nameboard beneath a prominent peak At the rear the illuminated nameboard was inside the rear glass and fitted the other way about to the front meaning the first and last pillars had a pronounced forward rake to them whilst all the others were vertical The cantrail flat above it was a roof section of very shallow curvature The Mark 2 following in 1964 for the final two seasons omitted this flat cantrail and had a roof of compound curvature which reduced the tall square effect of the original but reduced space in the overhead luggage racks The Italian Job editThe Harrington was featured in the 1969 film The Italian Job 1 Legionnaire bodied Bedford VAL14 ALR 453B new in April 1964 to Batten of London 2 For use in the film it was modified to reinforce the bulkhead behind the driver s seat to allow the Mini Cooper S getaway cars to be driven into the bus safely Even still there was enough force in the event to push the driver into the steering wheel True to the film story the destination displays on the coach showed London Turin and then the opposite at the end of the film It also displays Charlie Croker s Coach Tours logos on the rear and both flanks a reference to Michael Caine s character After the film in 1969 it was converted back to a coach by William Marshall of Blackpool In 1971 it was in use by Edmund Birch of Liverpool who ran it as Wendy s Coaches It was then acquired by dealer Andrew Drummond Harthill Scotland who sold it to James Meffan in Kirriemuir Scotland It was then purchased by Archie Cromer of Bridge Garage Anstruther and converted into a racing car transporter caravan It then became a horsebox in 1983 and a motorcycle sidecar transporter in 1986 In 1990 it was broken for scrap by Bill Davie of Fife Corgi Toys released a sought after gift set which included the three Mini Cooper cars albeit incorrectly modelled on much newer Minis in 1 36 scale and a 1 50 scale Plaxton Panorama 1 bodied Bedford VAL coach in place of the Harrington Legionnaire which accuracy demanded 3 See also edit nbsp Buses portalList of busesReferences edit www theitalianjob com Vehicles of the film The Famous Legionnaire Worthpoint entry of an example for sale External links editHarrington Legionnaire Listing of all Harringtons ever built Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Harrington Legionnaire amp oldid 1122307598, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
