B Type Civilian

Built by AEC, who would later design the iconic Routemaster, the B-type was the first double-decker bus specifically designed for London’s streets. Designed by Colonel Frank Seattle and Walter Iden, the B-type featured a four-cylinder side-valve engine developing about 25 h.p. at its optimum speed of 800 rpm, mounted in a chassis frame of white ash. The double-deck body accommodated sixteen passengers on inward facing upholstered seats inside, and eighteen on forward-facing wooden benches on the top deck, where each pair of seats had a canvas cover for wet weather.