Buses and Coaches 1945-70: From Contemporary Adverts

Bus and coach manufacturers advertised in the trade magazines for various reasons it was to sell their products, of course, but also to keep their names in front of the people who made the decisions, to keep their shareholders happy, to boast about their successes and to support the trade press. Over the years, the number of manufacturers promoting their wares has fluctuated from several dozen bus builders competing for orders in the years following World War Two, to the late 1960s, when British Leyland had acquired much of the competition and was starting to abandon popular brands as it moved to rationalise its product range. This impacted the monthly trade magazines as the number of advertisers dwindled, and this led to the closure of the market-leading magazine Bus & Coach in 1970. The book uses trade adverts that appeared in the years between 1945 and 1970 to illustrate the development of new bus and coach chassis and bodies, and the constantly changing visual styles used by advertisers to catch the eye of potential customers.