200 - 205 (BDF 200 - 205Y)

2nd January 2007

The first Leyland Tigers were a batch of ECW-bodied examples. They were anathema to the tours department, and to the old Black & White management, but they were quick, they were smart, and they replaced some of the old bangers -especially the Midland Red Leopards - that had been brought in short-term to run express services.
There was just one problem - they were ECW B51s with all that type's inherent design weaknesses.
Most of them were rebodied after sale. Only BDF 203Y and BDF 205Y retained their original bodies. The first three were rebodied after three years as Duple 320s (an improvement?!) while Roadcar had BDF 204Y rebodied by East Lancs as a 57-seat dual purpose vehicle in 1995.

200 (BDF 200Y) 640x412 122.306Cb_455.jpg 1999-11-30 00:00:00	201 (BDF 201Y) on the 747 service to Peterborough [Alan O. Watkins Colln] 640x412 scan0014.jpg 1999-11-30 00:00:00	203 (BDF 203Y) 1280x811 122.035C_308.jpg 1999-11-30 00:00:00	203 (BDF 203Y) in front of Notre Dame, with a party of journalists 640x421 122.065C_329.jpg 1983-04-01 00:00:00
203 (BDF 203Y) was one of the first Natioanl Express coaches euqipped with speed stripes 640x404 BW203Z.jpg 1999-11-30 00:00:00	203 (BDF 203Y) [BW] 640x423 122.269C_463.jpg 1984-08-02 00:00:00	205 (BDF 205Y) 640x421 122.126C_361.jpg 1983-11-01 00:00:00	205 (BDF 205Y) in Gloucester bus station had just worked the 607 service from London. 640x423 122.307C_446.jpg 1984-08-01 00:00:00