Sir Brian Souter lends Glasgow’s oldest bus to Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust for centenary celebrations of city’s transport

The 1928 Leyland Titan was driven 50 miles to city by former Stagecoach chief

Glasgow’s oldest surviving motor bus is to go on display after being driven 50 miles to the city by its owner – former Stagecoach chairman Sir Brian Souter.

The 96-year-old Leyland Titan has been lent to the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust and is due to lead a parade to mark 100 years of Glasgow Corporation buses – the city council’s predecessor.

It has joined one of the Bridgeton-based trust's youngest vehicles, a former Scotland-London Sleeper coach operated by Stagecoach and also on loan from Sir Brian.

Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust chairman Steven Booth with Sir Brian Souter and the 1928 Leyland Titan. (Photo by GVVT)

The public will able to see the buses and the rest of the trust’s collection of more than 130 vehicles in guided tours of the garage on Saturday, March 23 and on open days on the first Sunday of the month between April and September.

The double decker Titan was in service between 1928 and 1940, with its original petrol engine now replaced with diesel. It was restored in the mid-1990s after being discovered a decade before being used as a static caravan in Kent with its top deck missing.

The bus is expected to be the star attraction of the centenary parade due to be held on August 3, if approved by the city council and police.

A spokesperson for the trust said: “Sir Brian personally drove the Titan to Bridgeton from its storage location. He was pleased to report that the bus had performed very well on its 50-mile trip.”

The bus is due to take part in a centenary parade of former Glasgow Corporation vehicles in August. (Photo by GVVT)

The move follows the former bus boss lending a 15m-long Van Hool Astromega double decker coach to the trust last year.

Mr Souter said: “It’s unique. It marked a high point in vehicle development as the first custom-built sleeper coach for service in the UK. It had a very busy life working day and night between Scotland and London. It then moved into regular express work across the UK.

“More recently it has operated a luxury sightseeing service in Edinburgh under the SuperBus brand, so it’s had quite an interesting life.

“I hope it sparks the interest of kids in particular. It would be great if some go on to careers in the industry.”

The Astromega coach originally operated overnight trips between Scotland and London. (Photo by GVVT)

Trust chairman Steven Booth said: “The arrival of the Astromega is special. This will provide a great attraction and fits with our drive to engage more with families, especially kids. I’m sure they’ll think it’s fantastic.”

The trust hopes to expand facilities at its Bridgeton site to put its vast archive on public display and increase passenger trips across the city aboard some of its vintage fleet.

The nondescript 1960s bus garage has become an in-demand location for film and TV dramas such as The Last Bus starring Timothy Spall, which was released in 2020.

Scenes from BBC dramas have been shot there, including 2019’s The Victim, starring Kelly Macdonald, and 2011’s Hattie, in which Ruth Jones played Carry On actor Hattie Jacques. The trust said film and TV producers were attracted by the drab concrete building as evocative of the era in which it was built.