Most of the information on this page is kindly provided by Dave Urquhart. (Hopefully more vehicles to come!!)
| Model | Photo | Details | Chassis | Body | Updated |
| III (1948) |  Peter Kane |
C59351. Preserved in Canberra by ACTION (Australian Capital
Territory Internal Omnibus Network). It is shown repainted into the livery of
the Depart of the Interior. The original identity of the bus is unfortunately unknown. Three batches, totalling 46 Regals, were delivered between 1948 and 1951. As the bus is believed to have come from the second batch, it has assumed the identity of the first bus in the batch, ie. C59351. It looks immaculate! |
O682213 | Commonwealth Engineering Works. | 2002 |
| III (1948) |  |
FMTB15. A Regal III which entered service in June 1948 for Fremantle Municipal Tramways Board. When the FMTB was taken over by the new state government-controlled Metropolitan Transport Trust on 31 August 1960, it was allocated MTT fleet no 15, but was not operated. Instead it went to the gold-mining town Kalgoorlie to operate with the Eastern Goldfields Transport Board. Subsequently converted to a mobile home, it stood for years in a field near Mandurah, south of Perth, before being resuced for preservation 20 years ago. Now protected under cover, it requires extensive restoration. | 0962022 | FMTB | Dec. 2005 |
| III 1950 |  |
WAGT73. AEC Regal III was new as WA Government Tramways 73 in August 1950. When the WAGT was absorbed by the MTT on 30th June 1960 it became MTT 378. During the mid-1960s the MTT substantially rebuilt many half-cabs, including 378, to their own unique design. Withdrawn in March 1976 it saw further use as a country town school bus before being coverted to a mobile home. The previous owner commenced restoration work prior to 378 joining the Bus Preservation Society of WA fleet. | 9621E613 | Boltons | Dec 2005 |
| III ???? |  Andrew Blacklock |
ex-Melbourne "Bobtail" Regal III, converted to mobile home,
re-engined with Leyland 0680, owned by Joe Fogarty. A real head-turner! |
???? | Commonwealth Engineering | Feb 2006 |
 Andrew Blacklock |
Another photo of Joe Fogarty's Regal. Note the destination number 680, which denotes the Leyland O680 engine! | ||||
| Ian Lynas writes from Brisbane (10th April 2006): Here in Brisbane, Australia our Society, The Queensland Omnibus & Coach Society, has 4 AEC Regal IVs and 2 AEC Regal IIIs. The Regal IIIs are former Brisbane City Council No. 80 with a body by Commonwealth Engineering and registered on historic plates. This bus was in use recently to celebrate the 80th birthday of Brisbane City Council's municipal transport department. The second Regal III carried a body by Athol Hedges (a local builder) and whilst it is operable, it is not registered due to severe rust in the bodywork. Our Regal IVs consist of former Brisbane City Council No. 203 and 205 which date from 1956 and carry Athol Hedges bodywork. We intend to make one bus out of two as we have a good body on 205 and a good engine in 203. Both retain the livery of the operator they were sold to after BCC operation, this being Smekels Buses of Southport on the Gold Coast, 100 km south of Brisbane. The most important Regal IV we possess is No. 191, a 1954 model with very ugly body by Athol Hedges. Same problem in Australia with bodybuilders not knowing what to do with underfloor engined buses so their early designs were a bit of a disaster. Bus was sold in 1976 but lay unused in a field for over 15 years then was the subject of ownership claims and sat behind a lot of used machinery in a small village in Northern NSW, 400km south-west of Brisbane. After finding the bus in 2001 a rescue mission was launched in 2002 and in May of that year, the bus was acquired from its by-then confirmed owner and started first time, except for needing a new piece of flexible hose. It was then driven back to Brisbane with an overnight stop and never missed a beat. The interior has had is mobile home features removed (beds and partitions) and the floor has been restored but lack of money has precluded much else although a new steering wheel has been acquired. It is hoped to get it back into restored condition in the next couple of years, but the Society lacks undercover accommodation. The last Regal IV is a Sydney example with Clyde Engineering bodywork but we are about to exchange this bus to a group from Sydney in return for an engine for one of our other buses. Incidentally there do not appear to have been any Regal Vs, certainly no chassis number blocks have ever come to light. Here in Australia we had Regal VIs which were very powerful machines. Over a thousand were built for left-hand drive and about 300 for right-hand drive. Most of the left-hand drive ones went to Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, Iraq, Spain and South America. The right-hand drive ones came to Australia (100 for Melbourne, 30 for Adelaide, 50 for Perth, 1 for Brisbane) and the remainder went to South Africa. The Regal IVs came to Sydney (over 300), Adelaide (168), Brisbane (40), Perth (10), Melbourne (25), Hobart (10), Launceston (8), private operators (10) and was very popular bus only eclipsed by the Leyland Worldmaster. At least six second-hand British AEC Regal IV's came to Australia, four of which survived in service until the late 1990's, made up of two former BEA coaches, one from Pendleton Co-op Society and one from an operator in Bootle in Lancashire. The Sydney Bus & Truck Museum at Tempe have a number of Regal III's and Regal IV's restored or undergoing restoration. |
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