Motorway Coach
Back in 1959, The Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company (Midland Red) took advantage of the opening of the first full-length British Motorway. The M1 then only covered about 70 miles, starting from the outskirts of London and ending a little short of Coventry. Special coaches based on the company’s recently introduced C5 model, were turbocharged and fitted with toilets. They became known as CM5T, the T indicating a toilet.
All vehicles were originally built with single headlights, but were later modified with double ones. Unladen weight was about 6.75 tons and the vehicles could often be seen constantly in the outside lane travelling in excess of 80mph! Even vehicles built today would struggle to keep up with these magnificent beasts, they became immortalised as Britain’s first purpose built motorway coaches. Due to the high profile of these vehicles, manufacturers quickly realised the public relations potential. For instance in the December issues of Bus & Coach and Passenger, three companies featured these amazing coaches as part of their advertising. For example Shell reckoned its Rotella T20/20W in the engine, helped them travel from Birmingham to London in 3 hours 25 minutes, a distance of 114 miles. Ferodo were happy to have supplied the braking system in company with Girling. Oh yes, nearly forgot the advert for the CAV turbocharger, but this company felt the vehicle had to travel 116 miles in 3 hours 25 minutes!
The Corgi copy was released in 1961 and production only lasted about two years. According to “The Great Book of Corgi”, 169,000 of these toys were made, with this example being based on the vehicle’s original configuration with single headlights. Interior details included toilet and with its sprung suspension, gave this miniature coach great appeal. Even today, it would give more modern buses in the Corgi range a run for their money!
It was originally sold in a stiff box with a lid, but was later changed to the flap box. Known variations are two different types of wheel hubs, spun and flat.
Take a look at the Corgi toys we have for sale.
