Leyland Tigress

The Leyland Tigress, type code T, was a bus chassis built by Leyland Motors from 1936. It was based on the Leyland Tiger and was in practice its bonneted version; Leyland traditionally used the feminine form of a name for the bonneted layout. It was mostly fitted with comfortable touring coach bodies for 26 passengers, some with a sliding roof and panoramic windows, by Burlingham and Harrington, and open excursion buses were built too. The engine was a six-cylinder petrol unit of nearly 50 PS, good for a cruising speed of about 75 km/h and a top speed of almost 80 km/h, and its greater capacity compared with the Tiger allowed use in hilly country. Gearbox and rear axle ratios made it run at high revs on level ground, which gave high fuel consumption. A few were exported to Canada and the United States with an 8.6 litre diesel, and a fire engine with the type code FT was developed from the chassis.