Leyland Buffalo: What's the Story?

Yes, I think those bonnet badges may have been made locally just for this restoration.
So too the badge at the bottom of the radiator....It is square-ish when it should be like this..


The Leyland badge at the top of the rad is the real deal though.

The chassis ID plate is interesting.
Note that the chassis number ( El numero del Bastidor ! ) 602772 is followed by
the Type designation....EHB.1L.
Tells me that this is indeed an Export Heavy Buffalo,266.5inch W/B,Left hand drive.
Only "602772" will be actually stamped on the chassis,near this plate.
I've never seen the type designation on any other Leyland ID plate before.Usually one just has to know this item of info.It sometimes appeared on the original rego documents but walking up to a chassis abandonded in the long grass years later would not reveal a clue from the number alone.
An AEC chassis no. on the other hand (like TG4RE 341) is stamped on the chassis and will forever tell of the original type,and by the number,where in the production run this vehicle fits in.Leyland numbers run across the whole range. e.g. C/n 602773 could be a 19H Hippo or a 12B Beaver.
With regards to the Engine Type/No.They are spread over two lines and not divided evenly between the two.
This one appears as... EN901 V12
584

when in fact it should read.......Type EN901 V ( Mammoth, I believe "V" is vertical here)
No. 12584

"La Relacion de Transmision" (diff ratio) at 8.66:1 seems very low but the truck is on 22 inch rubber.

Buffalo C/n 610344 at RTHoF (below) has Engine Type EA902 V No. 3356.



R/

As always there are exceptions to a rule. While my beaver chassis plate does not have the model/type my lightweight octopus does! (24LWO/41R)

Rufo,

Thanks for the reply - your vast knowledge of all things Leyland never ceases to amaze me. I can ask about the badges but they might just be ones made for the Spanish/Latino market back in the day - they also had these huge plates proudly proclaiming the trucks' origin in those markets (for the younger members of the forum, there was a time when Leyland was not a joke), see below for reminder (those Hippos were restored by the same outfit), so who knows?



Also... I probably was not clear earlier, but as some here may know, Leyland had a Canadian affiliate who produced trucks looking more like a typical North-American product. I know some of them were no more than Hippos with 680s, but there was also this bruiser known as the Bison (pic from Hank's) which looks somewhat bigger than the Hippo - could this be a Buffalo Chassis and engine with a set forward front axle and Mack LJ cab?



Cheers,

T

Tatra,
Could that cab on the Bison be a version of the Briggs cab used on the semi forward control Comets?
Mike.

Tatra, Pretty sure the cab on the Leyland is not a Mack 'L' cab. The 'L' cab is shorter in the cowl, and the windscreens sit higher off the cowl. The doors on the Leyland cab appear to be longer and narrower than the Mack.
Jeff.

Mike, Jeff,

My eyesight isn't what it used to be lol - spot on this not being a Mack L-series cab. Semi FC Comet could be it but they did some heavy modification. I think what confused me was the 1/4 window which I never saw on a UK Comet...

The later Canadian Leylands used an (US) International cab I believe.

What I am trying to get at is how far Leyland tried to rationalise its export policy by using the right bits for the right market (I know, this sounds like a contradiction in terms). Seems to me a Buffalo chassis/engine would have made more sense than the Hippo/680 for Canada

Cheers,

T

Tatra, when I 1st saw that Leyland I thought it could have been an L cab, it's certainly very similar. Because I had seen the IH cab used and thought here is a Mack cab variant. As you said regarding Leyland trying to build to the market.
Regards Jeff.

What's the story with the Buffalo Swishy posted off Ebay? I didn't think that model made it to Australia? I know the earlier versions made it here ( Ergo cabs ), but the new plastic front I thought didn't make it, just the others rounder fronts like the Boxer's etc. I know the Marathon 2 made it to Australia as well. This Buffalo looks like it is ex-military or similar. Also wondering if it had a tilting cab. I believe the previous model didn't or am I wrong there.

I remember an old Leyland Hippo getting around the Maryborough Qld area years ago being used by a dozer operator. It had think it had the windscreens that folded out from the bottom if I remember.

10x6 [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

There were quite a few ergo Buffalos and maybe some Bisons imported to Aus, but by that time the Aussie plant in Brissy was pushing out G cab Reivers, Boxers etc and these were favoured marketing wise. Being fully imported they would have carried import tariffs and ended up a lot dearer than the home built product.

I was interrogated by a few Leyland / AEC fanatics over in NZ and the question arose, Why are there so few Ergo cabs here but plenty of the LAD ones? Did the Ergo cab somehow fall from favour?