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Talk:Bedford VAL

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The VAL is a chassis

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The infobox at the top gives the VAL as having "1 door, step entrance", but that is not correct. That applies to the bus bodywork that may or may not be applied to the chassis. A Harrington Legionnaire has a single entrance, and it is sometimes mounted on a Bedford VAL chassis, but a Bedford VAL itself has no doors or seats, until a body is mounted on it. That's sport of like going to the FOrd F-450 page and putting it down as a "dump bed": no Ford F-450 is sold as a dump bed, they are sold as chassis-cab combos, and an aftermarket manufacturer fits them with various beds and sells them. However, since it is a chassis-cab unit, it is proper to say it is a "2-4 door front-engine truck". The Bedford is a chassis only, to wit: a frame, an engine, gearbox, three axles, suitable ancillaries. No doors or seats included as part of a Bedford VAL itself (although I don't claim to know this for certain). Which brings me to the part where it says "many Bedford VALs were fitted as buses"; presumably this means as opposed to "coaches"? It isn't totally clear. I had to think about it for a minute.

64.222.158.24 (talk) 05:41, 28 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Location of Petrol Tank

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One thing this article omits is the mechanical layout of the bus. It stands out because there's a popular fan theory that the gangsters in The Italian Job (who drove a Harrington Legionnaire, which used the same chassis) could have escaped by draining the fuel tank, which only works if the tank is in the back, under the floor. The best source I could find is this photo of an unclad chassis, but it's not ideal. In particular it'd be interesting to know why the engine and fuel tank are at different ends of the bus (weight distribution?). -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 20:27, 23 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]