Our single deck coach is a replica of a Beadle Integral rebodied vehicle from J C Beadle of Dartford in Kent from the early 1950s. The company specialised in taking running units from pre-war vehicles which had been withdrawn from service into which they incorporated new style full front bodywork, generally on either  AEC or Leyland chassis  for onward sale to coach companies.  East Kent was one of many operators to use rebodied buses as a way of extending their service life. Restored FFN 446 started life as a Leyland TD5 double decker and was rebodied by J C Beadle in 1951 into a 35-seat coach. It was withdrawn from service in 1964 and passed to a church group in Perivale, London before being acquired for preservation in 1972.

Here at Oxford, we are pleased to launch our model in its original livery of deep red as used by the East Kent Motor Company.  The colour scheme incorporates cream masking and lots of chrome coachwork detailing to the exterior, including the superbly fashioned sweeping wheel arches.  Other details on our model of FFN 446 include red and silver front wheels, red rear wheels, yellow East Kent graphics along the sides and rear of the coach and ‘Private’ destination blind above the windscreen. The interior is finished in red to match the body colour.

In real life, the livery of this rebodied coach was updated a few years later when it was given a cream roof