The Plaxton Mini Supreme on Bedf

CLICK HERE FOR LISTING OF KNOWN SURVIVORS

The Bedford CF commercial chassis was available as an alternative to Ford's Transit both in panel van & chassis cab forms including a twin rear wheel CFL 350 long wheelbase version. Although the majority of these CFL 350 chassis were bodied as 35cwt trucks or Luton vans, a number went for PSV use & were bodied as a 17-seater mini coach by both Reeve Burgess & Plaxton. Around 180 of the Reebur version were made but only 34 were known to have been bodied by Plaxton with their Mini Supreme coach built C17F body.
In fact as minibuses go the Mini Supreme is somewhat unique. Like its larger brother the J2 Plaxton Embassy bodied 20 seater, the Bedford CFL/Plaxton 17 seater was coach built by Plaxton's Service Division to order only. As already mentioned, Reeve Burgess also offered a body based on the CFL 350 although it must be said that the Reebur version was somewhat austere compared with Plaxton's & used predominately fibreglass to form the angular 17-seat body. In fact Reebur did not remove the Bedford front end & mearly fitted their fibre glass front over the existing tin ware resulting in major rust problems later on. The prototype Mini Supreme on the CFL 350 chassis, NVY 219T was built in 1979, & the last production body registered in 1982 as KVJ 291Y went to Hill of Hereford, it was the only one on the later CF2 chassis.
The body numbering system used by Plaxton was somewhat erratic with gaps in The sequence between No's 29 & 34, possibly used for six 19/25 seater Mini Supreme's built on Mercedes chassis. A duplicate was made of body No 18.
The Plaxton body used a number of stock standard parts used on the larger coach bodies, the windscreens were cut down Supreme components, & the side windows also came from the larger body. Like the J2, the body was built wider than the original chassis; as a result the front wheels were positioned well inside the wheel arches. The wide body allowed almost full size coach seating Configured in six double seats fitted in three rows each side of a central gangway, a traditional back row of five gave a large coach feel in a small vehicle. Another striking feature was the large deep windows that gave excellent vision for passengers, but from the outside giving the coach a 'gold fish bowl' look. When built operators could specify petrol or diesel engines, most going for the 2-litre Opel diesel, a four-cylinder unit producing a modest 59 bhp at 4400 rpm, this coupled with the 5 speed ZF gearbox gave a maximum speed of 56 mph & a cruising speed of 50 to 55mph on the flat, speed falling off dramatically on hills. The engine noise was also obtrusive for the front passengers & driver. The 2.3 litre petrol version had a better, quieter performance but gave poor fuel economy.

So who was the Mini Supreme aimed at? The small operator who needed a minibus for small party travel, hotel/airport transfers & tour feeder work. With the manual door converted to power operation the Mini Supreme would have made an ideal rural bus. One drawback & possibly the reason why so few were built were the high price, between ?0,500 & ?1,000 depending upon the specification. Being some three times the price of a standard van conversion, it is perhaps surprising that any were sold at all. Amongst the operators who bought CF Mini Supremes new were Shearings who operated three between 1979 & 1981, Hill of Hereford also bought three, & Sampson of Cheshunt had two. Most others went to Small independents or non-PSV users such as British Nuclear Fuels & The National Blood Transfusion Service for staff transport. As already stated all were configured C17F except one XBG 982W as a C13FL with a chair lift fitted for Littlewoods Rest Home, Glen Trool.

Survivors

Out of 34 built there are currently around 8 known survivors, of which 4 are converted to motor homes, others may survive (the author welcomes any information on these). Although there appear to be few strictly preserved Mini Supremes, Terry Jones of Vista Coachways, Yatton has two, including one of the Shearings intake, RNE 692W.
Stephen Golynia of Felix Coaches, Long Melford, Suffolk has 591 HNM (new to Herberts of Shefford) which is fully restored & in use as a PSV in the Felix fleet as well as attending local rallies as part of the Felix 'Heritage Fleet'. Felix owned JGV 313V from new, but sadly this ended its days as a school bus on the Isle of Man as CMN 61F but was scrapped in 1996. Only one Mini Supreme KVJ 291Y was bodied on the later CF2 chassis, this survives with Tony Glew Private Hire of Colchester, although it has been withdrawn from his operational fleet for a few years, Tony is planning to return it to service during 2005. It is named Little Ben
Others strictly in preservation, are; KNT 815W & XBG 982W owned by George Atkin in Lincolnshire, and CNR 247T is with Richard Payne in Essex
Surprisingly, considering four times as many were produced, very few of the Reeve Burgess version seemed to have survived. Only one appears in PSV Circle Preserved Buses 2002, this being HGB 438T new to Kelly, Blantyre & listed as preserved with Savage, Rotherham. but as nothing has been seen or heard of it it may no longer be around. For a full list of survivors see the main listing.

Preservation
So how about the CF Mini Supreme as preservation project? Being small it would be easy to park in you driveway, & with the diesel engine giving up to 25 mpg it won't cost a fortune to run. It could also double as family transport to take the wife & family to the seaside. Most new parts for the CF chassis are still available from Adrian Bailey (0113 245 9569), but like many other limited production vehicles body parts are more of a problem. Although body panels can be remade from patterns & fibreglass mouldings unless very badly damaged can easily be repaired, no new spares with the exception of some minor parts such as marker lights are available from Plaxton, (01723 581500). As previously stated windscreens are cut down Supreme 3 items & can be sourced by some PSV glass suppliers who are willing to cut them to size & fit. If anyone knows of Bedford CF Mini Supreme spares, or a complete vehicle for sale, the author would be pleased to take details to pass on to owners. Tel 01223 843802 evenings.
Cost
Pay around Ł500 for a runner needing some TLC, and between Ł1500 & Ł2500 for a good to fully restored example with class 5 or 6 MoT. With a growing number going into preservation & maybe a few still with operators, now is a good time to go looking for one, within the next few years they will all be going to the great bus park in the sky if not saved for preservation. . Not all operators are as sympathetic to CF Mini Supremes as Terry Jones, & Stephen Golynia of Felix Taxis.
Acknowledgement:
The author acknowledges data provided by Terry Jones of Vista Coachways in compiling this article.
John Wakefield