Buses on Screen: Summer Holiday (1963, Cliff Richard)

The one everyone remembers! A London Transport AEC Regent III RT is used as a caravan on a trip across Europe to Greece. The film opens with footage of London Transport buses at Aldenham Works. A number of RT-family buses is seen, including two green Country Area RTs, also a green Country Area RF:

Three RTs, RT2305 (KGU334), RT2366 (KGU395) and RT4326 (NLE990) were sold by London Transport to the Associated British Picture Corporation of Elstree in April 1962. These were used in 'Summer Holiday', all posing as RT1881 with a fake registration number (WLB991).

Early in the film, 'RT1881' is converted to a caravan at the Works, complete with doors on the rear entrance:

When complete, the 'London Transport' fleetname is retained but the fleet number, visible at the beginning of the movie, has been painted over. The 'W' garage plate (for Cricklewood garage) is retained. It is uncanny how many scenes in the film have the bus parked in the background! The real RT1881 was registered LLU767. As the bus passes round the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, there is a glimpse of a Paris Renault singledecker:

At the end of the film there are some distant views of blue buses and yellow trolleybuses in Athens.

Information taken from several postings on the london-bus discussion group. (thanks to CCR - some information comes from 'RT: the story of a London bus', by K Blacker)
British Pathe News filmed Cliff Richard driving a bus at Chiswick, and a low resolution clip is downloadable from their website. See Cliff Drives A Bus for more information.

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