Subject: Rhondda 307 (GTX 869) and 308 (GTX 870)
Chassis: AEC Regal III O962
Body: Longwell Green B34R
Location: Porth depot
Date: c.1959

307 and 308 are also stored withdrawn at the back of the top garage, an area also clearly used by the tyre fitter.

Tyres were generally run on a mileage contract with the tyres being supplied, owned and maintained by one or more tyre companies. It wasn't as straightforward a job as might first appear as there would be different size tyres on different vehicles, often different front and rear, and the wheel centres had different offsets so the right one had to be fitted to the right location otherwise tyres could foul on the chassis. Also lighter vehicles such as the Leyland Tiger Cub would have wheels with eight studs instead of the usual ten although they had the advantage of being very obviously not intechangeable.

Despite being withdrawn when only ten years old it appears that neither of these vehicles found further PSV use. Quite possibly the combination of large engine and preselector transmission did not appeal to the secondhand market which wanted simple and economical vehicles.

Photograph by courtesy of Phil Sposito