XJJ656V - The Bus That Time Forgot!
XJJ656V stated off as the other Bristol VRs in the collection, being built at the BCV factory in Bristol. Along with all the other vehicles that were to be bodied by ECW, she was driven across the country to Lowestoft in Suffolk where she received her standard height body. She was then delivered to East Kent in May 1980 in shiny Poppy Red livery. This wasn't to last as a year later she donned an all-over advertisement for National Holidays. Wearing this she worked at most garages over a period of time. Jake remembers being collected by 7656 in her National Holidays livery from the gates of his primary school and being most upset to find the colourful livery didn't extend inside the bus... well he was only 6 at the time!
Jumping forward to September 1992, 7656 was now owned by the privatised East Kent and was wearing their attractive maroon and cream 'EK' livery. Coming back through Sandwich out of service one fine evening, and her career was suddenly cut short when she encountered a fully loaded skip which literally tore the front of the bus off! She was towed back to Herne Bay depot where due to the damage to her chassis she was declared a write off. Everything that was of use to the company was removed. The engine, the gearbox most of the electrics. She was left as a rolling shell. She was towed again but not to a scrap yard, to the fire training school at RAF Manston where she was plonked on the grass with her front end crudely paneled over and used for fire training exercises. Smoke canisters were placed inside her and she would be filled with dense smoke. The trainee firemen would then enter to rescue the all important stuffed dummy...
By 2013 she was starting to get a little careworn to say the least. The smoke canisters generated great heat which had melted bits of her bodywork. Windows were missing and her faded panels had many holes in them where she'd been prodded and poked around with a bulldozer. Despite all this she still wore her EK livery, which had been applied in the early 90's and had a full set of seat frames and some usable internal panels. Via a good friend who's brother worked on the site, 7656 was acquired by the collection and towed - for the third time in her life!- to safety at SCOC's HQ yard.
Well, what now? We've got a faded cream and pinky red heap sitting in the corner of our yard, what can we do with it? Restoration isn't out of the question, when you see some of the things that people have restored and returned to the road she would be do-able, HOWEVER, it would be super expensive, highly time consuming and when she was done, she would be just another Bristol VR lined up at a rally. On top of that, there are other East Kent VR's of the same batch still around in much better condition (they have engines, seats and windows!) so she's not a total one off by a long shot. Any restoration on her would result in losing the originality that she retains, she would need and engine, gearbox, new panels etc... the list goes on so basically she would be a new or reconditioned bus. As she stands she is unique. Battered but unique! Her interior still has the seat frames which will be used to give historically important 7041 - East Kent's first Bristol VR - a new lease of life as a bus. She has quite a few good interior panels too which will also find a home on 7041, whilst the internal lights and some fittings will come the other way from 7041 to 7656. She will then be made water tight and secure before her new life as our store shed and work shop begins. Externally however, she will be preserved as she was all that time out in the open on the hill at RAF Manston. A fitting tribute to all the fire personnel she's helped train over the years and of course to those at East Kent who originally applied that maroon and cream paint all those years ago...