Oxford Diecast 76AMT005 Alexander M Type Highland Omnibuses

The Oxford 1:76 scale replicas of the very stylish, smart and elegant Alexander M Type coaches continue with yet another eye-catching livery from Highland Omnibuses.  The navy blue, light blue and white colour scheme is just gorgeous and the silver trim takes it to another level again. The coach is registered GSO 534N from 1973 and we see it is heading for Inverness as the 557. The Highland Scottish name is printed along the sides of the coach and again across the front, accompanied by the Scottish Saltire. The interior is equally elegant.  The floor and seating are moulded in bright red; the side panels, luggage racks, toilet panels and driver surround are all beige and the dashboard and steering wheel are black. Note too the tiny detail to the right hand side of the rear window which has been painted white from the inside

The Alexander history goes right back to 1913 when Walter Alexander founded Alexander’s Motor Services. Just over 10 years later, he founded W Alexander & Sons Limited to run buses and also to build bodywork. Selling the company to Scottish Motor Traction in 1929 gave Walter more time and scope to expand his coach-building business which grew so much he had to seek larger premises in Stirling. In 1947, anticipating the Government’s nationalisation of the bus services, Walter Alexander formed yet another company Walter Alexander & Company (Coachbuilders) Ltd, securing their business independence and enabling the coachbuilding activities to continue when their bus service operation was nationalised.  Once again success meant another move, this time to a purpose-built factory back in Camelon. The coachbuilding business expanded rapidly, Walter Alexander acquiring other bodybuilders along the way and by the mid 1970s was selling coach and bus bodies across the world.

Walter Alexander remained a private family run firm until 1987 when it became a public listed company. Following years saw the business change hands several times but the name is still at the forefront of the industry today under the auspices of Alexander Dennis.