The vehicles on this site are actively tracked. The last registration record search was 4 March 2010.
The Seddon Pennine Series consisted of the following models:
Pennine IV Available in 9m, 10m, & 11m chassis. Front engined: either as Perkins 6.354 6 cyl.,
or Perkins "510" V8
Pennine V Available in 10m, 11m, & 12m chassis. Rear engined: either as Perkins 6.354 6 cyl.,
or Perkins "510" V8
Pennine VI Available in 9m, 10m, & 11m chassis. Front engined: Perkins T6.354 6 cyl. only.
(Turbo-charged version of the 6.354 engine).
Penine VII Available in 11m & 12m chassis. Mid-engined: Gardner 6HLXB 6 cyl. only.
No Pennine 7 chassis were sold in New Zealand
The 6.354 engine is 5800cc and the 510 engine is 8840cc
Please email any updated to this list to mbutler@ihug.co.nz
Abbots Motors fleet had 4 Pennines acquired new as well as ex-Bonnici 44 and the ex-Runciman Pennine IV
Two Pennine 4s all with Hawke Commander bodies
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 59221 | 1/7/76 | HQ1748 | Abbots Motors, Blockhouse Bay | 3 | HQ1748 | 17/7/84 | B50D (Gordon Bonnici) | |
Abbots Motors Ltd, Papatoetoe | 3 | HQ1784 | 16/4/85 | . | |||||
Otene Buses Ltd, Manurewa | ? | HQ1784 | 5/3/87 | . | |||||
Abbots Motors Ltd, Papatoetoe | 3 | HQ1784 | 14/8/91 | . | |||||
Abbots Motors Ltd, Papatoetoe | 3 | HQ1784 | 21/7/93 | (Matchmarc Holdings Ltd, Wiri) | |||||
East West Bus Lines Ltd, Avondale | ? | SR7408 | 21/7/94 | . | |||||
Transbay Coaches Ltd, Whakatane | ? | SR7408 | 26/2/96 | . | |||||
Ritchies Transport Holdings Ltd | ? | SR7408 | 27/2/01 | . | |||||
Reporoa Valley Transport | ? | SR7408 | 23/4/01 | Kevin Smith | |||||
D M Ralph, Rotorua | SR7408 | 16/11/06 | Reg on hold 07 | ||||||
A J Lourie, Rotorua | SR7408 | 12/6/08 | Reg on hold 07 | ||||||
W M Rockell, Kerikeri | SR7408 | 18/1/10 | Reg on hold 07 | ||||||
5 | 48319 | 1/6/71 | FT122 | Abbots Motors, Blockhouse Bay | 5 | FT122 | 17/7/84 | B46D (Gordon Bonnici) | |
Abbots Motors Ltd, Papatoetoe | 5 | FT122 | 16/4/85 | . | |||||
Otene Buses Ltd, Manurewa | ? | FT122 | 5/3/87 | . | |||||
Abbots Motors Ltd, Papatoetoe | 5 | FT122 | 14/8/91 | . | |||||
Abbots Motors Ltd, Papatoetoe | 5 | FT122 | 21/7/93 | (Matchmarc Holdings Ltd, Wiri) | |||||
Brothers Travel Ltd, Kaitaia | ? | FT122 | 1/11/94 | . | |||||
Bowman Buses, Herekino | ? | FT122 | 17/1/95 | . | |||||
Ray Charteris, Taumaranui | ? | FT122 | 31/1/95 | ||||||
McGrath Buses, Taumaranui | ? | FT122 | 23/6/98 | . | |||||
McGrath Buses Ltd, Taumaranui | ? | FT122 | 8/7/99 | . | |||||
T G Hoskin & Y Spencer, Tauranga | ? | FT122 | 24/1/06 |
One Pennine 5 with Hawke Commander body and Perkins 510 V8
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | 48323 | 11/11/72 | GC8077 | Abbots Motors | 7 | GC8077 | 17/7/84 | DP46D (Gordon Bonnici) | |
Abbots Motors Ltd, Papatoetoe | 7 | GC8077 | 16/4/85 | . | |||||
Otene Buses Ltd, Manurewa | ? | GC8077 | 5/3/87 | . | |||||
Murdoch Otene, Manurewa | ? | GC8077 | 10/4/91 | . | |||||
Otene Buses Ltd, Mangamuka Bridge | ? | GC8077 | 24/1/95 | . | |||||
Bowman Buses, Kaitaia | ? | GC8077 | 27/1/98 | Dennis Bowman | |||||
Bowman Buses, Kaitaia | ? | GC8077 | 24/1/00 | Bowmans 2000 Ltd | |||||
M G Evans, Awanui | ? | GC8077 | 2/4/01 | movan? | |||||
J M & C A McLaughlin, Masterton | ? | GC8077 | 23/12/03 | Movan | |||||
J M & C A McLaughlin, Masterton | ? | CGH936 | 28/9/04 | Movan | |||||
W & Kelly, Patea | CGH936 | 21/4/05 | Movan; reg on hold 06; To Masterton 08 | ||||||
P F McMillan, Rangiora | CGH936 | 25/2/10 | Movan; reg on hold 06 |
Abbots 4 was the NZMB body of Weld 12 ( a Pennine 5) rebuilt by Hawke and placed on a new chassis.
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | 51692 | 19/8/74 | HC1282 | Abotts Holdings Ltd, Papatoetoe | 4 | HC1282 | 17/7/84 | C44F | |
Otene Buses Ltd, Mangamuka Bridge | ? | HC1282 | 17/8/94 | . | |||||
withdrawn from use | ? | . | 17/11/00 | . |
Two Pennine IV 6 cyl coaches with Hawke Commander bodies. Note that according to David Jones the registrations got applied to the wrong bus. Motor registration records show 55270 as HM9603 and 55271 as HC1373
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | 55270 | 1975 | HC1373 | No LTSA record | . | . | . | C40F | |
? | 55271 | 1974 | HM9603 | Eastern Bus Co, Te Araroa | 4 | HM9603 | by 1987 | C45F | |
Eastern Travel (Jim Haerewa), Wairoa | . | HM9603 | c1990 | minus seats an floor. Later at Napier | |||||
I J Buckley, Waikawa Beach, Horowhenua | . | UT3217 | 17/12/96 | Movan | |||||
J V McMillan, Rangiotu | . | UT3217 | 21/10/06 | Movan; lRTSA lists chassis as 52270 | |||||
M S Field, Levin | UT3217 | 18/5/07 | Movan |
In 1967 Trans Tours acquired Bonnici Motors. Commencing in 1968 Bonnici Motors acquired eleven Seddon
Pennine IV coaches. These had Hawke Cruiser bodies built by Bonnici at their New Lynn depot. The
front and rear moulds were provided by Hawke. These were retired when 42 Hawke SuperCruser coaches were
supplied in 1974-77.
Bonnici 1 Photo: Peter Trevor
Between 1972 and 1976 Bonnici Motors Ltd of Auckland purchased 42 Seddon Pennine IV coaches with C44F Hawke SuperCruiser bodies. Numbers 40 and 43 had 6 cylinder engines. The remainder were powered by Perkins 510 V8s.
These had a very distinctive style and are instantly recognisable. In a desperate bid to get some growth back into the economy Bill Birch and Rob Muldoon came up with series of "think big" projects in the early 80's. The merits of these projects were debated in some quarters at the time and history hasn't been kind to the projects. However operators with the contracts to transport the workers definately thought big and grabbed all the Bonnici coaches, which were certainly big.
Bonnici Motors Ltd became Bonnici Coachlines Ltd in 1974. There is no record of ownership of these coaches moving between Bonnici Coachlines Ltd and Midland Coachlines Ltd. By 1981 Midland Coachlines had gained control of Trans Tours and these buses seemed to move quite freely between the Midland and Trans Tours fleets.
From left two right: Seddon SuperCruiser 40, Ford D 5, Seddon SuperCruisers 49 and 50, Seddon
Cruiser 9. Photo: Peter Trevor
The first four did not have the raised floor and step in the roof line of the other 38.
38 coaches Hawke SuperCruiser RC44F
Two 1977 Seddon Pennine VI coaches with Hawke SuperCruiser C44F bodies.
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
82 | 55288 | 27/9/77 | IM5874 | H & H Travel Lines Ltd, New Plymouth | 182 | IM5874 | 28/6/83 | . | |
Invercargill City Transport Ltd, Invercargill | . | JF8171 | 9/10/91 | . | |||||
Coachlines Southland Ltd, Invercargill | . | JF8171 | 24/10/91 | . | |||||
Invercargill Passenger Transport Ltd, Christchurch | . | JF8171 | 20/5/93 | . | |||||
J G Munro, Christchurch | . | JF8171 | 20/4/94 | Movan | |||||
J G Munro, Christchurch | . | AGE318 | 11/10/01 | Movan; CoF exp 09/09 | |||||
83 | 55287 | 27/9/77 | IM5873 | Newmans Coach Lines Ltd, Whangarei | 289 | IM5873 | 21/6/83 | Acquired from Midland Coachlines | |
Parakino School, Wanganui | . | IM5873 | 3/7/91 | . | |||||
J Peeti, Parakino, Wanganui | . | IM5873 | 7/9/05 | Movan? | |||||
R J Nicoll, Mangere Bridge, Auckland | . | IM5873 | 7/1/06 | Movan? | |||||
A J O'Regan, Carteron | . | IM5873 | 15/1/07 | Movan; Reg on hold 07 |
Ten Pennine IV Coaches. 20 and 21 had Hawke Commander B45D bodies.The remainder had NZMB standard omnibus bodies with 42 or 45 seats.
One Pennine IV bus NZMB B41D body.
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
29 | 51919 | 1972 | GC9729 | No LTSA record | . | . | . | . |
Four Pennine VI buses. Number 1 , 15 and 51 and Hawke Commander B51D bodies. 30 had an NZMB B46D body. 51 was Eastern Buses number 11 before the two fleets were merged in 1983 - 40 years after Tom Hadfield acquired Howick Bus Company.
Eleven Pennine IV Coaches with Midland bodies. 140-142 were composite coaches. After Bonnici Coachlines were acquired by Midland many of the Bonnici fleet also served with Midland. These mostly remained registered to Bonnici Coachlines so LTSA records do not show the transfer to Midland.
A Midland bodied Seddon Pennine Coach. Photo from OB Monograph 6
Four Pennine V Coaches with Midland C45F bodies. All these coaches had V8 engines
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | 47173 | 1/10/71 | FR8341 | Hawarden Garage & Transport Co Ltd | . | FR8341 | 10/3/78 | C40F | |
Te Karaka Bus Company | . | FR8341 | 3/4/87 | ||||||
registration lapsed | . | . | 28/5/01 | ||||||
P J Land, Kaiti | . | . | 19/9/01 | Movan? | |||||
N S Land, Kaiti | . | BBF104 | 20/1/03 | Movan? | |||||
P J Land, Kaiti | . | BBF104 | 6/12/04 | Movan? | |||||
L B & P S Dent, Huntly | BBF104 | 16/9/06 | Movan | ||||||
R Richards, Hamilton | BBF104 | 30/5/08 | Movan | ||||||
registration lapsed | 14/8/09 | Movan | |||||||
6 | 47172 | 1/11/71 | FS1194 | Whangarei City Council | 22 | FS1194 | 7/6/78 | C40F | |
Cambridge Travel Lines | . | FS1194 | 20/8/87 | Tauwhare Transport Ltd | |||||
C F & B J Innskeep, Cambridge | . | FS1194 | 21/11/00 | Movan; To Opotiki 08 | |||||
7 | 47174 | 1971 | FS2779 | No LTSA record | . | . | . | C40F | |
8 | 47175 | 20/12/71 | FS4175 | Hawarden Garage & Transport Co Ltd. | . | FS4175 | 10/3/78 | C40F | |
Raymond Holgate, Christchurch | . | FS4175 | 30/8/91 | . | |||||
Bus & Coach Services, Ashburton | . | FS4175 | 25/8/93 | Michael Hanham | |||||
B V & R D Rusbatch, Mosgiel | . | FS4175 | 23/6/95 | Movan? | |||||
Eccles Concrete Cutting, Balcutha | . | FS4175 | 19/10/98 | Movan? | |||||
D R Richardson, Balcutha | . | FS4175 | 15/8/01 | Movan? | |||||
Clutha Homes 200 Ltd, Balcutha | . | FS4175 | 12/3/02 | Movan |
Three Pennine IV Coaches with NZMB bodies. These had V8 510 engines. The company was still Mt Cook & Southern Lakes Tourist Co Ltd when these vehicles were delivered.
One Pennine VI Coach with NZMB body
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
171 | 51920 | 7/12/72 | GF5610 | Hawkes Bay Motor Company | . | GF5610 | 17/7/80 | C45F | |
Weir Bros, Hawera | . | GF5610 | 4/5/81 | . | |||||
Rose Coach Lines, Dannevirke | 5 | GF5610 | 20/8/98 | With Viking Tours Ltd (same operator) in 2002 | |||||
E McGregor, Dannevirke | . | MADGIK | 3/9/02 | Movan | |||||
R J & S J Monk, Mourea, Rotorua | . | MADGIK | 31/1/07 | Movan; To Hamilton 08; To Ashburton 09 |
One Pennine V Coaches with NZMB C45F body.
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | 48324 | 1973 | GU3869 | Jamieson Motors (Taranaki) Ltd, Stratford | 9 | GU3869 | 22/9/81 | C40F | |
UI9 | 18/6/96 | . | |||||||
JAMO9 | 1/5/97 | to BAF243 10/12/02 | |||||||
R G Simons, Stratford | ? | BAF243 | 20/12/02 | Reg on hold 03 |
Two Pennine IV Coaches with Hawke Commander B50D bodies.
This V8 Seddon Pennine IV coaches with Hawke Cruiser C44F body spent its first few years alternating between Pavlovich in Hamilton and Bonnici in Auckland.
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | 47179 | 25/8/70 | EG9430 | Bonnici Motors Ltd, New Lynn | 14 | EG9430 | 27/10/71 | . | |
M Pavlovich & Sons Ltd | ? | EG9430 | 16/9/72 | . | |||||
Bonnici Motors Ltd, New Lynn | 14 | EG9430 | 3/1/73 | . | |||||
M Pavlovich & Sons Ltd | ? | EG9430 | 28/6/73 | . | |||||
Orewa Transport Ltd, Auckland | ? | EG9430 | 14/10/75 | . | |||||
Blueline Motors Buses Ltd, Hamilton | ? | EG9430 | 5/3/81 | . | |||||
Blueworth Buses, Hamilton | ? | EG9430 | 11/5/87 | CJ Worth Ltd | |||||
Patea Rugby Football Club Inc | ? | EG9430 | 7/6/94 | . | |||||
R T Neale, Hawera | ? | EG9430 | 23/3/99 | Movan; Reg on hold 00; To Waitara 08 |
This Seddon Pennine IV bus was Abbots Motors Number 8. Any information about the first two owners would be welcome.
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | 48318 | 20/8/71 | FQ9883 | Ronald Wood, Papatoeotoe | ? | FQ9883 | 7/5/76 | DP51F | |
Abbots Motors Ltd, Papatoeotoe | 8 | FQ9883 | 5/7/77 | . | |||||
Abbots Motors, Blockhouse Bay | 8 | FQ9883 | 17/7/84 | Gordon Bonnici | |||||
Abbots Motors Ltd, Papatoeotoe | 8 | FQ9883 | 16/4/85 | . | |||||
Otene Buses Ltd, Mangamuka Bridge | ? | FQ9883 | 5/3/87 | . | |||||
Registration cancelled | ? | . | 17/11/00 | . |
Two Seddon Pennine VI coaches with Hawke Commander Bodies
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 54691 | 1973 | GY1875 | Newmans Coach Lines Ltd, Whangarei | 093 | GY1875 | 3/9/80 | C45F | |
Hanhams Buses, Albany | 16 | GY1875 | by 1985 | C45F | |||||
8 | 56063 | 6/10/76 | HQ1788 | Newmans Coach Lines Ltd, Whangarei | 098 | HQ1788 | 3/9/80 | C44F | |
Carleys Transport Ltd, Te Kauwhata | . | HQ1788 | 25/10/95 | . | |||||
C J MacGillivray | . | HQ1788 | 1/2/02 | . | |||||
NR & SL Shepherd | . | HQ1788 | 11/2/03 | . | |||||
C J MacGillivray | . | HQ1788 | 6/5/03 | Reg lapsed 3/5/04 |
Four Pennine Vs. Number 12 was on the Rangitikei River bridge at Bulls when it collapsed. The body was then modifed by Hawke and placed on a new chassis to become Abbots 4 (see above).
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 48325 | 6/7/73 | GU9594 | Shaws Transport Ltd, Pukekohe | . | GU9594 | 21/6/89 | NZMB C45F V8 | |
Harkers Passenger Services Ltd, Waiuku | . | GU9594 | 30/9/98 | . | |||||
Star Farms, Waiuku | . | GU9594 | 4/12/00 | M J F van der Star | |||||
registration lapsed | . | . | 22/3/04 | . | |||||
12 | 48322 | 1972 | G08850 | written off | . | . | 15/6/73 | NZMB C45F V8 | |
14 | 52551 | 21/3/74 | HE4418 | Eastern Coachlines (Robert Haerewa), Napier | . | HE4418 | 5/4/89 | NZMB B49F | |
D Mangin, Norsewood | . | HE4418 | 23/7/98 | Reg on hold 97 | |||||
15 | 52550 | 1974 | HT6986 | No LTSA record | . | . | . | Stratford MB DP53F |
Four Pennine IVs. 18 and 19 were rebuilt by the comapny as Corsairs
One Pennine IV with NZMB B48F body.
# | Chassis Nbr/VIN | Year | Original Reg | Later Owner | # | Later Reg | Date | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 | 48517 | 17/3/72 | GB4153 | Rebuilt see Nissan RBS Waipawa 85 | . | . | 1/12/99 | NZMB V8 |
Last updated 25 January 2012
My thanks to Darryl Bellamy and Anthony Grearney for the original information for this page.