D901 is based on a Volkswagen LT55 chassis and was delivered to Yorkshire Rider in April 1987 being a unique coach seated example, unlike its stablemates that had conventional bus style seating. It was initially allocated to Sovereign Street Depot and was then transferred to Bramley in 1987. As with many minibuses of its era, it was to have a short life with its original operator and was withdrawn by Magic Rider in March 1990.

 

By January 1993 it had found its way to Patterson & McLoy of Birmingham and by November of the same year was with Howarth of Merthyr Tydfil. February 1997 saw another move to Thomas of Porth where the minibus was moved on again only a month later to Jenkins of Pen-y-waum.

 

In 1998 D901 had almost reached the end of the road and was slumbering in a scrapyard but amazingly was resurrected by Hartwool of Bicester in December of that year. Having served the operator for two years D901 was on the move again in January 2001 and passed to Treblequest of Upper Sundon.

 

By October 2001 the fate of D901 once again hung in the balance as she was passed to a dealer but by September 2003 she was with Borkowski of Axminster.

 

In December 2005 she was finally acquired for preservation by Andrew Tindall and was treated to a professional repaint at Busworks Blackpool and a mechanical overhaul by Andrew before being placed back in service at Dewsbury Bus Museum events.

 

She has been a regular performer at our open days but was then laid up for over a year until her current owner acquired her and put her back on the road in 2018. She has a cult following with a certain age group of preservationists and is always well loaded when she is out and about.

 

Despite the enthusiasm in the 1980/90’s for minibus operation, the fad soon came and went and as can be seen today most fleets now operate mainly full-size vehicles once more. It is therefore essential that the Museum has D901 in its collection to depict the era when the minibus was king of the road!