Construction finished after 4,629 had been built, stifled by the management of British Leyland, who had gained a 25% share in Bristol Commercial Vehicles.
British Leyland, together with the National Bus Company, were to design and produce the Leyland National, which was then foisted upon the NBC subsidiary fleets, whether they wanted them, or not. The RE was still in great demand by many operators. Rather famously, Ulsterbus - having been told that the RE would henceforth only be available as an export marque, threatened to buy from Mercedes Benz... the rest is history, as Leyland decided to save-face, and classify Northern Ireland as an export market!
After being withdrawn by Leyland from the home market, REs continued to be built for Northern Ireland, and New Zealand. The final chassis were built in 1982...
Here is an example from the former Bristol Omnibus fleet, powered by a Leyland O.680 engine. The combination of engine, together with a semi-automatic gearbox made for an impressive beast.
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