Southern Counties Omnibus Collection was established in 2011 as an informal group of friends who owned and had a passion for old buses. In 2024 we successfully completed the process to become a registered charity. We currently have a collection of around ten old buses and coaches - most with connections to Kent.
The MCW Metroliner coach was the UK's answer to the modern continental style coaches that were starting to flood the market in the early 1980's. At the time it was very futuristic although now it has a wonderful retro 80's appeal to it. Built by Metro Cammell Weymann of Birmingham, the single decker Metroliner was introduced in 1982 and was in production until 1984. There were only 21 built with the majority going to East Kent Road Car Company Limited of Canterbury in Kent. Here they were used on National Holidays work and private hire work and were very much front line coaches. Later sold to an independent coach operator, she passed into preservation a few years ago but has been only stored over the recent years with little or no work being done to conserve her.
8846 is currently located near her birthplace of Birmingham and faces a very uncertain future as the yard she is living in is due to be cleared soon. We have been offered her free of charge but there is the problem of getting 8846 from Birmingham to Kent. Although complete and running she isn't roadworthy and would require a low loader. When she returns to Kent we will have to pay for storage on her as well as for maintenance to get her back into a roadworthy condition.
The initial plan would be to low loader 8846 back to Kent and commence work on returning her to the road. Once she was roadworthy and could go out to shows, we would then look at doing all the cosmetic work and getting her painted into East Kent livery.
We would like to raise £3000 which would cover the cost of the transportation of 8846 back to Kent and would also cover the cost of one year's worth of storage. Anything left over would go towards the restoration of 8846.
Should we not be able to achieve our goal with 8846, the money will be used for the restoration of another one of our vehicles.