Such a shame about the corrosion problems as these were wonderful vehicles for passengers and I think the drivers liked them too.
I first saw one when I had a summer job working at Vauxhall and they first appeared on the 36, then the 36A and 36B, I think this was summer 1976. They were such a leap in sophistication from the DMS Fleetline in London it was like they were from another planet. I had to deliver a package to Queens Park (or West Kilburn as the 36B called it) and took two rides on them to do this, much better than the tube. Powerful, comfortable with air suspension, wonderful sound and I had never come across anything like the torque converter and two speed gearbox.
My first proper job I commuted into St Pancras and worked near Blackfriars and so the 63 was my favoured route between the two – hardly ever took the parallel 45. Busy stop-start route but there was a chance that they would go fast enough to experience the gear change. Top gear kicked in about 30 mph and if the driver floored it (which most did) then you might get there a few times. Some were smooth, some very jerky, probably depending on whether the driver lifted off a little. The brakes made a very distinctive squeal quite unlike anything else, but best was the roar when they set off from rest. We had an office with a window right beside a bus stop, you could hear them arrive and hear them leave. They stayed on the 63 longer than any of the other original routes, I don’t know why. On the last day I took a photo of one passing a pub on Farringdon Street called the Metropolitan, but sadly it was too early to record them with sound effects. I did visit Kingston coal yard, as it was called, where three New Cross ones were dumped quite young, but I think they had all had accidents. I did then go to Woolwich where they were all based in later life and seemed to be popular there.
Later I worked in Reading when they were still by far the dominant species in the town, with (I think) 33 native ones plus about 26 London ones and a handful of Tyne and Wear ones. Our office was on a corner near the station by traffic lights and they powered away from rest and round the corner with the suspension putting them at interesting angles even at quite low speeds - or maybe it was the corrosion. The new Metrobuses and Titans here seemed quite pedestrian by comparison.
I also went on them on the 400 Trans Lancs Express around Manchester, on the 60 ring road route in Liverpool, the 30 from Cardiff to Newport. I saw them in Newcastle, Doncaster, Chatham, Hull and Leicester but generally in these places they didn’t go anywhere I wanted to go. A special mention though for Bradford where they all ran from the gloriously acoustic basement bus station they had then. I went on one from Bradford to either Huddersfield or Halifax, it was quite a hilly route and, although brilliant on the flat, they did struggle a little uphill as they would get up enough speed to change into top gear but then were not able to maintain the speed as it steepened, they didn’t drop back down to the lower gear until they were going quite slowly. I didn’t know, until reading this thread, that they had been ordered by Leeds.
Best ride was in the real twilight of their lives. Charles Cook, an independent in Biggleswade, bought a good number, one assumes they were cheap and spares plentiful and they ran them until they fell apart. I joined the return trip of their shopping service to Stevenage one Saturday. With a good load we probably left Stevenage at least 10 minutes late but the driver kept his foot on the loud pedal the whole way up the old A1 as we wallowed round bends and startled the wildlife with the occasional stop for mostly elderly passengers, by then a little green around the gills, to alight. Early arrival in Biggleswade and no letup as the driver roared out of the square. Not seen one in the flesh since.
I should mention the single deck Metro Scania too. There were some of these based at Stevenage (three originally with King Alfred) and they were popular with Leicester and Newport in particular. Merseyside had some too and London had six, one of which ended up in Clapton Pond in its first day in service as the driver no doubt underestimated its power! These were generally louder than the deckers as some form of quietening was introduced later.
Shame they never caught on more widely and that the bodies were so badly made. Sadly missed!