The company originated in 1957 as Swagman Overland Tours,
running overland camping tours to North Africa and India. Nepal
replaced Bombay as the final destination at the time of the Israeli/Arab war. In
the late sixties, in a bid for the American market, the company was
renamed Asian Greyhound Ltd., retaining the original name for the longer of
the two routes to Kathmandu. Onward connections were set up by air to
Bangkok, thence onward air connections more or less worldwide, and through
Malaysia and Indonesia by various forms of local transport to Bali, with
a final hop to Darwin and onward coach connections to Sydney. Until the
mid sixties a variety of vehicles were used, including Guys with both Park
Royal and Plaxton bodies, and Commer TS3 with Beadle body. Eventually
Bristol LS with Gardner HLW engines became the standard, with two MW's joining
the fleet in the seventies. Asian Greyhound also contracted camping tours to
Europe Scandinavia and Russia, using the name Tent Tours, using the MWs,
two RE's, and a Leyland Leopard.
Modifications to the LS's were raising the suspension by 5
inches, fitting a 21 foot roofrack, an additional radiator and electric water
pump, and rerouting the engine air intake inside the saloon. Vehicles thus
modified ran about five tours of some 25,000 miles before retirement. The
company ceased operations in 1977.
Asian
Greyhound enthusiast web site
