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As Pearsons had been one of General Motors major dealers in the north of England, they were asked to help the American company find a new operational assembly plant when the GM factory at Southampton was blitzed in 1940. Pearsons duly obliged and proposed that an old cotton mill at Cuerdon Bamber Bridge near Preston, would be ideally placed for receiving the vehicles that were then being imported. However, in addition, Pearsons quickly established the opportunity to acquire some of the assembly of Canadian Military Pattern vehicles in Liverpool.  As these supplies became exhausted, and new vehicle chassis were released by the UK vehicle makers, Pearsons returned to their pre-war activities of being a coach - and body-builder.

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Following a War Department disposal sale held at Speke in January 1948, Pearsons purchased about 30 ex-RAF aircraft refuelling tankers on AEC chassis.
 
This 10-ton tanker was fitted with a semi-elliptical stainless-steel body with a capacity of 2,500 gallons, which had three separate compartments and worked for the famous St. Helens firm of Suttons.

To meet the needs for new wartime single-deck buses, Vauxhall Motors were allowed to build the Bedford OWB, but the OWB bodies were only ever intended as being a short-term solution, and hundreds of them were falling to bits by the time the war ended.
 
This photograph shows new bodies being built, ready for fitting on to both wartime Bedford OWB and post-war OB chassis, whilst on the right of the factory are several brand new Leyland Beaver chassis, including one with a tanker body.

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Pearsons bodied many bus and coach chassis in the post-war period, including the Leyland PS1/1, registered JP 6412.
 
It had chassis number 470488 and a Pearsons C33F body, it was supplied new to Smiths of Wigan in 1948/1949.

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