Synchromesh transmission was fitted as standard but some later examples were equipped with Allison automatic gearboxes to ease the driver's workload in urban areas.

[3] In the United Kingdom the design was popular during the 1970s, when considerable financial assistance was available to operators for fleet renewal, but following the election of the Conservative Government in 1979, the subsidy money began to dry up causing demand for full-size buses and coaches to decline and the last R series was built around 1986.

Few examples of the Ford R series remain in current passenger use, but many have gone on to second lives as mobile homes and stock car transporters.

Its fleet consisted 100% of this bus model for several years during this period, and was chosen because of the manufacturer's willingness to supply chassis of non-standard width and length to suit local size limits.

Many of these vehicles received bodywork by Duple whose narrow-width Dominant also found buyers on other chassis in the UK, but earlier examples were constructed by Willowbrook and later versions by Wadham Stringer.