My post 1288 lists some unusual looking BCT buses which was part of the fleet and was chosen by the BCT.
The following are oddities that were not chosen but allocated to the corporation by the Ministry of War Transport.
Four Daimler buses, unusually at the time 8ft. wide, were FVP 920 - 923 (1320 - 1323). They were known as Jo'burgs as they were destined for Johannesburg, South Africa, but were not shipped due to WW2. They arrived in service in early 1942 in all over grey livery. I saw all of them at one time or another in the early 1950's, usually in Colmore Row on service 9 Quinton. By that time they were in BCT colours and had the route number box removed. Sadly I never rode on one. These had gone by 1954.
FON 324 - 326 (1324 - 1326) and FON 629 (1329) were Leylands which had been destined for a Scottish bus company (Western SMT), However Birmingham got them in 1942. They were all gone by 1954. I liked these buses and their interiors were noticeably different in that they had blue covered moquette seats rather than the usual BCT brown.
Also with FON registrations were FON 327, FON 628 and 630. These were also Leylands but as they had utility bodies were not of interest to me at the time.
Other usual buses were those that carried English Electirc bodies that were originally for Manchester. Their chassis were destroyed in a Coventry air raid so were spare. Birmingham bought fifty four of them and fitted then on buses that had been destroyed or badly damaged in the cities air raids. Later in their life they were fitted to replace worn out bus bodies. I personally did not like their appearance and were quite recognizable with a contoured front.