This has been, and still is, a wonderful, highly interesting (for us transport enthusiasts anyway!) thread. But I note one thing that greatly saddens me, and I hope I am wrong on:
The thread has highlighted the lovely, well designed, and treasured historic buses built by British craftsmen. But also the thread seems to reveal how all that tradition has now passed away, with all new buses and coaches foriegn built, on chassis's with engines manufactured by the likes of Volvo, bodies by Van Hool 
Am I right, or wrong (I hope so!!) ?? 
The reasons are many, there's no doubt about it.
My own view suggests that the British motor industry generally rested on it's laurels.
The PSV manufacturers failed to take heed of changing circumstances, such as the expanding motorway network and the likes of Volvo who were slowly but surely getting a firm foothold in the marketplace.
The dominant heavyweight coach at this time was the Leyland Leopard - a rugged and dependable workhorse, which was getting 'long in the tooth' - literally.
Volvo's B58, whilst being a more expensive option was a far superior vehicle. Operators quickly found that all that was required was regular and concientious routine maintenance. Drivers loved 'em too - power steering as standard, and a smooth quiet turbocharged diesel allowed effortless and sustained motorway cruising. The later B10M simply improved things further for the Swedes reputation.
By the time Leyland introduced it's Tiger chassis, the writing was on the wall, so to speak!
And talking of bodies, the Van Hool offerings are something of a 'class act' believe me.
Forget the British offerings, a Van Hool body simply oozes quality throughout, and I've yet to hear of any structural failures with the framing either.
Get yourself a Van Hool-bodied Volvo B10M and you really can't go wrong. Trust me!
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Topic: Bus nostalgia (Read 270793 times)