Plaxton at 100

They're unlikely to receive a telegram from the Queen but the fact that Plaxton commemorates 100 years this coming weekend is something we should all celebrate. And not just the nostalgists. Everyone connected with the UK bus and coach industry must surely raise a glass to Plaxton and be thankful that it is a true survivor.

So many of Britain’s coach bodybuilders have fallen. Duple was once the most obvious Plaxton competitor. Ironically, Duple at its end was linked with Plaxton but folded in 1989, having previously taken over Burlingham (1960) and Willowbrook (1958). Smaller erstwhile coach builders (as opposed to bus builders) were Harrington and, to a lesser extent regarding coachwork, so was ECW.

Plaxton nearly didn’t make it. It could so easily have died in 2004 upon the collapse of Transbus International, the joint venture of 2000 between Mayflower (Alexander and Dennis) and Henlys (the 1992 reformed Plaxton). Initially, the former-Plaxton management failed to acquire Transbus’ coach division.

In Plaxton’s Panorama from 1958 and subsequent Panorama I & II, the defining Panorama Elite I to III, Panorama IV, Supreme I to VI and Supreme-based Viewmaster you could trace a certain lineage that represented the lingering golden age of British coaching.

The Paramount variants introduced from 1982 were Plaxton’s attempts to win custom in the face of a continental coach invasion. With its feature window one third along its length and angled front passenger window, the Paramount was designed to introduced a little continental flair. Although it worked well, the design was perhaps a little too square.

The Pointer for the Dennis Dart service bus was one of Britain’s bus bodywork successes of the 1990s, even though some felt it was a little slab sided.

Current innovations include Britain’s first bulk order for 15m bodies on Volvo chassis, for Stagecoach’s Megabus.com.

Plaxton has a rather good historic website, www.plaxton2007.co.uk/home.html and, for those who don't yet know, is holding a celebratory weekend on 21 and 22 April.