Showtime – 3

In one sense, the range of vehicles on display at Bus & Coach Live 2007 was poor but it’s unfair to compare it with the full shows on ‘even’ years. For example, Optare showed just two buses and a minicoach. The bodybuilder formerly known as East Lancs showed only two vehicles, a double and a single deck. The meagre ADL and Wrightbus offerings were on other people’s stands. There was nevertheless reported as £10mil of new kit present.

For example, new at the show was the Wrightbus Meridian, on the Neoman stand. This is Wright’s highly acclaimed ‘Eclipse-type body but on a heavyweight 12m MAN NL233, a version of Neoman’s widely used continental Lion City underframe. It offered the usual Wright finish, specification and quality.

MCV exhibited a few vehicles. MCV, you will recall, is the reborn Marshall Bus UK, having purchased the Marshall’s assets in 2002. One was a dual door 10.7m Evolution midibus for Metroline, on a MAN 12.240 chassis. As very much a minority body builder, the Evolution’s still a rare but increasingly popular site on Britain’s roads and it’s interesting that the vehicle is destined with others for mainstream London operations, alongside Docklands’ Buses.

One of five MAN 14.220s for Veolia Midlands and one of four ADL Enviro200s for Halton Transport were also displayed, showing the older Evolution body style. Meanwhile, there was an 11m demonstrator with a revised straight window line and one-piece windscreen, both of which improved the body’s looks immensely.

Meanwhile, Dawson Rentals, a company with a combined fleet of some 1,700 buses, displayed the first Plaxton Centro built on a MAN 12.240 chassis.

Additional pictures by Omnibuses' Northern Correspodent