Show Stoppers—08 Style (3)

Show Stoppers (1) ~ (2) ~ (3) ~ (4) ~ (5)

Over the weekend, we will feature more from Euro Bus Expo 2008 including some of the heritage vehicles present (yes, there were more than a few). Meanwhile…

Exuberance is the Mot Juste

There was a time when outrageous body styling was the province of Neoplan and Neoplan alone. With most builders now able to offer something stylish, Neoplan has to turn to the more excessive, such as this Starliner 2, seen here as the first UK import in RHD form. As with the Solo+ & Rapta, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. True, there were design differences between the Starliner 2 and its predecessor ‘ordinary’ version—such as a heavily raked upper glazed section—but then again no one was allowed to touch or board the 2 to see those differences in detail.

Chic by Jowl

The new-to-the-UK Marcopolo Viale HF (fortunately not pronounced ‘vile’ but vee-alley) was an interesting 3+2 configured potential school bus. With a slightly lower floor than is usual in this market, the Viale HF appears to cross the divide between a bus and a ‘proper’ coach. Mounted on a known MAN A91 chassis, unlike some of its class, the Viale HF was able to offer substantial under-floor locker space. Apart from over the wheel arches, the seat pitch may have been the best in class. But the Viale’s strongest selling point might be its modern looks. First there came Bluebird, then Scolarbus, then products like the Autosan and BMC. With Viale, the school bus market got a little chic.

Novel Solution

On the outside, this Ulsterbus looked like any other ADL Enviro300. Inside, there was an interesting seating configuration for 55 seats on an almost 12m product. Compare this with a Leyland National of yore, at 52 seats on 11m. ADL achieved this by an unconventional mix of 2+2 and towards the rear 3+2 seating, with school peak loads in mind. Between the peaks, passengers would no doubt use the 3+2 as 2+1. Note the reduced front overhang.

Fast French Female


A glance at this FAST Europe coach called the Starter and you instantly think of French inter-urban designs of the 1990s, probably Renaults. And that’s not surprising as this starter was made in France. Price would seem to be the redeeming feature. But it satisfies its intended market well as a school bus come coach for light duties. The very nice French lady on the stand thought FAST was looking to establish a base in Leeds.

Yellow Cool Bus

Spaniard Beuals is a marque that’s established itself well in the UK. The Beulas Glory saw its first UK outing at Expo and was a well-proportioned, tri-axle high floor stunner. The only niggle was the slightly confining and claustrophobic cabin. The low ceiling might become a nuisance on the sort of long journeys for which the Glory was conceived and with which it is otherwise at home.

Sorrowful No-show

Solbus was due to display its first RHD 12m SLF bus but, along with the other products promised, none materialised.