Show Stoppers—08 Style (1)

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

The first port of call at this year’s Euro Bus Expo 2008 was the prominent Optare stand. Here were two new products plus a Tempo hybrid. The fact that the new Solo+ and the double deck Rapta were present at all is a testament to Optare, the subject of three recent take-overs, the latest of which was in July 2008. Optare was not initially aiming to get either to the NEC but incredibly did manage to reveal what is the new face of the current organisation.

Opinions were sharply divided about the two outwardly identical Optare Solo+ models on display. While all agreed that the styling was ultra-modern, there were those who felt it was contemporary to the point of blandness & that the front in fact looked rather like a bus rear; while others thought the chic Solo+ updated what was still a familiar friend. May be it looked a little like an updated 1950s Morris J2. Perhaps the use of black-and-grey at the front added no favours. No matter the view, the mature Solo itself is due for an update.

Inside, the Solo+ was bright and airy but had rather utilitarian seats that are unlikely to find their way off the spec sheet and into a working vehicle. One of the two was dubbed the UK’s first all-electric minibus.

Aside from its rather aggressive-sounding name, the Rapta on display was more of a knockout. Production models of what Optare calls the world’s first truly integrated double deck will start in 2009. Meanwhile, the vehicle at the NEC was a shell only. The new frontal resemblance perhaps lent itself better to the Rapta than the Solo+.

Optare states that the integral design saves at least 1.2 tonnes of weight and that this alone will reduce fuel consumption by between 15 and 20 per cent. Seating of up to or about 90 is promised, in TfL specification.

The other significant vehicle on display was the Plaxton coach we’d dubbed The Teardrop. But who would’ve expected the Capoco-designed coach would be named Elite, from Plaxton’s past? In fact, there were two distinctive Elites, one on the ADL Plaxton and the other on the Volvo stand. Over on Volvo, the Elite on a B12B was right next to a high-end competitor, the Volvo 9700. Both appeal to the upper market segment, yet how different these two vehicles look. The 9700 is, of course, European Coach of the Year 2008.

The Elite featured a raked yet slightly bulbous front, with a split-glass arrangement not unlike the Duple 425 of old, continued by Plaxton after Duple’s take-over, albeit for a short while.

Externally, weight is reduced by GRP mouldings to part of the sides and roof. The front overhang and passenger door are both extended, adding to spaciousness. Within, the Elite was everything you would expect in a top-flight executive, especially spacious and with added touches such hinged overhead lockers and personal LED passenger lights that emitted no heat at all. Plaxtons remain popular but let’s face it the premium market is not theirs. The Elite will surely remedy this.