Caetano coach
Page 52
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As the suppliers of the Ford D500 Caetano 23-seater coach .to Hicks Coaches of Accrington, Lanes, and as sole concessionaires for Great Britain and Eire of that coachwork, we were rather interested in the article (CM December 27) relating to the fact that Mr. Hicks' vehicle was the first of this type to be put into service in the UK.
While we agree that this statement is correct in theory, we would stress that the vehicle concerned was one of two mounted to Ford chassis which were shipped to this country nearly two years ago, by a London agent, and which were subsequently delivered to Metropolitan-Cammell-Weymann Ltd. for quite extensive structural alterations to enable the vehicle to comply with Ministry of Transport regulations.
The modifications referred to did not, as stated in your article, include the lowering of the floor but consisted of the driver's emergency door being extended to floor level, the seating capacity reduced from 25 to 23 to enable an acceptable seat pitch to be obtained, a reduction in the rear overhang, the removal of the power-operated door and minor adjustments to headlamps, windscreen wipers, etc.
Apart from these modifications, no additional items were fitted to the vehicle, the side locker, etc. referred to in your article having been fitted to the vehicle on the production line, at which time nobody in this country was aware of the exercise.
The completely redesigned and restyled coachwork to the specific instructions of this company have not as yet made their appearance on the home market, except for three prototype vehicles which are at present located at our coachworks in Shepshed.
We feel that-this statement is necessary in order to correct what we believe could undoubtedly be a wrong impression being gained by the operating public of this country who have had the opportunity of inspecting the modern examples available at our recent exhibition.
In conclusion, we would stress that all vehicles brought into this country from Portugal, will in fact comply in every respect with existing Ministry of Transport regulations, the only work necessary on their arrival being final certification, pre-delivery check and completion of exterior signwriting.
C. J. LANE, Contracts Manager, Alt Moseley and Sons Ltd., Loughborough.