The Composite Bus and Motor Coach.
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The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[24271 Sir,—There at present appears to be a certain desire on the part of some manufacturers to place an the market a type of composite vehicle which can be used for ordinary touring coachwork and also for other purposes at different seasons of the year. No doubt this tendency has been brought about by the three bad coaching seasons which we experienced in this country prior to last summer.
At the recent Commercial Vehicle Show at Olympia there were several exhibits of those composite coaches with centre passage and various types of all-weather fitments; and it was rather interesting to hear the criticisms and to note the differences in the opinions expressed as" to the advantage or otherwise of this design. Generally speaking, however, leaving out of account those interested parties either engaged in the manufacture of bodies or the different types . of allweather fitments, the opinion of the experienced coach owner was that, whilst the all-weather coach would no doubt hare certain uses in various parts of the cowl
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try, it was not likely to interfere or compete seriously with the type of motor coach which has gradually been evolved on pleasure car lines and with separate doors to each row of seats.
After all, any type of composite vehicle can only be considered as a makeshift, and may be all right in some districts or on some routes where there is no serious competition. Immediately, however, it has to compete with another vehicle which has been designed and constructed for a specific class of work, such as a high-grade motor coach in summer-time or an up-to-date bus in winter-time, it appears to me that it will be working at a very considerabledisadvantage.
—Yours faithfully, CHARA-BUS. Leeds.