"Like the bark of
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prizes were arded for the entries pmitted by the bus I coach operators in last class of this les CM International ary Competition.
rid Wilcox was with judges and repr--sad facts :R a strong and good quality of entries for the second pory in the Commercial Motor lational Livery Competition CM October 221, the third and class this year was a pointment.
vas for buses and coaches udging by some of the lent liveries seen on coaches .ummer, and a good standard s class in the past, we might expected an interesting letition. It was not to be, judges said they were not ired to award prizes; doing so A indicate a degree of nendation and congratulation was not merited. None of ntries escaped criticism; the as tolerated while the worst dammed. Greater Manchester Transport's coaching arm. Charterplan, had entered a Kassbohrer Setra used on continental tours. Its livery of brown and orange stripes on a silver base colour was thought to be "tidy" and "safe" but also "uninspired" and "a little boring".
There were no fewer than three liveries submitted by National Bus Company subsidiary Southdown Motor Services. The best of the three was thought to be the Mini Breaks tours livery on a Plaxton Paramount-bodied Leyland Tiger.
"At least there is some evidence of original thinking" said one judge, referring to the multi-striped side flashes.
But the rear view of the coach was not liked. "When they came to do the back they must have had a brainstorm." Too much information poorly presented was the verdict on the bootlid.
This last point was repeated in a high proportion of the entries. The judges said that the back panel is potentially the most important aspect and yet it is also so often the worst. Signwriters and operators seem determined to cram every possible word and phone number—in a mixture of typefaces —onto the bootlid, usually with dire consequences.
"All they are doing is perpetuating the phrase like the back end of a bus!" commented one judge.
Southdown's Diplomat is a Plaxton Panorama-bodied Leopard used on executive and promotions work. The judges like the typeface used for the lettering because it suits the name but thought thrt the choice of colours
(bronze/brown on a green background) was not so clever
They preferred the livery on Southdown's third entry, anotl Plaxton-Leopard, used on the Sussex Link service. Even so, 1 rated only a "quite nice" comment. And oh, that booth(
A Leyland Atlantean from th Southampton municipal fleet one of two entries from P and Ferries because it carries an all over advert for the ferry comp This was rather difficult to ass because the judges thought th although it may be an effectivi advert it does not enhance the vehicle. They therefore reason that it cannot be rated too hig as a vehicle livery. But they di, admire the blend of colours.
Apart from the "back of a b criticism the judges repeated E point made at previous classe! the competition: too many of • liveries treated the vehicle as i series of separate surfaces —tv sides and front and back that not connected —rather than as three dimensional object. As a result, the livery has a lack of continuity when the vehicle is from a three-quarter view.
To avoid this defect, any de! or bands of colour should be t around corners so that the aid and the front or back of the vehicle marry up.
The award for this class is b held over and will be made to best livery seen at the Scottisl Motor Show.