Optare Vecta citybus unveiled
Page 22
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Optare debuted its 10m single-deck Vecta citybus on the MAN 11.180 chassis at Edinburgh last week.
The Alusuisse-bodied vehicle will cost around £67,800 and will be available to operators in May. • Optare hopes to sell 50 this year, with another 125 in 1992. It has already received "a small number" of orders, according to managing director Russell Richardson.
But Optare is not planning to introduce an alternative length for the low-floor Vecta, or to build it on to a different manufacturer's chassis.
He says the Vecta bridges the gap between Optare's 8.5m MetroRider and 11.8m Delta, with room for 45 seated and 15 standing passengers. It makes Optare the only manufacturer to offer a complete range of UK single-deckers with capacities from 30 to 80, says Richardson.
He believes that offering the Vecta on one chassis gives a "complete integrated design", which he says could not be achieved on a wide range of chassis. But there will be a centre-door option costing around E1,850.
This is the first bus the MAN 11.180 chassis in the UK, although it has been used for coaches. More than 1,000 vehicles are fitted with it overseas, says Richardson, who describes the Vecta as "a large bus scaled down".
The rear-mounted MAN sixcylinder engine produces 134kW (180hp).