Yorkshire Tiger mauls locals
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IN A Jonckheere-bodied Leyland Tiger 245 from the fleet of veteran rally entrant Globe of Barnsley was Coach of the Year at last weekend's Blackpool Coach Rally. The runner-up was a Hestair Duple-bodied Bedford Y Series owned by Bostock's of Congleton.
That two standard-specification coaches were placed highly in the Concours d'Elegance judging reflects a shift in the emphasis of the rally entries — away from highspecification coaches with the most expensive vehicle sweeping up all the cups, and towards vehicles more typical of those being bought by the majority of coach operators.
The Driver of the Year Award, sponsored by Commercial Motor, was won by Malcolm Stephenson from Bibby's of Ingleton, driving a new Leyland Tiger; runner-up was last year's winner, Peter Bibby.
There were no doubledeckers or imported integrals in this year's event, and the prize-winning Tiger was one of only two coaches in the rally with imported bodywork. Its Jonckheere body has 53 reclining seats and tinted single glazing — and was finished in Globe's distinctive livery on the eve of the rally by rival coachbuilder Hestair Duple. The other coach with imported bodywork was the only Scottish entrant, a Volvo B1OM with Blare Padane bodywork which was entered by Dodd's of Troon.
The Hestair Duple-bodied coach which was runner-up in the Coach of the Year contest, was the only example of the company's current '300' Series body to be entered, although there were a few earlier Duple-bodied coaches including a pair of 1950 Bedford ODs. There was also a single example of Plaxton's new Paramount III body, on a rearengined Oaf SB with low driving position which was entered by Gray's of Barnsley. This smart coach was not placed, but a sister vehicle from the same fleet with a Paramount II body won the Plaxton Trophy, at a rally in which over half the entrants had Plaxton bodywork. The only integral was a 1984 executive-specification Leyland Royal Tiger Doyen operated by local company Coachlines UK of Kirkham.
The rally attracted a preponderance of wellprepared modern coaches, rather than the normal high proportion of vehicles just delivered from the factory. Only five of the entrants were registered.
The The trade display was strongly supported by local manufacturer Hestair Duple and by Leeds-based Optare. Hestair Duple exhibited examples of its '300' Series body and 425 Integral, while Optare showed its successful City Pacer and new, more luxurious InterCity Pacer (tested in this issue). Optare also showed an example of its attractive conversion of the Freight Rover Sherpa van.
A new contender in the tnidicoach stakes is the PMT Knyte body, a prototype of which was shown on a Mercedes-Benz 811D chassis. The jig-built welded steelframed TNT body features flat glass all round and an entrance ahead of the front wheels. This has been fitted without modifying the chassis frame but the driving position has been moved forward by 20cm. The 811D has a 100kW naturally-aspirated engine driving through a five-speed manual gearbox. The prototype has 29 Fainfa fixed seats in a body with plastic side trim below the waist and conventional trim for the window pillars and ceiling. Unusual features of the body include individual luggage boxes for each pair of seats in place of a conventional full-length rack, and lighting concealed behind the ledge on the edge of the centre section of the ceiling.
The 811D chassis has a 7,500kg gross-vehicle weight; the PMT-bodied coach weighed 5,360kg unladen. It will be sold through Ansor Motors of Warrington, priced around £40,000. A 33-seat bus will also be made available with a glider door in place of the cab door fitted to the coach.