DUPLE'S DOMINANT- STYLED TO MEET THE EUROPEAN CHALLENGE
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All load-bearing structure in metal;
and a price of £6095 by Martin Hayes
DUPLE'S new Dominant coach body — which is announced today — is the first product to emerge from the new management team which was formed when the dynamic Frank B. Ford took over the company in 1970.
Designing a coach body is no easy task, particularly when it is to replace one of the most popular models on the market. The 10 new men at Duple started their task of reorganizing the company by scrapping a new coach design which was on the stocks when they arrived. Although this was clearly a painful step — well over £100,000 had been spent on the design — the company considered it essential if Duple was to regain its position as the UK's largest coachbuilder.
The Dominant is the design which the Blackpool-based company has chosen to carry it through what it sees as the transitional period between the traditional timber-framed body and the introduction of an integral vehicle. Integral construction is thought to be an inevitable development for British psv builders. Of course, other companies have already introduced integrals but, as yet, only for bus operation.
But Duple is determined not to be too early in the integral field. As managing director Harry Bigg put it: "It is important not to be first, but, equally,.it is important not to be second".
Of course, another major factor which
was considered during the design stages of the Dominant was the appearance in the British market of several European coachbuilders. The new model is styled to meet the challenge of the European manufacturers — on both home and export markets.
Some idea of the impact the body will have may be judged from the announcement that the first order for bodies was from the National Bus Company which wants over 100 initially. This is the first time in seven years that the NBC has bought Duple in bulk. Now, next year's sales target of 1250 looks like being spoken for almost before the Earls Court Show opens.