Clean weekend at Brighton for coaches
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Noel Millier mingled among the gleaming coaches at Brighton's annual coach rally
IT SEEMS almost routine for Kassbohrer to win the prestigeous Coach of the Year competition at Brighton's annual British coach rally. This year the West German manufacturer continued its run with the award going to a Setra Imperial double decker operated by Townsend Thoresen.
The 1985 Coach Driver of the Year award went to Dudley Haynes of Banstead Coaches who drove his Plaxton Paramount 3200 bodied Bedford YMT with which he won the Best in All Classes award in last year's event.
Last year's Coach Driver of the Year, Nick White of Hardings of Betchworth, took this year's Best in All Classes award in a new Setra Rationale. This award is presented to the driver placed highest in the road section, driving tests and concours d'elegance combined. Runner-up to the Coach Driver was Malcolm Stephenson of Bibbys of Ingleton driving a Plaxton Paramount 3500 bodied Leyland Tiger.
The list of Rally entrants again contained over 60 names and included coaches from all over the country and a few from northern Europe. A Belgian operated Van Hool Alicron integral won the award for the top coach in the executive class.
Older coaches had their day too, with the top midi coach award going to Mervyn's coaches of Basingstoke for its 35-year-old petrol engined Duple Vista bodied Bedford OB. The top coach in class F for vehicles over five years old went to Galleon Coaches which entered an immaculate Plaxton bodied AEC Reliance.
Best Tours of Ealing also entered H and K registered AEC Re!lances. The latter was an air conditioned executive vehicle which won the Coach of the Year award in 1972 and which included automatic snow chains in a long list of optional extras.
The trade exhibit section included the usual long line of vehicles and other trade exhibits and included the first British registered Drogmoller Comet which was the actual vehicle exhibited at the NEC Motor Show. It is now in operation with Bergland Coaches of Watford.
Other new models included the first Van Hool bodied Albion Equipment Company Puma alongside a Plaxtons bodied example. Other new vehicles with Plaxtons bodies included low driver Paramount 3200 bodied Leyland Tigers and a Scania K112 as well as a Mercedes-Benz 0303 with a Paramount 3500 body incorporating a standard Mercedes Benz front panel. This model is now available from Yeates of Loughborough.
Leyland's Royal Tiger is now in full production and on display was an example available for immediate delivery at a very competitive price. In addition there was a well specified executive vehicle in the livery of Two's Company.
Three-axle Volvo and Scania vehicles included in the exhibit included Jonckheere bodied double deckers and Jonckheere and Plaxtons bodied semidouble deckers.
Mini and midibus exhibits included vehicles based on Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Renault panel vans. Larger coachbuilt machines included Ivecos bodied by Robin Hood and Caetano, Leylands and Man-VWs bodied by Reeve Burgess, and a MAN with a Whippet body by G. C. Smith of Loughborough.
Toyota showed its Caetano bodied Optimo.
Among non-coach trade exhibits was a special coach recovery trailer built by Fromco trailers of Arundel in West Sussex. With a deck height of only 2ft 2in, the low loader can accommodate most types of three-axle, double-deck coach and still clear motorway bridges. Its specification includes a winch and electrically operated ramps designed to provide a gentle enough slope for coaches to be loaded without risk of grounding. The example on display was operated by Butterfield Recovery of St Albans.