1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160 
Nice is happy hunting ground for Tiger
Page 58
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Jble glazed and fitted with :ed Dominant 2-type windows the first two bays, with smalDominant 4 windows on the :k bays.
he Duple's driving position s more comfortable than that he Van Hool — the fixed driv; seat giving a better ride than sprung seat on the Van Hool. uspension driver's seat on an sprung coach seems someat extravagant and gave me impression of not being in )1 contact with the vehicle. he Bostock coach was not 3d with a retarder and this ant I could assess the Tiger's kes more accurately. They med responsive, smooth and ,gether adequate for the job. ransferring back to the Van )1, I tried to be as objective as sible in comparing the two ches. The ride, which was id on both vehicles, seemed htly better on the Duple. re was probably just a little
wind noise with the Duple y, though I found the finish Doth bodies of a comparable idard.
le Duple had deeper and :e practical luggage racks, the forced air vents and ling lights seemed stronger he Van Hool. Both the reclinseats on the Van Hool and fixed seats on the Duple e comfortable.
)rsonally, I prefer the more irious moquette trim of the Hool, but this is now availon top specification Duple Plaxton bodies.
ice in Nice I took the Van I Tiger for a trip up into the )s Maritime where I particuappreciated the degree of rol offered by the Pneumoc gearbox/Telma combine
Iring the trip on mountain Is the small steering wheel ) me full control and the ly loaded 12m coach was jether enjoyable to drive. e Nice Coach Rally entries begun to arrive by the time :eturned to the town. Our -s looked well in compariivith the best of France, Gery, Austria and the Netheris, though they were )ubtedly less spectacular
some of the high-deck peans on show.
e drivers of these highkers — Neoplans, ;bohrer Setras, and Van Acrons — sit at about the ) height as the driver of a 1 car and surely can't get an adequate view of the road ahead and must be vulnerable in a frontal impact accident.
Despite the proliferation of high-deck rear-engined coaches, a number of new mid-engined vehicles from Finland, Sweden, Spain and Netherlands were displayed. Although not entered, Italian bodybuilder Barbi was showing a particularly impressive new body on a mid-engined Volvo B1OM chassis.
Anywhere mid-engined coaches are sold, has to be a potential hunting ground for the new Leyland Tiger.
The Tiger acquitted itself well during the driving and technical tests where its air suspension and noise levels compared favourably with the other Europeans, before joining the procession of coaches in the heavy traffic on the famous Promenade des Anglais.
From France there were the three axle angular square CBM integral and Gangloff-bodied rear-enoined Renaults; from Germany the spectacular Neoplans, Kassbohrer-Setras, Mercedes-Benz, Drogmoller and MANs; from Sweden the Finnish-bodied Volvo B10Ms and Scania BR116s; and from Belgium and the Netherlands the Jonckheere Jubilee-bodied DAFs, and integral Bovas and Van Hools.
For bus operators the concours display of vehicles included a French Carrier bodied Leyland Cub.
The trip to Nice augured well for the new Leyland Tiger. I was sold on the semi-automatic Telma-equipped Van Hool vehicle. It was quiet, comfortable, and economical 50 lit/km 54.5 lit/km (11/12mpg) partly laden on the long journey south and should win back both new and old customers for Leyland Bus.