Geordie driver
Member
Weren't many of the Sherpas cannibalised to their engines by land Rover owners? One appeared in the soap opera Emmerdale as a service bus ran by the Dingle family which about sums up these vehicles, ex Berwick car I believe.
Personally the Wright Eclipse Gemini design was the first low floor double decker that I liked. Actually, I think it's turned into a bit of a design classic that still looks fresh and modern.
My vote is for the Volvo 7900 bus. Absolute pieces of cheaply built rubbish. They are basically the cheap Pound Shop version of buses. They are the sort of thing i would expect from some cheap Chinese manufacturer rather than a Swedish manufacturer. They just seem so badly built and absolutely full of faults.
They all seem to have leaks. I often travel on the First Berkshire ones regularly and they always leak whenever it rains. I have found leaks in various different parts of the vehicles on 12 different Volvo 7900 buses that First Berkshire have just within the last year or so. You don't want to travel on them when it rains.
Many other problems with them as well. They always seem to be developing faults and problems. They are not good buses. So in my opinion these are by far the worst buses built.
I thought I read somewhere that Sherpas were originaly built with Transit engines... or was it another model?
My vote is for the Volvo 7900 bus. Absolute pieces of cheaply built rubbish. They are basically the cheap Pound Shop version of buses. They are the sort of thing i would expect from some cheap Chinese manufacturer rather than a Swedish manufacturer. They just seem so badly built and absolutely full of faults.
They all seem to have leaks. I often travel on the First Berkshire ones regularly and they always leak whenever it rains. I have found leaks in various different parts of the vehicles on 12 different Volvo 7900 buses that First Berkshire have just within the last year or so. You don't want to travel on them when it rains.
Many other problems with them as well. They always seem to be developing faults and problems. They are not good buses. So in my opinion these are by far the worst buses built.
The Optare Solo as the worst bus.....?? And if capacity is insufficient, that's not really a reflection on the bus.
For real junk, you really can't look much further than the Willowbrook 003 bodied Leyland Leopard as supplied to a large number of NBC subsidiaries. The design was essentially a poor Duple copy, the comfort for a coach type vehicle (DP) was abysmal. Issues with build quality were immediately apparent. Most were withdrawn and scrapped (often rebodied) after about 10 years. https://www.flickr.com/photos/60694...-GFV6Wh-SXyffN-2gr6hru-266x3Yy-2go13kX-e3EHgN
ENVIRO 400 MMC'S Are Overrated, Plaxton Presidents Are better.
Yes, maybe by First standards. In my area, Skills Coaches high spec Enviro400 MMC SN17 MVV, the one time I went on it, was fantastic but the driver seemed to have to go and lift up the back, get to the engine and turn it on again!ENVIRO 400 MMC'S Are Overrated, Plaxton Presidents Are better.
Yes, maybe by First standards. In my area, Skills Coaches high spec Enviro400 MMC SN17 MVV, the one time I went on it, was fantastic but the driver seemed to have to go and lift up the back, get to the engine and turn it on again!
Wouldn't say they're overrated, there's plenty of people who hate them with a passion. Imo it all comes down to specification. Presidents were just crap regardless of spec .
I didn't find them too bad. However, the 0814 Vario - abysmal.My nomination for 'worst bus' has to go to the Mercedes minibuses of the mid 90s the 709D, 811Ds etc.
Don't know if Presidents are crap. Had a First Trident recently and that was fine despite its 17 years. The NXWM B7TLs were ok that I travelled on. More that the older First ones were often Trident 1s (ponderous) and that those crippling seats that First liked around 1999-2002
Plaxton Prestiges - the single deck version - were terrible though.
I didn't find them too bad. However, the 0814 Vario - abysmal.
Sorry - you’re quite right. The initial batches of the Trident 2 (1997-2000) whereas the 2nd generation of Tridents were much better."Trident 1" that's a worrying prospect... . I'd assume you're referring to the Ex-London Trident 2s, if so then yes some of those were awful. Especially the W-VLN batch.
I agree the O814 Vario is appalling.
Sorry - you’re quite right. The initial batches of the Trident 2 (1997-2000) whereas the 2nd generation of Tridents were much better.
I genuinely despised any trip on any Northern Counties bodied Volvo Olympian. It may be just me, but the ceiling on the lower deck was really low, and the heating never worked.
Surely one of the all-time worst bus designs were those horrible Talbot branded Peugeot/Simca front wheel drive tri-axle minibuses.
I don't know what they were called, but they were leaky rattly awful things that broke down on a daily basis
Surely one of the all-time worst bus designs were those horrible Talbot branded Peugeot/Simca front wheel drive tri-axle minibuses.
I don't know what they were called, but they were leaky rattly awful things that broke down on a daily basis
Regrettably not borne out by searching Hansard for "Willowbrook", where it isn't mentioned at all (except in the case of a housing estate in Peckham). Contemporary records suggest it was merely because of long lead times on deliveries from other bodybuilders - the 003 followed on from double deck bodies for East Kent and Northern General on Bristol VRs.Not going to dispute the Willowbrook 003 wasn't the finest of bodies, but there's a story about how those came into being which may or may not be true. It was being announced in the House of Commons that the NBC were buying a number of coaches with the bodies mainly being supplied by Plaxton and Duple when the MP for Loughborough intervened and asked why Willowbrook (who were based in Loughborough) weren't included in this - the decision was changed to include Willowbrook in the orders but the 003 design was intentionally a copy of the Duple Dominant to the extent that some key parts such as windscreens were interchangeable to minimise spares costs. As I say, no idea if it's true, but sounds plausible.
Yes the Talbot Pullman, used by a lot of councils for welfare transport, only to be replaced with the just as bad CVE omni
Regrettably not borne out by searching Hansard for "Willowbrook", where it isn't mentioned at all (except in the case of a housing estate in Peckham). Contemporary records suggest it was merely because of long lead times on deliveries from other bodybuilders - the 003 followed on from double deck bodies for East Kent and Northern General on Bristol VRs.
I recall SPT ordering a couple of these for the stationlink service in Glasgow...and then never actually using them in service! Pretty much says it all. Wonder what happened to the vehicles, there's a dearth of photos.
That was First for you though, they wanted to run the buses they owned right into the ground as was their policy of scrapping and not selling to others, even if some did get refurbished after London.None of the ex-London tridents which came to Glasgow were a good idea. Although in saying that I found the W reg ALX400s semi decent compared to the T and V plate ones. At least the ALX400s had more seating upstairs and the seat covers were fairly fresh looking. The 51/02 plate buses were not too bad either but really they were all about used and abused in London it was silly for any of them to come to Glasgow and be hammered up here too.
Don't know if Presidents are crap. Had a First Trident recently and that was fine despite its 17 years.
A bus shaped Hitachi Magic Wand.