REBODIED BUSES

[track]

are there many rebodied buses out there

[CCCC]

Doubt there would be much after say 1995?? for NSW due to the average age factor being introduced.
King Bros re-bodied old government merc's with orana bodies fairly late, year ??
Morisset had Leopard's with PMC160's in 1991, should be plenty before the 1990's.
Toronto re-bodied Leopards with early to late 1980's PMC as did Blue Ribbon.
Has been a number of recent posts about a few vehicles being re-bodied over the years.

This is an interesting read of a re-bodied vehicle:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=51824

[jarf]

Interestingly Moonee Valley has a few rebodies, including an OH1418 which was rebodied in 2008, a couple of Australs which were rebodied in 2000, and a couple of Dominos which were rebodied in 1996-97.

[system improver]

According to fleetlists, Panorama Coaches has 2 ex STA O305s with PMC 160 bodies:

http://www.busaustralia.com/fleetlists/ ... search=PAN

[GM]

Riley Bros of Woy Woy rebodied a Ruggles with a Ford. GM

[track]

is there a age limit on a rebody bus its a bit like joan collins

[gen man]

According to fleetlists, Panorama Coaches has 2 ex STA O305s with PMC 160 bodies:

http://www.busaustralia.com/fleetlists/ ... search=PAN

3 to be correct!

[CCCC]

is there a age limit on a rebody bus its a bit like joan collins

For NSW with the introduction of the average age for the overall fleet it was based
on the chassis year not body so basically stopped old chassis being re bodied.

Someone should know the year the average age was introduced.

[track]

is it the same in victoria on age as in nsw

[boronia]

is there a age limit on a rebody bus its a bit like joan collins

For NSW with the introduction of the average age for the overall fleet it was based
on the chassis year not body so basically stopped old chassis being re bodied.

Someone should know the year the average age was introduced.

Average age only applies to contract route buses. Charter operators can rebody old chassis.

[track]

but the chassis would be worn out

[wallace]

Doubt there would be much after say 1995?? for NSW due to the average age factor being introduced.
King Bros re-bodied old government merc's with orana bodies fairly late, year ??

According to fleetlist the King Bros Orana Mk 1 Mercs have a body date of 1999, the chasis dates back to 77/78

[stajourneyman]

Bono Bus Lines / Firefly had a bit of an inclination to rebody vehicles in earlier years.

They rebodied a near new RFW coach chassis in 1974 with a stepdeck Domino Hedges coach body, which chassis came from a vehicle based in central NSW that had earlier crashed killing numerous passengers.

They also rebodied two Leyland Tiger Cub chassis (that were ex TAA) with quite smart looking Hedges route bus bodies.

[Paul_Nicholson]

And of course we must not forget the former MTT Adelaide Worldmasters that were rebodied for various operators in the 1970s.

Ventura also had some former British chassis that were rebodied by local builders; in the 1970s?

And yesterday I saw a former MMTB Volvo B58 robodied and still running with Hopkinson.

Paul in Melbourne

[stajourneyman]

Ryan's were also pretty good at rebodying buses, with a couple of ex TAA Tiger Cubs getting done in the early 70s, as well as a few from the late 60s from memory. The bodies were normally done by Cheetham and Borwick.

As Paul mentioned, Ventura rebodied quite a number of Leylands in the 1970s.

[system improver]

Certainly, the Leyland chassis seemed to have the majority of rebodies in the 70s and 80s. Earnest Paul Walshe, who owned the route 402 from inception (1/46) to sale in June 1976, had 3 Tiger Cub chassis rebodied by Cheetham & Borwick (they originally had Ansair bodies). I think Ventura had 16 Leopards rebodied, not only the 9 ex-UK chassis mentioned by Paul, but also 7 ex-Hamersley Iron Leopards as well. Not too many Bedfords, Albions, AECs or Panhards received a second life, although a few did in other states. Mercedes Benz took over the "most rebodied chassis" title from Leyland in the 80s and 90s, no doubt due to the large number of ex government fleet vehicles available from Sydney. I wonder which out of Mercedes Benz, Scania or Volvo will 'triumph' in that market in years to come.

[wallace]

Doubt there would be much after say 1995?? for NSW due to the average age factor being introduced.
King Bros re-bodied old government merc's with orana bodies fairly late, year ??

Did those rebodied Merc Oranas that Kings do get all new mechanicals or were they just done with the same old parts, eg engine brakes etc?

[CCCC]

Doubt there would be much after say 1995?? for NSW due to the average age factor being introduced.
King Bros re-bodied old government merc's with orana bodies fairly late, year ??

Did those rebodied Merc Oranas that Kings do get all new mechanicals or were they just done with the same old parts, eg engine brakes etc?

No idea about how or if Kings went about rebuilding chassis.
Morisset, Toronto and Blue Ribbon rebuilt the motors, air compressors,
brakes and new airbags before driving to PMC Sydney for new body.

[Paul_Nicholson]

So what would be the oldest and newest (chassis) rebodied buses still operating anywhere in Australia?

Paul in Melbourne

[track]

moone valley XXX heaps

[mrobsessed]

but the chassis would be worn out

Not necessarily. But looking at the poor resale value of the Hopkinsons rebodies, all of which had tons of work done on them, I doubt there will be anymore.