Bus Model numbers

[mjja]

Can any clever person out there help me understand the model numbers of various bus chassis and bodies?

I have heard that Scania 113 means it has an 11 litre engine, but what's the 3?

I can see from looking that a CR221L is not as modern as a 222L or 228L - is there any more meaning than that?

Then there's Volvo B10Ms, B10Bs, B12BLEs, and others - what do they all mean?

[Deano]

Can any clever person out there help me understand the model numbers of various bus chassis and bodies?

I have heard that Scania 113 means it has an 11 litre engine, but what's the 3?

I can see from looking that a CR221L is not as modern as a 222L or 228L - is there any more meaning than that?

Then there's Volvo B10Ms, B10Bs, B12BLEs, and others - what do they all mean?

Scania 113, comes in the L and K series. L113's are usually for citybuses, and K113's for Coaches/School Buses. 11 = 11 litre, and 3 = series 3. (3rd Generation of Scania Engine?).

Likely, Scania 94, 9 Litre, series 4. and so on.

Volvo B10M's are 10 Litre Mid Mount buses, B10B's are 10 Litre Rear Engine. Buses (Before the B10B there was a short-lived B10R based on the B59), B12BLE, 12 LItre, Rear Engine, Low Entry.

[Derek]

Scania 113, comes in the L and K series. L113's are usually for citybuses, and K113's for Coaches/School Buses. 11 = 11 litre, and 3 = series 3. (3rd Generation of Scania Engine?).

Scania also had the N113 which has a vertical engine at the back.

[Swift]

I have always thought of the M in B10M to mean middle engine layout and the B in B10B to mean back engine layout.
Does B59 mean Became available in 1959,lol or has a 5.9 litre motor.That may explain something lol.

[Mr Scania]

In Scania terms the 3 means 3rd generation chassis. Scania also had a mid mounted chassis which was called an F series.

[Derek]

I have always thought of the M in B10M to mean middle engine layout and the B in B10B to mean back engine layout.
Does B59 mean Became available in 1959,lol or has a 5.9 litre motor.That may explain something lol.

B is actually Bakmotor in Swedish.

B55-B59 are the product codes they had similar in Leyland having similar numbers as well. For example, the Titan (London T class) is B15 and the Lynx is B60.

[boronia]

B55-B59 are the product codes they had similar in Leyland having similar numbers as well. For example, the Titan (London T class) is B15 and the Lynx is B60.

The B15 and B60 used by Leyland were development project numbers, the actual production model codes followed prior Leyand practice as TN and LX, being the first and last letters of the name. The B21 and P76 were probably the only vehicles not to get named.

[MAN_LOVER]

I would like to see a web page put together listing the various chassis specs and what they all mean etc. I am sure a few of you could get together and make it happen?

[Andrew]

I plan on having something like this on my webpages when i get them back online next week sometime.

[Windy]

VOLVO:

The following are model types, which were desginated by numbers.

B55 Ailsa = Front engined double deck chassis
B56 = Mid-mounted underfloor engine, predecessor to the B58.
B57 = Front engined
B58 = Mid-mounted underfloor engine
B59 = Rear mounted underfloor engine

These numbers have a "B" prefix, it is "bakbus", which is Swedish for "Bus".

10 = "10 litre" motor (effectively 9.6L)
12 = 12 litre motor
7 = 7 litre motor
6 = 6 litre motor

These suffixes signify details as to where the engine is located, and other extra details.

M = Mid mounted underfloor engine (B6M)
R/B = Rear mounted underfloor engine (B10B, B10R)
L = rear underfloor engine vertically mounted, low floor chassis (B7L, B10L)
LE = low entry (up to rear axle, or thereabout) (eg. B10BLE, B6LE, B7RLE)
A = articulated (eg. B10MA, B7LA)
SE = special edition (?) (eg. B10MSE)
TL = double deck, vertically mounted rear engine (B10TL, B7TL)
FA = not sure (eg. B6FA)
FA (UF) = mid mounted engine (eg. B6FA (UF))
SA = School Automatic (eg. the new B7RSA)

SCANIA:

Note: MOST Scania chassis have rear mounted engines, there are very few mid mounted underfloor examples)

The prefix applies to how the engine is mounted.

L = Vertically mounted engine, tilted 30 degrees to the left (not sure how it is tilted as such)
K = Vertically mounted engine
N = vertically mounted engine, horizontally opposed (east-west mounted)
F = front engined, vertically mounted.
I'm sure there are others, so please help.

These are the digits which signify the engine capacity (or engine output), and follow immediately after the prefix.

9 = 9 litre engine (from 1st to 4th series)
11 = 11 litre engine (from 1st to 3rd series)
12 = 12 litre engine (from 4th series)
230 = 230PS engine (from 5th series - 9 litre 5 cylinder engine)
270 = 270PS engine (from 5th series - 9 litre 5 cylinder engine)
310 = 310PS engine (from 5th series - 9 litre 5 cylinder engine)
340 = 340PS engine (from 5th series - 12 litre 5 cylinder engine)
380 = 380PS engine (from 5th series - 12 litre 5 cylinder engine)
420 = 420PS engine (from 5th series - 12 litre 5 cylinder engine)

The following digits, which follow the engine capacity indicate the series

1 = 1st series
2 = 2nd series
3 = 3rd series
4 = 4th series

The suffixes inidicate the chassis type, and other extra details.

CRB = standard/city floor height with stepped entry (1st to 3rd series)
CRL = low floor chassis (1st to 3rd series)
ARB = standard floor height articulated chassis (1st to 3rd series)
ARL = low floor articulated chassis (1st to 3rd series)
TRB = extended chassis (1st to 3rd series)

For the above, the second letter indicates where the driving controls are situated.
R = Right hand drive
L = Left hand drive

UB = low floor chassis (4th and 5th series)
UA = low floor articulated (4th and 5th series)
IB = "intercity" height chassis with stepped entry (4th and 5th series)
EB = touring chassis? (4th and 5th series)

The 5th series also include a further designation for the IB series where you have:

Wheel Configuration (source: Scania website)

4x2 = 2 axle vehicle with drive on one axle
6x2 = tri-axle vehicle with drive on one rear axle. One tag axle without drive infront of drive axle.
6x2/2 = tri-axle vehicle with drive on one rear axle. One tag axle without drive in front of the drive axle. Used to designate articulated buses.
6x2*4 = tri-axle vehicle with drive on one rear axle. One steered tag axle without drive behind drive axle

Chassis height

These suffixes denotes what kind of floor height is "married" to the chassis, which is denoted by the prefix. It only applies to the 5th series of Scania chassis. A further designation applies to the 5th series

E = Extra Low
L = Low (low front and normal rear)
M = Low (low front and middle, normal rear), articulated
N = Normal (normal front and rear)

Ok, now the examples.

K94IB = vertically mounted, 9 litre motor, 4th series chassis, intercity floor chassis
N113ARB = horizontally opposed vertically mounted 11 litre motor, articulated standard/city floor chassis
L113TRB = vertically mounted 11 litre motor tilted 30 degrees to the left on an extended chassis
K380IB4x2NB = Vertical 380PS engine with a multipurpose chassis for long and short distances and with normal drive and ride comfort without the special adaptation. It is a 2 axle chassis with a normal floor level throughout the chassis and full air suspension.
K420EB6x2*4LI = Vertical 420PS engine with a chassis for long distance travel and high drive and ride comfort. Chassis has no special afaptation, and has 3 axles, with a steered tag axle behind the drive axle. The coach may aslo be built with a low boarding step and a low floor from the front up to the rear axle. This type of coach is also built with a normal floor level throughout (denoted by the "N", and the chassis is fully air-suspended with independant front suspension.
N310UA6x2/2EB = Transverse engine with 310PS, articulated citybus chassis. Has 3 axles, with a non-steered axle infront of the drive axle. Low floor throughout the length of the bus (denoted by the "E") and the chassis is fully air-suspended.

MERCEDES:

Most of the prefixes and suffixes are in German, which make it a bit tough, but I'll take a stab.

Suffix:

O = Omnibussen (Bus) (Yet it doesn't explain why the coaches also had an "O" prefix, so maybe I'm wrong)

In minibus chassis, it signifies that it has airbag suspension. This could possibly be the same for the heavy duty chassis.

Pre O.500 chassis:
OH = rear engined Brazilian built chassis
OC = mid engined Brazilian built chassis
OF = front engined Brazilian built chassis

Numerical:

Most of the numbers are model numbers which were designated to a chassis, so, an O.302 is a fully built integral omnibus, series 3, model 2, then there was the O.303, O.404, O.405, O.309 etc.

In Australia some of the fully built model numbers were given to imported platforms (not chassis) with Australian bodies built on.

305 = Early cityfloor chassis
405 = successor to the 305
400 = Brazilian built chassis
500 = successor to the 405
309 = front engined minibus (like an 814D)
302 = early coach
303 = successor to the 302
404 = successor to the 303


Brazilian chassis:

The first two digits refer to the Gross Vehicle Mass.

The last two digits of the 4 digit number refer to the brake horsepower, divided by 10.

1316 = 160 bhp, 13 tonnes, GVM
1622 = 220 bhp, 16 tonnes, GVM

Suffixes:

N = Niederflurbusse ("Low floor bus" with a vertically mounted engine and stepped entry)
N^2 (N-squared) = Niederflurbusse ("Low floor bus" with a vertically mounted engine, and stepless entry all the way)
NH = Niederflurbus-Hybrid (Front section of an "N" chassis mated with a non low floor chassis with a horizontally mounted engine for a low entry chassis, but not low floor)
G = Glenkenbusse ("Bending bus"/Articulated chassis).

LE = Low entry chassis with a horizontally mounted motor (O.500 chassis only)
LF = Low floor chassis with a vertically mounted motor (O.500 chassis only)

OK, now for some examples.

OF1417 = front engined bus with a 170bhp motor.
OC1621 = mid-engined bus with a 210bhp motor.
OH1622 = rear engined bus with a 220bhp motor.
O.405NH = front section of an O.405N^2 chassis mated to the rear section of an O.405 chassis.
O.305G = articulated O.305.

M.A.N:

The following are the prefixes used for the Cityline buses.

Under structure (Monocoque floor):

NL = Niederflur bau-weise linenbusse ("Low floor city bus")
SG = Stadtlinen Gelenkenbusse (City Line Articulated Bus)
NG = Niederflur Gelenkenbusse (Low-floor Articulated Bus)
NM = Niederflur Midibusse (Low-floor Midibus - Europe only)
SGG = Stadtlinen Doppelgelenkenbusse (Double-articulated Bus - Europe only)
NGG = Niederflur Doppelgelenkenbusse (Low-floor Double-articulated Bus - Europe only)
NL = stands for Nieder flur bau-weise Linienbusse (Low floor city bus)
NU = stands for Nieder flur bau-weise Überlandbusse (Low floorintercity bus)

Chassis:

SL = Sonderaufbauten Linienbusse (Super structure city bus)
SG = Sonderaufbauten gelenkenbusse (Super structure articulated city bus)
SÜ = Sonderaufbauten Überlandbusse (Super structure touringcoach)
The three digit numbers in the SL/NL series are as follows:

12- = Nominal engine power in horsepower, divided by 10 (e.g. NL232 is supposed to have a 230hp motor)
--3 = Series number.

Mind you, the above is all up the spout: series numbers were only formally introduced for Series 3 (late 1990s), while power ratings were (until Series 3) only nominal, with some models having more than one power option

For the "numbers only" (for want of a better description), they are as follows:

Before the decimal point = the gross vehicle mass in tonnes
After the decimal point = ideally, the output of the motor in bhp.

UOCL = (Germanic equivalent unknown) Underfloor chassis
HOCL = Hochboden Linienbus (high-floor rear engined buses)
HOCLN = Hochboden Linienbus - Nachlaufachse (high-floor /dd coach tri axle)
HGOCL = Hochboden Gelenkbusse (high-floor articulate)
FOCL = (Germanic equivalent unknown) front engined chassis

So, a 16.240 UOCL is a heavy duty chassis of 16 tonnes GVM and of an output of 240bhp.

LEYLAND/ALBION:

Leyland used abbrieviations for their chassis designations over time, and these are the following:

O = overseas (export version for 8 ft wide body)
P = passenger
S = single deck
D = double deck
U = underfloor
R = rear engine, blank for front engine
E = export
RT = Royal Tiger

The first Royal Tigers in Sydney were OPSU1,
but the second batch were coded ERT

The Tiger Cub was coded PSUC
C: Cub
then later RTC

VK = Viking
TRC = Tiger
ON = Olympian
AN = Atlantean

There was a mix of numbers after the abbreviations, some denoted suspension or other mechanical differences, others included the motor used.

For example:

AN68 = Atlantean with a 0.680 engine
VK41 = Front engined Viking
VK45 = Rear engined Viking
ONTL11/2RH = Olympian with a TL11 motor and hydracyclic semi-automatic gearbox
ONCL10/2RZ4 = Olympian with a Cummins L10 and a 4 speed ZF 4HP 500 gearbox.
TRL11/2RZ6 = Tiger with a Leyland L11 engine and a 6 speed ZF manual gearbox.
TRCLXB/2R = Tiger with a Gardner 6LXB motor
OPD2 = Overseas Passenger Double-deck
PSUR = Passenger Single-deck Underfloor Rear engined (ie. A Leyland Panther)

There are all sorts of combinations as well, such as for Leopards, where there is the PSU1A/2R, and all sorts or A/R combinations. These are tabulated below (information from http://www.leylandleopard.co.uk/) in order of year, model and changes:

1961 PSU3 (11m) = Original specification
1965 PSU4 (10m) = Original specification
1968 PSU3A (11m) - PSU4A (10m) = Rationalised Pneumocyclic gearbox

The following PSU classifications are in order of 11m, 10m, and 12m chassis:
1970/1 PSU3B - PSU4B - PSU5 = Maudslay rear axle in place of Eaton; revised brake linings
1974 PSU3C - PSU4C - PSU5A = Modified air braking system, engine mountings and pedal location
1977 PSU3D - PSU4D - PSU5B = Uprated springs optional (standard on PSU5B), close ratio gearbox
1978 PSU3E - PSU4E - PSU5C = Relocated air tanks
1979 PSU3F - PSU4F - PSU5D = Various optional features now standard, new tyres, springs, wide ratio gearbox
1981 PSU3G - PSU4G - PSU5E = Rationalised engine

The suffix after the slash is designated as follows:

/1R = Synchromesh Bus
/2R = Pneumocyclic Bus
/3R = Synchromesh Coach
/4R = Pneumocyclic Coach
/5R = ZF Synchromesh Coach (from 1979)

R = Right hand drive
L = Left hand drive

This means that it could be /1L, /2L, etc.

Therefore, you can have a PSU3C/4R, like m/o 054 at transit First, which is was Leyland Leopard with an 11m chassis, modified air braking system, engine mountings and pedal location, and in it's previous life, was a RHD coach with a pnuemocyclical gearbox. Of course, the classification cannot be changed to reflect its role now as a pnuemocyclic bus (a /2R). A change in the order for Mk II Leopards was that they are a PSU3A/2R (with a rationalised gearbox, 11m chassis), while the Mk I's were PSU3/2R (original spec, 11m chassis).

This is as much as I can help, I hope it enlightens anyone who isn't sure, and please correct me where needed.

Gotta go, before my brain explodes, and my eyes dry out from looking at the computer monitor for too long

[Desto]

Thanks for posting that information windy. It is interesting to see what numbers and letters stand for each type of bus. I have learnt a few new things which i didn't know before by reading through it.

[Stoney!]

Thanks for posting that windy, I'm glad someone had the time an patience to do so, I don't have the patience for that sort of stuff.

One thing though, I'm sure you only accidently left it out. With the brazillian merc chassis, it is the same as MAN chassis with the first to digits/numbers being the GVM (gross vehicle mass) of the chassis.

Just like the O405's are apparently known as 1625 for a period of time (not in australia) being 16 tonne GVM and 250HP engine.

Stoney!

[MAN_LOVER]

Good work Windy, I hope someone will copy that info and expand it on other chassis types etc to link onto the fleetlist site.

[Swift]

Under the numerical heading for Mercedes you state that the 500 is the successor to the 500.I think you mean successor to the 405.
Aec and Leyland were more practical about their model designations.
They simply named them like car makers do.
The under floor engine Leyland citybuses were known as the Worldmaster
The lighter underfloors used for coaches was the Leopard (although they were used for citybuses too with modifications to the chassis.)
The rear engined Leyland citybus was called the Panther.
AEC's underfloor layout buses were known as the Regal and Reliance.
The Regal being the equivalent of a Worldmaster and Reliance the equivalent of the Leopard.
Unlike Leyland,AEC had numbers after some of their models to indicate engine size on their imperial series engines (ironically their latest series before AEC closed in 1979 forever).
Example, the Swift 691 which means rear engine powered by the 691 cubic inch diesel.This was done with the under floor Reliance as well eg Reliance 505.
This system of identifying the models is far easier to follow than the ambiguous use of letters and numbers the continental European manufacturers choose to use up to the present.Maybe they should start coming up with names of their own.It would make them more interesting as well as being easier to identify.

[Windy]

I have modified my post above to encapsulate the added details. Thanks for the inputs.

[Stew.T.]

SCANIA:


UB = low floor chassis (4th series)
UA = low floor articulated (4th series)

Windy, the UA & UB front are just 2 different variants that Scania offers. They differ in FOH + a few smaller features. The UA front isn't just an artic front.

[Windy]

SCANIA:


UB = low floor chassis (4th series)
UA = low floor articulated (4th series)

Windy, the UA & UB front are just 2 different variants that Scania offers. They differ in FOH + a few smaller features. The UA front isn't just an artic front.

Stew.T.,

I did not intend for the explanation between UA and UB to suggest that they were the same, but that the UA is an articulated low floor chassis, and the UB is a low floor rigid chassis. Apologies for any confusion.

BTW, what do you mean by "front" and FOH?

[Stew.T.]

The UA & UB designate the front ultra low module for a Scania chassis. That's why we get L94UB (UB Front Module with L94 Rear Module), K94UA (K94 Rear Module with UA Front Module), K94IB (K94 Rear Module with IB front Module), or L94IB (L94 Rear Module with IB front Module), the possibilities are endless. The UB & UA Front Modules are just 2 Ultra Low Front that are available. They can be combined with any rear to produce whatever combination the customer wants. The UA front is generally used with artics because its FOH (front overhang) is more desirable in an artic combination.

[boronia]

The under floor engine Leyland citybuses were known as the Worldmaster
The lighter underfloors used for coaches was the Leopard (although they were used for citybuses too with modifications to the chassis.)
.

The correct designation for the u/f Leyland was Royal Tiger (code RT). The Worldmaster was the export version of the chassis (code ERT) with the bigger 680 engine and designed for 8 ft wide bodies.
The lightweight u/f chassis was designated the Tiger Cub and had the 400 engine. The Leopard used this chassis but with the 600 or 680 engine.

[Rick R]

Aec and Leyland were more practical about their model designations.
They simply named them like car makers do.

Not Quite..

From The book '80 Years of AEC',

The original models were produced by the London General Omnibus Co (LGOC). When the LGOC was taken over by London Transport the bus manufacture business was placed under a company called the Associated Equipment Co. Early models were X, B, The wartime Y truck, K, S & NS. They shifted to a model series where the first digit was the tonnage, followed by the model in that series as a two digit number, e.g. 401 was the first 4 ton model. LT has kept the letter system to this day.

The next change came in the late 20's where the second digit became the number of cylinders. 660 was the Reliance, 661 the new Regent DD, 662 the Regal SD, 663 Renown three axle SD, 663 Renown DD and 665 the bonneted Ranger. An 'O' prefix denoted an Oil (Diesel) engine whilst a 'T' suffix denoted trollybus chassis.

After WWII the system was altered so that the 'tonnage' increased, making the Regent III DD O961. This again changed around 1948 with the Regent III changing to O961/2 and then 9612E, with the 'E' meaning export. The last digit was a 'version' number for that chassis type. Other examples were the 9621E Regal III and 9821E / 9823E Regal IV underfloors.

In the mid 60's the system again changed to one more descriptive of the chassis. The digits refered to chassis weight, engine location, right or left hand drive and number of axles. If I could only find a reference I would provide exact details. An example of this code is for DGT Reliance 3521 - 3U2RA - 3 - heavy chassis, U - underfloor engine, 2 - number of axles, R - right had drive, A - ?. Some medium weights had a 'M' prefix as well. This was the system still in use when production stopped in 1980.

The model name were used as a marketing tool, whereas the model numbers gave a better description of the product. There were many varients of the Regent, but you knew it was a 2 axle DD by it's name.

[boronia]

Re Scanias:

The first trucks released here in the 60s were Model 80, not sure if the 0 was a predecessor to the 1,2,3,4 series. I don't think any buses came here in that era.

Confusingly the current 124 series can be specced with a 11 litre or 12 litre engine, there is no 114 model.

[Guest]

This thread was started by mjja asking was there any "clever person" out there who could elucidate on model numbers. He sure as hell found one and Windy is to be congratulated on an excellent contribution to the forum. On the MAN section as well as UOCL and HOCL there is FOCL which is front engined chassis. I for one am certainly downloading this post to file for future reference.

[Derek]

Re Scanias:

The first trucks released here in the 60s were Model 80, not sure if the 0 was a predecessor to the 1,2,3,4 series. I don't think any buses came here in that era.

Confusingly the current 124 series can be specced with a 11 litre or 12 litre engine, there is no 114 model.

There are actually (K)114 models in Europe.

http://www.svenskbusshistoria.se/chassilistor/scania/scaniachassier/sck114.htm

[PT]

mjja,

You obviously saw this on a Volgren as the CR221L part is the Volgren body model number

PT

[Simes]

Good work on the explainations of the model numbers windy, one thing I've always wondered is why Merc went for the 5, eg O305 and O405? oh well i'm sure someone in Stuttgart knows why.