East Lancashire Coachbuilders
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a builder of bus bodies, They was founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
| Private | |
| Industry | Bus building |
| Fate | Dissolved after parent company Darwen Group performed a reverse takeover |
| Successor | Optare |
| Founded | 27 October 1934[1] |
| Founder | Walter Smith |
| Defunct | March 1, 2010 |
| Headquarters | Blackburn, Lancashire, England |
| Products | Bus bodies |
| Website | Official website |
History
On 17 August 2007, the company went into administration,[2] but was saved and bought out by the Darwen Group. The new company was called Darwen East Lancs.[2]
In 2008, Darwen East Lancs was purchased by Optare.[3][4][5]
East Lancs bodies stopped being built and the factory in Blackburn closed in 2012.[6][7][8]
Products
Past
East Lancs had many different types of bodywork. They misspelled names on pupose, replacing the letter i with a letter y.
East Lancs (1934–2007)
- Single-decker
- Myllennium for DAF SB220, MAN 14.220, Scania N94UB and Alexander Dennis Dart
- Hyline, a high-floor variant of the standard Myllennium single-decker body but used to re-body older chassis
- Double-decker
- Lolyne for Dennis Trident
- Vyking for Volvo B7TL
- Lowlander for DAF/VDL DB250
- Nordic for 3-axle Volvo B7L/B9TL
- Myllennium Lolyne for Dennis Trident
- Myllennium Vyking for Volvo B7TL
- Myllennium Lowlander for DAF/VDL DB250LF
- Nordic for 3-axle Volvo B7L/Volvo B9TL
- Single-decker
- Spryte for Dennis Dart and Volvo B6BLE chassis
- Flyte for longer step-entrance and high-floor buses.
Darwen Darwen East Lancs (2007–2008)
- Single-decker
- OmniTown for Scania N94UB chassis
- Double-decker
- OmniDekka for Scania N94UD/N230UD/N270UD chassis
Optare (2008–2012)
- Single-decker
- Esteem for Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart, MAN 12.240, Scania N230UB, Scania N94UB and Alexander Dennis Enviro300 chassis
- Kinetec
- Double-decker
- Olympus for Alexander Dennis Enviro400, VDL DB250, Volvo B9TL and Scania N230UD chassis
- Visionaire open-top body for Volvo B9TL chassis
Kinetec series
The Kinetec was made in 2006. They are low-floor bodies for MAN chassis. They have the Esteem/Olympus body but with MAN's own Lion's City design front and rear.
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Media
East Lancs Pyoneer bodied Volvo Olympian in 2009; these buses were also the last ever step-entrance double decker bus design to be produced when they were introduced in 1997.
References
- ↑ "EAST LANCASHIRE COACHBUILDERS LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Coach building firm buyout deal". Lancashire Telegraph. 22 August 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ↑ Briggs, Ben (19 May 2008). "Blackburn-based coach builder is powering on". Lancashire Telegraph (Blackburn). https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/2280209.blackburn-based-coach-builder-powering/. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ↑ Briggs, Ben (27 June 2008). "Blackburn-based coach firm in £15.95m buyout". Lancashire Telegraph (Blackburn). https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/2360337.blackburn-based-coach-firm-15-95m-buyout/. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ↑ Feddy, Kevin (18 April 2010). "Darwen in £16m deal". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ↑ "Gates at Blackburn finally close - new era for Optare". Optare. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ↑ "Blackburn's 80-year bus manufacturing era set to end as Optare moves to Yorkshire". Lancashire Telegraph. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ↑ "Ashok Leyland's UK arm shuts down 3rd plant". 20 January 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
Other websites
Media related to East Lancashire Coachbuilders at Wikimedia Commons- Official website