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East Lancashire Coachbuilders

(Redirected from East Lancs Pyoneer)

East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a maker of bus bodies, They was founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.

East Lancashire Coachbuilders Ltd.
Private
IndustryBus building
FateDissolved after parent company Darwen Group performed a reverse takeover
SuccessorOptare
Founded27 October 1934; 91 years ago (1934-10-27)[1]
FounderWalter Smith
DefunctMarch 1, 2010 (2010-03-01)
HeadquartersBlackburn, Lancashire, England
ProductsBus bodies
WebsiteOfficial website
File:Metroline SEL762 LK07 BCZ.jpg
East Lancs Olympus, one of the last East Lancs badged products, this one run by Metroline
File:Transdev Yellow Buses 271.jpg
Lolyne run by Transdev Yellow Buses
File:Wilts & Dorset 405.jpg
Myllennium Vyking owned by Wilts & Dorset
File:Scania OmniDekka 447a.jpg
Scania OmniDekka in London, run by Transdev London

History

File:D212MKK1.jpg
1987 high-capacity East Lancs body on Scania K92 chassis: one of the last built to this flat-fronted style

East Lancashire Coachbuilders was founded in 1934 by Walter Smith at Brookhouse Mill in Blackburn.

From the 1960s to the 1980s, the company changed owners many times after Smith's death,

In 1988, it was sold to the Drawlane Transport Group (later called British Bus).

In 1994, East Lancashire Coachbuilders had moved to a new building on the Whitebirk Industrial Estate, they started making lots of single and double deck buses.[2]

In August 1996, British Bus was brought by the Cowie Group,[3][4] all orders by British Bus for buses with East Lancashire Coachbuilders bodywork was cancelled by Cowie. The company nearly went into administration but Blackburn Member of Parliament Jack Straw and chassis maker Dennis Specialist Vehicles helped East Lancashire Coachbuilders by sending Dennis Specialist Vehicles buses to be bodied.[2]

On 17 August 2007, East Lancashire Coachbuilders went into administration, the next day it was bought out from administration by the Darwen Group.[5][6] After the purchase, the Darwen Group changed the company name from East Lancashire Coachbuilders to Darwen East Lancs.[7][8][9]

In 2008, Jamesstan Investments, an investment company owned by the Darwen Group,[10] brought another bus maker called Optare.[10]

In June 2008, Optare did a £15.95 million reverse takeover and the names Darwen East Lancs and Darwen Group was changed to Optare.[11][12][13]

In 2011, all East Lancs bodies was stopped being made.

On 31 March 2012, the factory in Blackburn was closed.[14][15][16]

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
Double-decker
Single-decker

Darwen Darwen East Lancs (2007–2008)

Single-decker
Double-decker

Optare (2008–2012)

Single-decker
Double-decker

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.

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East Lancashire Coachbuilders Media

  • Arriva NW East Lancs Pyoneer 3365.jpg

    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

  1. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "I'd hate to be run of the mill". Lancashire Telegraph (Blackburn). 15 July 2003. https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/5893625.hate-run-mill/. Retrieved 23 February 2024. 
  3. ↑ Cowie Group plc and British Bus Group Limited: A report on the merger situation[usurped] Competition Commission 31 October 1996
  4. ↑ Midland Red History: Timeline Menu MidlandRed.net
  5. ↑ "East Lancs acquired from administrators". Bus & Coach Professional. 23 August 2007. http://www.busandcoach.com/newsStory.aspx?id=1535. Retrieved 26 August 2007. 
  6. ↑ Hewitt, Andrew (22 August 2007). "Coach building firm buyout deal". Lancashire Telegraph (Blackburn). https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/1635961.coach-building-firm-buyout-deal/. Retrieved 11 February 2024. 
  7. ↑ Hewitt, Andrew (6 November 2007). "Bus firm bosses pledge to stay local". Lancashire Telegraph (Blackburn). https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/1813388.bus-firm-bosses-pledge-stay-local/. Retrieved 11 February 2024. 
  8. ↑ Briggs, Ben (27 October 2008). "Blackburn bus maker Optare moving to new site". Lancashire Telegraph (Blackburn). https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/3795047.blackburn-bus-maker-optare-moving-new-site/. Retrieved 11 February 2024. 
  9. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  11. ↑ 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. 
  12. ↑ 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. 
  13. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  14. ↑ Pye, Catherine (20 January 2012). "Blackburn's 80-year bus manufacturing era set to end as Optare moves to Yorkshire" (in en). Lancashire Telegraph (Blackburn). https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9484529.blackburns-80-year-bus-manufacturing-era-set-end-optare-moves-yorkshire/. Retrieved 14 March 2021. 
  15. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).[dead link]
  16. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).

Other websites

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