Plaxton Prestige

Plaxton Prestige
Northern Counties Paladin LF

Plaxton Prestige-bodied DAF SB220

An Arriva North West Plaxton Prestige interior
Overview
Manufacturer Northern Counties
Plaxton
Assembly Wigan, England
Body and chassis
Doors 1 or 2 doors
Floor type Low floor
Chassis DAF SB220
Volvo B10BLE
Powertrain
Engine DAF ATi 8.6L GS160M
Volvo DH10A-245 9.6L
Capacity 35 to 42 seated
Power output 218bhp (DAF)
245bhp (Volvo)
Transmission

ZF 4HP500 (automatic)


ZF 5HP500 (automatic)
Dimensions
Length 11.9m
Width 2.55m
Height 3.0m
Curb weight 9615kgs
Chronology
Predecessor Northern Counties Paladin

The Plaxton Prestige is a low-floor single-decker bus body built by Plaxton at the Wigan, England factory of its Northern Counties subsidiary, and at its main Scarborough, North Yorkshire factory, during the latter half of the 1990s.

The Prestige was mostly built on DAF SB220 chassis, although small numbers were built on Volvo B10BLE chassis. Several of the DAF vehicles were LPG-powered; gas tanks were located on the roof. Arriva was a major purchaser of the Prestige, with a number for Transport for London and for provincial areas, all on DAF chassis. It was only a short term affair, however, being in favour of its sister, the Pointer.

In Plaxton's body numbering system, the letter H identified the Prestige, although not all Prestiges received a Plaxton body number (early examples being numbered in the Northern Counties series).

At one stage, the Prestige was provisionally given the name Paladin LF. Northern Counties' contemporary step-entrance single-decker bus body was the Paladin, and LF would have stood for low floor. However, the name Prestige (which had earlier been briefly used for an export variant of the Plaxton Excalibur) was given to the model instead.

Preservation

Of the approximately 150 Paladin LF/Prestiges built, only a handful survive to this day. A couple can still be found in service with Bailey's Buses of Portsmouth, as shuttle buses for the port. So far, there are 2 versions of the bus in preservation: R981 FNW, a Northern Counties variant new as a dual door to Speedlink in 1997, and T916 KKM, the later Plaxton style, new to Arriva Kent Thameside in 1999.

See also

References

Media related to Plaxton Prestige at Wikimedia Commons

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