Plaxton

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Plaxton was a builder of bus and coach bodies, They was founded in 1907 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England by Frederick William Plaxton.[1]

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History

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G-Line Holidays Volvo B9R with Plaxton Elite bodywork in June 2011

Founded

Plaxtons was founded in 1907 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire as a joinery workshop.

From 1908 to 1918, they were a building contractor and they built buildings in Scarborough.

After World War I they started to build automobile bodies for Rolls-Royce, Sunbeam, Daimler and Crossley chassis.

In the 1920s to 1930s, they stopped making automobile bodies and started making coach bodies.

Henlys

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First Bristol Dennis Dart SLF with Plaxton Pointer bodywork in Bath in October 2010
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First London Dennis Trident 2 with Plaxton President bodywork at Upton Park station in July 2008
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Southern Vectis Volvo B10M withPlaxton Premiere bodywork on the Isle of Wight in August 2011
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JPT Bus Company MAN 18.240 with Plaxton Centro bodywork in Manchester in July 2008

In 1989, Plaxtons bought Henlys. Henlys owned 34 motor dealers, and they owned Coleman Milne who were makers of hearses and limousines.[2]

In 1989, the company was renamed from Plaxtons to Plaxton Group plc.[3]

In May 1992, the Plaxton Group plc had replaced all of their management and renamed the company from Plaxton Group plc to Henlys Group.

In 1995, Henlys Group purchased bus body maker Northern Counties for £10 million. Buses were still made with the Plaxton name.

In August 2000, Henlys and Mayflower Corporation joined together, Mayflower Corporation were owners of Dennis and Alexander (Dennis made buses, fire engines, lorries and dustcarts. Alexander made bodies of buses and coaches).[4] The joint venture was called TransBus International. Buses were made with the Transbus and Plaxton name.

Independent again

On 31 March 2004, TransBus International went into administration.[5]

On 17 May 2004, the Plaxton business was sold in a management buyout and they started trading as Plaxton Limited.[6][7]

In May 2005, Plaxton announced its return to the bus market and they announced a new body of a bus called the Centro, the Centro was built on the VDL SB120 chassis, VDL SB200 chassis, MAN 14.220 chassis and Volvo B7RLE chassis.

Purchase by Alexander Dennis

In May 2007, Plaxton was purchased by Alexander Dennis.[8][9] Buses were made with the Alexander Dennis name and Coaches were made with the Plaxton name.

In March 2024, Alexander Dennis announced it was going to start making battery electric buses, they also announced that Plaxton coaches would stop being made until 2026.[10]

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Products

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G-Line Holidays Volvo B9R with Plaxton Elite bodywork in June 2011

Current

Coaches

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Magical Mystery Tour Bedford VAL with Plaxton Panorama Elite II bodywork in Liverpool in 2004
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Mercedes-Benz O303 with Plaxton Supreme IV bodywork in 1978
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Woods of Leicester Volvo B10M with Plaxton Paramount II bodywork in Chester

As of 2021, the following models are being made:[11]

Buses

After the Centro, Primo and Pronto was stopped being made, Plaxton do not make any of their own buses. the Plaxton factory at Scarborough does currently make the Enviro200 MMC and Enviro400 MMC buses for parent company Alexander Dennis.

Past

  • Type A
  • D Series
  • Type F
  • Type J
  • K Series
  • L Series
  • M Series
  • Q2
  • Envoy
  • Venturer I, II, III
  • Crusader Mk I, Mk II
  • Consort Mk I, Mk II, Mk III, Mk IV
  • Highway – (single deck bus)
  • Panorama
  • Embassy I, II, III, IV
  • Panorama I and Panorama II
  • Panorama Elite, Elite Express
  • Panorama Elite II, Elite Express II
  • Panorama Elite III, Elite Express III
  • Panorama IV (For Bedford SB and VAS)
  • Derwent, Derwent II (single deck bus)
  • Supreme I, II, III, IV, V, VI (1st version of Supreme for *Bristol LHS & Bedford PJK was to be known as Panorama Supreme)
  • Viewmaster
  • Bustler – (single deck bus)
  • Paramount 3200, 3500, 4000, Mk I, Mk II, Mk III
  • Plaxton Expressliner (Paramount III for National Express)
  • Derwent 3000 – (single deck bus)
  • Plaxton 321 (1989 version of the Duple 320 after takeover)
  • Plaxton 425
  • Verde – for rear engined Dennis Lance, Volvo B10B and Scania N113 single-deck bus chassis
  • Excalibur – for Volvo B10M and Volvo B12T chassis
  • Premiere – for Volvo B10M, Scania K93, Dennis Javelin chassis and others
  • Prima – for Volvo B7R, DAF SB3000 chassis
  • Prestige – left hand drive coach sold to France and Italy on Volvo B12R
  • Prestige – single-deck bus based on Northern Counties design
  • President – double-deck bus
  • Beaver / Beaver 2 / Beaver 3 – minibus for Mercedes-Benz van chassis
  • Pointer / Pointer 2 – for Dennis Dart/Dart SLF and Volvo B6/B6LE chassis
  • Paragon – for Volvo B10M, B12M and B12B, Dennis R-Series, MAN 18.310 and Irisbus EuroRider
  • Profile (10m and 12m)[12] – for Volvo B7R and Dennis Javelin chassis
  • Primo / Primo 2 – midibus based on the frame of Enterprise Bus Plasma
  • Centro – for VDL SB120, VDL SB200, MAN 12.240, MAN 14.220 and Volvo B7RLE single-deck bus chassis
  • Cheetah[13] – for Mercedes-Benz Vario van chassis
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References

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