Most of the early post-war heavyweight coaches of the early Fifties tended to have centre entrances, but without an attendant to man the door and being unsuitable for service work the practicality of a front entrance became much more desirable. After the best known user Wallace Arnold dropped them too in 1966 only Glenton Tours deemed that extra bit of luxury worth including for it's extended tour program. Numerically the last example was a similar Volvo B58-56 Plaxton C38C coach to this HYR 177W. Also of interest, in the early Eighties a number of mid-life Volvos were rebodied with conventional front-entrances so despite comparatively low mileages maybe their inferior second-hand value made it a most prudent 'win win' decision..DYW 17!V was pictures in the Staffordshire city of Lichfield whose magnificent Cathedral makes it a must visit on Scottish and The Lakes tours from London.
I think some of the early Neoplan 'Skyliners' (?) that Stagecoach and Rennie's were a fan of, had a centre door arrangement as well.
ReplyDeleteA good observation Nick and thanks for getting the record straight. I'm afraid Neoplans were always held a bit too low in my esteem to notice little unimportant things like as to whether they had doors but coming to think about it they did look a bit unusual.
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