The Duple Calypso was a design of semi-integral

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

built by Duple between 1983 and 1984 using running gear from the Bova Europa.

History

In the early 1980s the British coach market underwent considerable change, putting pressure on the established British coachbuilding firms which had previously dominated the market. In the 1970s the great majority of coaches sold in the UK had comprised a British-built chassis with separately assembled bodywork by one of the two dominant domestic coachbuilders, Duple and

Plaxton Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough. Founded in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton, it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. In 2019, the maker was acquired by Canadian bus manuf ...

. The highest sales volumes were achieved by lightweight chassis such as the

Bedford Y series The Bedford Y series was a family of single-decker bus and single-decker coach chassis manufactured by Bedford from 1970 to 1986, when Bedford ceased bus and truck production. History Announced in September 1970, the Bedford YRQ was a 10-metre ( ...

and

Ford R series The Ford R series was a range of single-decker bus and single-decker coach chassis, built by Ford that evolved from designs made by Thames Trader until the mid-1960s. A number of components were shared with the D-series lorry, including the ...

, and even imported chassis such as the

Volvo B58 The Volvo B58 was a mid-engined bus chassis manufactured by Volvo in Sweden from 1966 until early 1982. It was succeeded by the B10M. Operators In the United Kingdom, it was sold to many major operators including Wallace Arnold and Park's of ...

usually carried Duple or Plaxton coachwork. However, the 1980s saw a move away from lightweights towards heavier and more sophisticated designs, increasingly supplied by foreign chassis and bodywork manufacturers. Some of the foreign coaches now selling in Britain were of integral construction, and Duple wished to produce an integral design of its own to compete more effectively with these. The first attempts were a pair of prototypes built in 1983, one of which was a semi-integral variant of the Duple Caribbean body built on German Auwärter Neoplan N716 running gear, which remained a one-off. The other prototype employed Dutch BOVA running gear within a unique style of semi-integral body known as the Duple Calypso, and a further 50 production vehicles of this type were built for the 1984 season. The styling of the Calypso was a hybrid of the contemporary Duple Laser and Caribbean coach bodies which were produced in larger numbers. It was of intermediate height, being closer in height to the Laser but featuring bonded glazing like the Caribbean. However, while the Calypso had twin headlamps and a wide grille, most contemporary Laser and Caribbean bodies had quad headlamps and a small chrome grille (although the Calypso headlights/grille could be specified as an option). In June 1983 Duple had been sold to the Hestair Group, which had previously acquired the British chassis manufacturer

Dennis Brothers Dennis Brothers Limited was an English manufacturer of commercial vehicles based in Guildford. It is best remembered as a manufacturer of buses, fire engines and lorries (trucks) and municipal vehicles such as dustcarts. All vehicles were made ...

of Guildford. Duple was renamed Hestair Duple, and rather than persisting with semi-integrals built on third party running gear it was decided to develop a fully integral coach with running units from sister company Hestair Dennis. As a result the contract with BOVA was not renewed after the 1984 season and instead the fully integral Duple 425 was developed as a replacement for the Calypso.

References

* *{{cite book , last=Townsin, first=Alan , year=1998 , title=Duple: 70 Years of Coachbuilding , publisher=Venture Publications Ltd. , isbn=1-898432-46-5 , pages=149–152 Buses of the United Kingdom Intercity buses Single-deck buses Vehicles introduced in 1983

History

See also

References