The Plaxton Paragon and Plaxton Panther are closely related designs of

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 * Coac ...

bodywork built by

Plaxton Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Eastfield, North Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton, it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. In 2019, the maker was acqui ...

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town and civil parish in North Yorkshire District, the district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. With a population of 61,749, Scarborough is the largest town on the Yorkshire Coast and the No ...

, England, since 1999,Millar, Alan (2007) ''Bus & Coach Recognition'' : Ian Allan Ltd., and still in production as of 2024. For part of their design life, Plaxton was part of

TransBus International Alexander Dennis is a British bus manufacturing company based in Larbert, Scotland. The largest bus and coach manufacturer in the United Kingdom, with a 50% market share in 2019, it has manufacturing plants and partnerships in Canada, China, ...

, during which time the designs were officially referred to as the TransBus Paragon and TransBus Panther. The Paragon and Panther replaced the Premiere and Excalibur respectively, with the Paragon being the standard and the Panther the premium specification coach. Externally, the main distinguishing feature between the two models is the front end, which is more upright on the Paragon, although the difference is not as pronounced as that between the Premiere and Excalibur. One important new feature of the designs was the use of a stainless steel structure, to resist corrosion and prolong vehicle life expectancy. The Generation 2 Panther was launched at Euro Bus Expo at Birmingham in November 2010. It shares some of the external design with the

Plaxton Elite The Plaxton Elite is a coach body produced by the British bus and coach manufacturer Plaxton. It is primarily targeted at the premium touring market and went into production in late 2008. Design The Elite was first unveiled at the Euro Bus Exp ...

and will comply with the new European WVTA requirements as well as the older domestic Certificate of initial fitness (COIF) standards. New 12.8m version will be available on

Volvo B9R The Volvo B9R is a rear-engined coach chassis built by Volvo. It can be built with bodies up to long and a maximum gross weight of . The B9R is equipped with a rear-mounted Volvo 9.0-litre 6-cylinder diesel engine The diesel engine, nam ...

with 53 seats. The Generation 2 15m Panther will be built on the

Volvo B13R Volvo B13R is a 12.8-litre engined coach chassis available as both two- and tri-axle from Volvo since 2009. It was the first of the Volvo BXXR series, replacing the higher output configurations of the B12B. It was later joined by the B11R, which ...

T for Megabus with 65 seats and the latest PLS lift. Production of the Paragon ceased afterwards. The Panther Cub is a short

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

version launched in 2012. The Generation 3 Panther launched in September 2013 and is a more substantial facelift with a similar rear to the Elite and new headlights similar to the Elite Interdeck.

Body numbering

From the 1989 build season up until the 2010 build season, Plaxton's body numbering system used a letter to identify the body style. The following letters are used for the Paragon and Panther: *L Panther *T Paragon Since the 2011 build season, in which the body numbering format was changed to match that of parent company

Alexander Dennis Alexander Dennis is a British bus manufacturing company based in Larbert, Scotland. The largest bus and coach manufacturer in the United Kingdom, with a 50% market share in 2019, it has manufacturing plants and partnerships in Canada, China, ...

, the Panther is now assigned the identifier letter P.

Gallery

File:Eddie Brown A3EBT (8693813088).jpg, Eddie Brown Plaxton Panther bodied

Volvo B12B The Volvo B12B was a rear-engined coach and intercity bus chassis built by Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered ...

in April 2013 File:First 23208 WM04NZU (4326422036).jpg,

National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...

Plaxton Panther bodied

rear in January 2010 File:Lakeside of Ellesmere BX11VOF (8716897225).jpg, Lakeside of Ellesmere Plaxton Panther 2 bodied

in May 2013 File:SLEAFORDIAN COACHES Sleaford - Flickr - secret coach park.jpg, Sleafordian Coachees Plaxton Panther 3 bodied

Volvo B8R The Volvo B8R is a 7.7-litre engined coach and intercity bus chassis manufactured by Volvo since 2013 for Euro VI markets. It was designed as a replacement for the B7R and the B9R. In 2017, Euro III and V versions were launched worldwide with ...

in April 2018

References

External links

{{Alexander Dennis Paragon Vehicles introduced in 1999 Coaches (bus) Single-deck buses