The Wright Handybus was a single-deck bus body built primarily on Dennis Dart chassis by Wrightbus between 1990 and 1995. It was also built on a small number of the higher-floor Leyland Swift chassis. It has a bolted aluminium structure with two windscreen styles.
| Wright Handybus | |
|---|---|
 West Midlands Travel Handybus bodied Dennis Dart in 1995 with flat driver's windscreen | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Wrightbus |
| Production | 1990 - 1995 |
| Assembly | Ballymena, Northern Ireland |
| Body and chassis | |
| Doors | 1 |
| Floor type | Step entrance |
| Chassis | Dennis Dart Leyland Swift |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | Cummins B Series (Dennis Dart) |
| Capacity | 29 to 37 seated |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in), 9 m (29 ft 6 in) and 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in) |
| Width | 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in) |
| Height | 3.02 m (9 ft 11 in) |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | Wright Crusader |
The outward styling was quite plain, with a flat front. Some vehicles had a single-piece flat windscreen whilst others had two, separate, flat windscreens with the glass on the driver's side being raked back, reminiscent of some 1950s single-decker buses and the Leyland Lynx.
London Regional Transport was the first and also the largest customer, buying nearly 200 Handybus bodied Dennis Darts.[1][2][3] Go-Ahead Northern also bought over 80, and Ulsterbus and Citybus had 40 between them.[4] The Handybus was succeeded in 1995 by the Crusader.
Preservation
editA former London Regional Transport Handybus has been preserved by the London Transport Museum, Acton.[5]
References
edit- ^ Wright midi boosts jobs Commercial Motor 1 November 1990
- ^ Gold Arrow remembered at LBM heritage running day Buses issue 752 November 2017 page 10
- ^ Dennis Dart: the first Generation Ian's Bus Stop
- ^ Go-Ahead goes for Handybus Commercial Motor 3 October 1991
- ^ Wrightbus hands over Gold Arrow Bus & Coach Buyer 24 March 2016
External links
edit
Media related to Wright Handybus at Wikimedia Commons
Buses portal