 | | | The second-generation standard bus |
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As the O 303 started to hit its stride, the engineers were already working on the successor to the Mercedes-Benz O 305 standardised urban service bus. The prototype of the new-generation bus presented in 1980 bore the name "S 80" and was already very similar in appearance to the form in which the vehicle later went into production as the Mercedes-Benz O 405. The insights collected during several years of trials with the S 80 all filtered into the specification book for the O 405, which contained all the main technical features and body dimensions.
This new 11.5 metre standard urban regular-service bus went into production in 1984. Hallmarks were the cubic shape of the body with its large windows and chunky destination indicator box over the front windscreen. The floor was considerably lower than in the predecessor, and there were only two steps in the aisle. The standing height and the upper window edge were increased significantly over the predecessor. The interior boasted an improved heating and ventilation system, while the horsepower ratings started at 150 kW (204 hp) from an in-line rear six-cylinder engine.
Midibuses round out the range
One year later the compact Mercedes-Benz O 402 midibus was introduced. In terms of appearance it resembled a scaled-down O 405, and with 50 seats slotted in below the existing urban bus range. The chassis was built by the Swiss affiliate NAW Nutzfahrzeuggesellschaft Arbon & Wetzikon, successor to the long-established Swiss commercial vehicle manufacturers Saurer und FBW. Based on the NAW chassis, an Italian coachbuilder commenced manufacture of a further midibus for Daimler-Benz in the same year, 1985. This was the compact Mercedes-Benz O 301 coach, which bridged the gap between the O 309 and the O 303. Neither the O 402 nor the O 301 was destined to have a long production life however.
Innovations as the bus celebrates its centenary
1985 was a year of innovations. The O 405, for example, acquired a big brother in the form of the O 405 G articulated pusher bus. And following the pattern of the previous series, Daimler-Benz also derived from the O 405 a standard rural-service bus, the O 407, with a length of almost twelve metres. It was differentiated from the O 405 by such features as the undivided windscreen and a higher floor under which the luggage compartment was situated.
In the same year the O 303 was fitted with the revolutionary electronic power shift (EPS). Thus with the O 303 and the O 405 as its two main cornerstones the company's bus line-up was now, 100 years after Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz invented the automobile, looking better than ever. The next year further versions of the Mercedes-Benz O 405 made their debut, like the O 405 T trolley bus and the O 405 GTD experimental duo bus, an articulated bus with diesel-electric drive.
The popularity of Mercedes-Buses was illustrated once again in 1988, when the 30,000th O 303 left the assembly lines in Mannheim. The undiminished appeal of the O 303 was underscored during the European Football Championships: the eight quarter-finalist teams were transported to their matches in luxuriously equipped Mercedes-Benz O 303 coaches.
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