The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. OptareSolojpg|thumb|right|An Optare Solo midibus]]A midibus is a classification of single decker buses which are identified as neither being Minibuses or full Dennis Specialist Vehicles is a major British coachbuilder and manufacturer of specialised commercial vehicles based in Guildford, England. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located It was the first successful Dennis product since the Dominator, with more than 11,000 built. The Dennis Dominator was Dennis's first rear-engined Double-decker bus chassis it was launched in 1977.
It has proved popular with many bus operators in the UK, and has since been sold to several other countries around the world.
Standard-floor Dart
Dennis Dart was first planned around 1988 when Hestair Group (owner of Duple and Dennis) decided to produce a bus between a minibus and a full-sized single decker (i. Duple was best known as a British manufacturer of coach and bus bodywork from 1919 until 1989 "Microbus" redirects here For the Volkswagen Microbus see Volkswagen Type 2. e. a midibus) in the same year.
It was finally launched in 1989 and was originally offered with the stylish Duple Dartline bodywork. It was 2. 3m wide and was initially available in the length of 9m, but soon available in lengths of 8. 5m and 9. 8m. It was powered by the tried and tested Cummins 6BT engine and coupled to the Allison AT545 gearbox (the same engine and gearbox were also used in the MCW Metrorider, latterly the Optare MetroRider). Cummins Inc ( is a corporation of complementary business units that design manufacture distribute and service diesel and Natural gas Engines and related Allison Transmission is a manufacturer of Automatic transmissions for medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicle applications MCW Metroriderjpg|thumb|right|An MCW Metrorider]] Metro Cammell Weymann (MCW was once a major player in transportation manufacturing in the UK and Europe The MCW Metrorider, launched by MCW at the 1986 Motor Show was a Midibus designed and built by Metro Cammell Weymann between 1986 and 1989 Optare plc is a bus manufacturer and Importer based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The Optare MetroRider was a Midibus sold by Optare between 1989 and 2000
This model was sold well to London Buses and to some operators outside London. London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Unfortunately, however, soon after it was launched, Duple was sold to Plaxton and its Blackpool plant was closed down. Plaxton is a builder of Bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough, England. Blackpool (/ˈblækˌpul is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. Plaxton decided not to acquire the design rights of the Duple Dartline and it was sold to Carlyle, who continued producing the bodywork from 1991. EZ7136jpg|thumb|200px|A Carlyle-bodied Dart owned by New World First Bus in Hong Kong Production passed to Marshall of Cambridge in 1992 who bodied five Darts to this design. Marshall Bus was a British bus manufacturer between 1992 and 2002 The city of Cambridge (ˈkeɪmbrɪdʒ is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England In 1993, Marshall updated the design to the C36 and later, the C37, ironing out the weaknesses of the original design.
In 1990, Wadham Stringer became the next builder to body the Dart with a bodywork called the Portsdown, but it was sold in small numbers and replaced by the UVG Urbanstar in 1995. In the same year, Wright bodied the Dart with the Handybus, which was more functional than stylish. Wrightbus is the UK's largest independent coachbuilder and pioneer of the low floor Bus in the United Kingdom. In early 1991, Plaxton launched the Pointer (which was initially designated as Reeve Burgess Pointer as it was built at Reeve Burgess's plant, until later in the same year when it was transferred to Plaxton at Scarborough). Reeve Burgess was a Bus body manufacturer based in Pilsley North East Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. Scarborough is a town on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire, England. This bodywork quickly became the most popular, even though its boxy appearance was considered unattractive. Later in 1991, East Lancs bodied the Dart with its EL2000. East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of Bus bodies and Carriages founded in Blackburn in 1934 The East Lancs EL2000 is a type of single-deck Bus body built on a wide variety of chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. In the latter half of 1991, Alexander launched the Dash, which was sold reasonably well. Walter Alexander is also the name of participant in the OJ Simpson Robbery Case Walter Alexander Coachbuilders was a Scottish Another contender entering the market at the same time was the Northern Counties Paladin. The Northern Counties Paladin, also badged as the Plaxton Paladin towards the end of production is a step-entrance single-deck bus body built by Northern Counties Initially, it was built with a design of a barrel shaped windscreen with quarterlights (which were mainly sold to Warrington Borough Transport), later models had a deep double-curvature two-piece windscreen. Warrington Borough Transport (WBT is a Bus operator running a network of services within the Borough of Warrington, England and into the surrounding It was phased out when Plaxton bought Northern Counties in 1995.
As the low floor buses became more popular in late 1990s, orders for standard-floor Dart dropped heavily and production was ceased in 1998.
Low-floor Dart SLF
In 1995, Dennis launched a low-floor version of the Dart called the Dennis Dart SLF (SLF stands for Super Low Floor), which later became known as the TransBus Dart/Alexander Dennis Dart. Plaxton is a builder of Bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough, England. Maidstone Corporation Transport was the operator of Trams, Trolleybuses and motorbuses in Maidstone, Kent from 1904 to 1974 Alexander Dennis Limited (formerly known as TransBus International) is the largest bus builder in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in the world Alexander Dennis Limited (formerly known as TransBus International) is the largest bus builder in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in the world
It was 2. 4m wide and initially offered in lengths of 9. 2m, 10m and 10. 6m in length, the driveline of the step-entrance Dart was retained. It was initially offered with the low floor version of the Pointer (which was notable for being wider), replaced by the updated Pointer 2 in 1997. It was also offered with a wide variety of bodies, namely the East Lancs Spryte, UVG Urbanstar (later renamed as the Caetano Compass; replaced by the Nimbus in 1999), the stylish Wright Crusader, Alexander ALX200 (discontinued in 2001 with the formation of Transbus International and being replaced by the Pointer 2), Marshall Capital (developed from the C37; later built by MCV), Caetano Nimbus and MCV Evolution (since 2005 - a further evolution of the Marshall bodywork). The East Lancs Spryte is a single-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. Salvador Caetano is a coachbuilder and vehicle distributor based in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal. The Wright Crusader is a Bus body built by Wright on Dennis Dart SLF and Volvo B6LE Chassis. The Alexander ALX200 was a Midibus body built by Alexander of the United Kingdom. Alexander Dennis Limited (formerly known as TransBus International) is the largest bus builder in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in the world Nu-Venture R720 BNFjpg|thumb|200px|A 1998 Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLF with Nu-Venture]] The Marshall Capital was a single-decker Bus body built by MCV Bus and Coach is a manufacturer of Bus bodies founded in late 2002 after buying the assets of defunct bus builder Marshall Bus who closed down in the summer of The Caetano Nimbus was a Bus body built by Salvador Caetano. It was constructed exclusively on the Dennis Dart SLF.
Some Dart SLF buses with Alexander ALX200 body were delivered to North America and sold as Thomas Dennis SLF-series buses. Thomas Dennis LLC was created in 1999 as a joint venture between Thomas Built Buses Inc
In 1997, the Dart SPD (Super Pointer Dart) was launched with the length of 11. 3m (about the same length as a long Leyland National). The Leyland National was a British single-deck bus built in large quantities between 1972 and 1985 It has a more powerful engine and a more heavy duty Allison World Series B300R gearbox, but also with an option of a Voith gearbox too. The Voith AG which is headquartered in Germany, is a family-run corporation in the mechanical engineering sector with worldwide operations Originally offered only with the Plaxton Pointer 2 bodywork (hence the 'P' in the name) this larger bus was later offered with other bodywork such as East Lancs, the Alexander ALX200 and a few have also been bodied by Marshall. In 1998, it was accompanied by the MPD (Mini Pointer Dart) at 8. 8m long, a model reminiscent of the original 8. 5m Darts.
With the move to Euro III emissions in October 2001, the new Cummins ISBe engine was launched, with the 4-cylinder 3. European emission standards define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of new vehicles sold in EU member states Cummins Inc ( is a corporation of complementary business units that design manufacture distribute and service diesel and Natural gas Engines and related 9-litre model being used in all lengths except the 11. 3m version, which uses the more powerful 6-cylinder, 5. 9-litre version. The Cummins ISBe Euro IV engine became available on the Dart SLF chassis since late 2006. European emission standards define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of new vehicles sold in EU member states
The Dennis Dart SLF was superseded by the Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Dart in 2007.
Competitors
For Dennis Dart:
For Dennis Dart SLF:
- MAN 14. The Leyland Swift was a Midibus chassis built by Leyland from 1987 sharing many components with the Roadrunner light truck but with the engine relocated Volvo B6 is a Midibus manufactured by Volvo between c 1991 and 1998 220
- Marshall Minibus
- Optare Solo
- VDL SB120
- Volvo B6LE
- Volvo B6BLE
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