When were Darts first introduced?

[towerman]

I ask because as far as I remember they first appeared in London as P & R regs(mid 90's)but in Northampton earlier this week I saw a Plaxton Dart working for one of the smaller outfits(Unobus)and it had a C17*** reg(mid 80's)

[smiler52]

hi mate The 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.e. a midibus) in the same year.[1]

It was launched in 1989 and was originally offered with the Duple Dartline bodywork. It was 2.3m wide and was initially available in the length of 9m, but later available in lengths of 8.5m and 9.8m. It was powered by a 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).

This model was sold to London Buses and to some operators outside London. Unfortunately, however, soon after it was launched, Duple was sold to Plaxton and its Blackpool plant was closed down. 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. Production passed to Marshall of Cambridge in 1992 who bodied five Darts to this design. In 1993, Marshall updated the design to the C36 and later, the C37.

In 1990, Wadham Stringer became the next builder to body the Dart with a body 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. 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). Later in 1991, East Lancs bodied the Dart with its EL2000. In the latter half of 1991, Alexander launched the Dash. Another contender entering the market at the same time was the Northern Counties Paladin. 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. 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, with the final three delivered to Thames Transit.

full info en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Dart not sure how right it is

[vjaska]

Jun 21, 2013 15:20:30 GMT towerman said:

I ask because as far as I remember they first appeared in London as P & R regs(mid 90's)but in Northampton earlier this week I saw a Plaxton Dart working for one of the smaller outfits(Unobus)and it had a C17*** reg(mid 80's)

As far as I know, Uno are 100% low floor following the sale of their last Plaxton Beaver (an R reg one) around 2 years ago. The C reg plate could of been a private plate used on a low floor Pointer Dart as it's perfectly acceptable for older private reg plates to go on newer buses but not the other way around.

Seeing as 'smiler52' has answered the bit about when Darts where first introduced, the first low floor Darts were N reg examples and the very first one being N701 CPU for Thamesway in January 1996

[snoggle]

Jun 21, 2013 15:20:30 GMT towerman said:

I ask because as far as I remember they first appeared in London as P & R regs(mid 90's)but in Northampton earlier this week I saw a Plaxton Dart working for one of the smaller outfits(Unobus)and it had a C17*** reg(mid 80's)

Here is a photo of an early step Dart / Carlyle delivered to London United


London United DT49 Hounslow by plcd1, on Flickr

and a later Dart / Plaxton Pointer. Strange to see something so small on the H37.


London United DR119 Hounslow Bus Station by plcd1, on Flickr

[M1104]

The earliest I've seen, at least in London, was on a G plate from around 1989/90. AF and N had DRs (PlaxtonReeves Pointer Darts) on H plates.

[towerman]

Thanks for that.When I said the first Darts in London were P & R regs I meant low floor versions(I believe the 230 was the first route to have them)Re the bus in Northampton,it was a "personalised" reg as I saw it again yesterday it's C17 UNO.

[vjaska]

Jun 28, 2013 15:31:35 GMT towerman said:

Thanks for that.When I said the first Darts in London were P & R regs I meant low floor versions(I believe the 230 was the first route to have them)Re the bus in Northampton,it was a "personalised" reg as I saw it again yesterday it's C17 UNO.

I had a strong feeling it was a personalised plate, thanks for confirming mate

[towerman]

Yes,seen another one since C16 UNO.

[towerman]

I believe C16 UNO & C17 UNO are ex London Darts as they both have centre doors & running number plate holders.