East Lancashire Coachbuilders

East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.

In 1994 the company expanded into new premises and commenced a programme of development that resulted in a range of single and double deck buses which was the primary source of income for the company.

On 17 August 2007, the company went into administration, but was saved and bought out by the Darwen Group the next day. It is thought that the problem was a direct consequence of changing to the Euro IV chassis, with a shortage of Scania chassis being a factor. After the purchase, the Darwen Group rebranded the company as Darwen East Lancs.

In 2008, Jamesstan Investments, an investment company controlled by the Darwen Group, purchased another bus manufacturer, Optare. Later, in June 2008, a reverse takeover was performed, with the Darwen name disappearing in favour of Optare's. This brings East Lancs name into the Optare Group, with an expanded range of vehicles.

Production of all the original East Lancs bodies ceased by 2011, and the premises in Blackburn closed in 2012.

Products

Past
East Lancs has had many different styles of bodywork. They had a tradition of using cacography, mostly replacing a letter i with a letter y, which continued until the Esteem and Olympus series.

Older past bodies
Greenway
EL2000 predecessor to the Flyte
Cityzen predecessor to the OmniDekka
Pyoneer predecessor to the Lolyne

Lolyne and Spryte series
In the early 1990s, East Lancs created a new style of bus body. Like most East Lancs buses, this body style didn't have a definite name and was named by its chassis as follows:

Double-decker
Lolyne for Dennis Trident
Vyking for Volvo B7TL
Nordic for 3-axle Volvo B7L

Single-decker
Spryte for Dennis Dart and Volvo B6BLE chassis
Flyte for longer step-entrance and high-floor buses.

Myllennium series

In 2001, a new body was launched. Again, the product didn't have a definite name, it varied according to the chassis.

Double-decker
Myllennium Lolyne for Dennis Trident
Myllennium Vyking for Volvo B7TL
Myllennium Lowlander for DAF/VDL DB250LF
Myllennium Nordic for 3-axle Volvo B9TL

Single-decker
Myllennium for DAF SB220, MAN 14.220, Scania N94UB and Alexander Dennis Dart
Hyline, a high-floor variant of the standard Myllennium single-decker body but used to re-body older chassis

Until bought by Darwen
The generation until East Lancs went into administration continues the tradition of misspelt names but each has a different name and does not vary on the chassis.

Scania series

This series are the last surviving variants of the myllennium series. They are now part of their own series. These have the standard body but with Scania own front styling.

Single-decker
OmniTown for Scania N94UB chassis

Double-decker
OmniDekka for Scania N94UD/N230UD/N270UD chassis

Esteem and Olympus series
The Esteem was launched early in 2006. The Olympus was launched at the Euro Bus Expo 2006 and its lower dash is the same as the Esteem. The Visionaire launched in summer 2007 with Arriva's The Original Tour.

Single-decker
Esteem for Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart, MAN 12.240, Scania N230UB, Scania N94UB and Alexander Dennis Enviro300 chassis

Double-decker
Olympus for Alexander Dennis Enviro400, VDL DB250, Volvo B9TL and Scania N230UD chassis
Visionaire open-top body for Volvo B9TL chassis

Production of these buses continued under Darwen ownership.

Kinetec series

The Kinetec series was launched at the Euro Bus Expo 2006. They are designed as low-floor bodies for MAN chassis. They have the Esteem/Olympus body but with MAN's own Lion's City design front and rear.

Single-decker
Kinetec

Double-decker
Kinetec+

East Lancs subsidiaries

East Lancs also ran sub-divisions of the company, in addition to the production of buses:
British City Bus
East Lancs Overseas - The export of East Lancs buses
NW Bus & Coach Repairs - A bus and coach repairs business in the North West of England

References

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Category:1934 establishments in England
Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1934
Category:Companies based in Blackburn
Category:Defunct companies of England
Category:Optare