33-551: The Plaxton Paragon and Plaxton Panther are closely related designs of coach bodywork built by Plaxton in Scarborough, North Yorkshire , England, since 1999, and still in production as of 2024. For part of their design life, Plaxton was part of TransBus International , during which time the designs were officially referred to as the TransBus Paragon and TransBus Panther . The Paragon and Panther replaced
66-414: A coach bus , motorcoach or parlor coach ) is a type of bus built for longer-distance service, in contrast to transit buses that are typically used within a single metropolitan region. Often used for touring , intercity , and international bus service, coaches are also used for private charter for various purposes. Coaches are also related and fall under a specific category/type of RVs . Deriving
99-597: A 1917 charabanc outing from rural Gloucestershire to Weston-super-Mare . The first verse of “Maginot Waltz” by Ralph McTell starts: “All off to Brighton in a char-a-banc”. Vince Hill 's A Day at the Seaside begins with the line "Climb up little darling, into the charabanc". The song, written by Les Vandyke , came fifth in the 1963 Song for Europe competition. A char-a-banc also figures prominently in Rudyard Kipling 's short story "The Village that Voted
132-419: A body to be added. A few coaches are built with monocoque bodies without a chassis frame. Integrated manufacturers (most of whom also supply chassis) include Autosan , Scania , Fuso , and Alexander Dennis . Major coachwork providers (some of whom can build their own chassis) include Van Hool , Neoplan , Marcopolo , Irizar , MCI , Prevost , Volvo and Designline . In some European countries following
165-511: A bus based in Echuca , Victoria , has been restored and is used at the Port of Echuca on some public holidays and special events. Buses with similar arrangement of doors and seats are a common equipment for the antiriot squads of many police forces, as the arrangement lends itself to the squad exiting the vehicle quickly. Introduced in the 1830s as a French sporting vehicle, the char à bancs
198-593: A cheaper version of the tourist coach. The first charabanc in Britain was presented to Queen Victoria by Louis Philippe of France and is preserved in the Royal Mews . Before the First World War , motor charabancs were used mainly for day trips, as they were not comfortable enough for longer journeys, and were largely replaced by motor buses in the 1920s. The charabanc of the 1920s tended to last only
231-423: A few years. It was normal at the time for the body to be built separately from the motor chassis , and some were fitted in summer only; a second goods body would be fitted in its place in winter to keep the vehicle occupied. Charabancs were normally open-top, with a large canvas folding hood stowed at the rear in case of rain, much like a convertible motor car. If rain started, this had to be pulled into position,
264-513: A letter to identify the body style. The following letters are used for the Paragon and Panther: Since the 2011 build season, in which the body numbering format was changed to match that of parent company Alexander Dennis , the Panther is now assigned the identifier letter P. [REDACTED] Media related to Plaxton Paragon at Wikimedia Commons Coach (bus) A coach (also known as
297-419: A very heavy task, and it was considered honourable for the male members of the touring party to assist in getting it into position. The side windows would be of mica (a thin layer of quartz-like stone). The charabanc offered little or no protection to the passengers in the event of an overturning accident, they had a high centre of gravity when loaded (and particularly if overloaded), and they often traversed
330-621: The Premiere and Excalibur respectively, with the Paragon being the standard and the Panther the premium specification coach. Externally, the main distinguishing feature between the two models is the front end, which is more upright on the Paragon, although the difference is not as pronounced as that between the Premiere and Excalibur. One important new feature of the designs was the use of a stainless steel structure, to resist corrosion and prolong vehicle life expectancy. The Generation 2 Panther
363-475: The Second World War ; rationing was still evident, and annual holidays had not really become established for poorer workers such as weavers and spinners, so a day's outing to the seaside was a rare treat and all that some workers with large families could afford. "Charabanc trips" were usually only for adults, again due to finance. Occasionally the mill owner would help to pay for these outings, but this
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#1732801145592396-587: The 1958 type certification treaty, coach (that is vehicle of type M2 or M3) type certification is regulated by regulation number 107 from the UNECE. In the U.S., commercial drivers of motorcoaches are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). A representative selection of vehicles currently (or recently) in use in different parts of the world. A selection of vehicles in use in different parts of
429-661: The Earth Was Flat" (1913). Char-a-bancs are mentioned in Dorothy Edwards ' book The Witches and the Grinnygog in the chapter entitled "Mrs. Umphrey's Ghost Story". In it, Mrs. Umphrey tries to reassure the ghost of Margaret that the char-a-bancs are not the chariots of devils. " Peaches ", a single by the Stranglers makes reference to a charabanc, with vocalist Hugh Cornwell explaining to
462-532: The Pevear/Volokhonsky translation (2000). The charabanc is notably mentioned in Dylan Thomas 's short story "A Story", also known as "The Outing". In this piece the young Thomas unintentionally finds himself on the annual men's charabanc outing to Porthcawl . Within the story the charabanc is referred to as a "chara" in colloquial Welsh English . Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee features
495-462: The annual " wakes week " took over and a one-week mass exodus from northern mill towns during the summer months took precedence over the charabanc trips, and a full week's holiday at a holiday camp or in a seaside boarding house for the full family became the norm, instead of a single day out. The French char à banc appears in Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (1877) in part 6, chapter 17 in
528-532: The backgrove". On the 1968 performance by the band of the suite on BBC2 's Colour Me Pop , Unwin renders this section as "an ancient Victoriana Charabanc – and this was the old type, sit-up-and-beg, rotate fit a poppy with solid wheels." The charabanc appears in Louisa May Alcott 's Little Women . Mr Lawrence, the March's wealthy neighbour, lends it to the March girls. Jokingly, they call it
561-422: The bare essentials such as storage and restrooms. Coaches typically have only a single, narrow door, but some can have two doors, as an increased loading time is acceptable due to infrequent stops. Some characteristics include: Coaches, like buses, may be fully built by integrated manufacturers, or a separate chassis consisting of only an engine, wheels and basic frame may be delivered to a coachwork factory for
594-553: The early years of the 20th century. The first "motor coaches" were purchased by operators of those horse-drawn vehicles in the early 20th century by operators such as Royal Blue Coach Services , who purchased their first charabanc in 1913 and were running 72 coaches by 1926. As they hold passengers for significant periods of time on long journeys, coaches are designed for comfort. They can vary considerably in quality: some higher-specification coaches feature luxury seats, air conditioning , and refreshments, while others may only have
627-561: The first horse-drawn mail coaches in Europe since Roman times in 1650, and as they started in the town of Kocs, the use of these mail coaches gave rise to the term "coach". Stagecoaches (drawn by horses) were used for transport between cities from about 1500 in Great Britain until displaced by the arrival of the railways. One of the earliest motorized vehicles was the charabanc , which was used for short journeys and excursions until
660-577: The latest PLS lift. Production of the Paragon ceased afterwards. The Panther Cub is a short wheelbase version launched in 2012. The Generation 3 Panther launched in September 2013 and is a more substantial facelift with a similar rear to the Elite and new headlights similar to the Elite Interdeck. From the 1989 build season up until the 2010 build season, Plaxton's body numbering system used
693-400: The listener how he will be stuck on a beach "the whole summer" after missing a charabanc. In Agatha Christie 's "The Dead Harlequin", from The Mysterious Mr Quin series, the young artist Frank Bristow reacts angrily to the older Colonel Monkton's dismissive (and presumably snobbish) attitude towards charabancs and their use in tourism. They are also mentioned in the story "Double Sin" when
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#1732801145592726-553: The motor coach Poirot and Hastings are traveling on stops for lunch at Monkhampton: "...in a big courtyard, about twenty char-a-bancs were parked—char-a-bancs which had come from all over the country". It appears also in "Halowe'en Party": "...in the manner of someone doing the honours of a stately home to party of charabanc goers,...". Charabancs appeared several times in John Le Carre's The Little Drummer Girl . The Jethro Tull song "Wond'ring Again" by Ian Anderson uses
759-504: The name from horse-drawn carriages and stagecoaches that carried passengers, luggage, and mail, modern motor coaches are almost always high-floor buses, with separate luggage hold mounted below the passenger compartment. In contrast to transit buses, motor coaches typically feature forward-facing seating, with no provision for standing. Other accommodations may include onboard restrooms, televisions, and overhead luggage space. Horse-drawn chariots and carriages ("coaches") were used by
792-489: The road to the neighbouring village of Easton is unsuitable for charabancs. The word is in common usage especially in Northern England in a jocular way referring to works outings by coach. In Australia a modern similar type of bus or motorcoach, with two lateral doors for each row of seats, survived up to the 1970s and was referred to as side loader bus ; but all or most of them were not open-topped. One such
825-477: The steep and winding roads leading to the coastal villages popular with tourists. These factors led to fatal accidents, which contributed to their early demise. Factory day outings (annual works trips) in the 19th and early 20th century were quite common for workers, especially for those from the northern weaving mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire during the wakes weeks . The 1940s and 1950s were relatively hard times due to national recovery being slow after
858-547: The term: "Incestuous ancestry's charabanc ride..." George Harrison described the plot of The Beatles ' 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour "a charabanc trip". On the Small Faces ' 1968 album Ogden's Nut Gone Flake , the title character of the Happiness Stan suite of songs taking up side 2 lives in a Charabanc, described in characteristic fashion by narrator Stanley Unwin as "a four-wheeled fillolop out
891-479: The wealthy and powerful where the roads were of a high enough standard from possibly 3000 BC. In Hungary , during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus in the 15th century, the wheelwrights of Kocs began to build a horse-drawn vehicle with steel-spring suspension. This "cart of Kocs" as the Hungarians called it ( Hungarian : kocsi szekér ) soon became popular all over Europe. The imperial post service employed
924-514: The world in the past. Charabanc A charabanc or "char-à-banc" / ˈ ʃ ær ə b æ ŋ k / (often pronounced "sharra-bang" in colloquial British English) is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach , usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It has "benched seats arranged in rows, looking forward, commonly used for large parties, whether as public conveyances or for excursions". It
957-406: The year. A few pence a week would be paid to a club or mill trip organiser and marked down in a notebook. This would be paid out to the saver on the day of the trip as spending money on the day. This day out would often be the highlight of the year for some workers and the only chance to get away from the smog and grime of the busy mill towns. As the mills prospered and things improved financially,
990-605: Was especially popular for sight-seeing or " works outings " to the country or the seaside, organised by businesses once a year. The name derives from the French char à bancs ("carriage with benches"), the vehicle having originated in France in the early 19th century. Although the vehicle has not been common on the roads since the 1920s, a few signs survive from the era; a notable example at Wookey Hole in Somerset warns that
1023-595: Was launched at Euro Bus Expo at Birmingham in November 2010. It shares some of the external design with the Plaxton Elite and will comply with the new European WVTA requirements as well as the older domestic Certificate of initial fitness (COIF) standards. New 12.8m version will be available on Volvo B9R with 53 seats. The Generation 2 15m Panther will be built on the Volvo B13R T for Megabus with 65 seats and
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1056-406: Was not always the case. The charabancs, or coaches, were pretty basic vehicles; noisy, uncomfortable and often poorly upholstered with low-backed seats and used mainly for short journeys to the nearest resort town or the races . Some working men's clubs also organised days out, and these trips were often subsidised by the clubs themselves from membership subscriptions that had been paid throughout
1089-454: Was popular at race meetings and for hunting or shooting parties where it served as a mobile grandstand. It could be pulled by a four-in-hand team of horses or a pair in pole gear. It had two or more rows of crosswise bench seats, plus a slightly lower rear seat for a groom, and most also had a slatted trunk for luggage. Initially used by the wealthy, they were later enlarged with more seats for school or works excursions and tourist transport, as
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