Dennis Dragon

Dennis Dragon
Kowloon Motor Bus Duple Metsec bodied Dennis Dragon in August 2005
Overview
Manufacturer	Dennis Bus
Production	1982–1999
Body and chassis
Doors	1, 2 or 3
Floor type	Step entrance
Powertrain
Engine	Gardner Cummins
Capacity	65 to 128 seated
Transmission	Voith ZF
Dimensions
Length	9.9m, 10.3m, 11m, 12.0m
Width	2.5m
Height	4.2m or 4.3m
Chronology
Successor	Dennis Trident 3

The Dennis Dragon (also sold as the Dennis Condor) was a 3-axle step-entrance double-decker bus manufactured by Dennis in England between 1982 and 1999.

The Dennis Dragon was named "Dragon" because they were designed for Kowloon Motor Bus. In Chinese, Kowloon means "nine dragons" and it is an area in Hong Kong, so the name "Condor" was adopted for China Motor Bus' "Dragons" to avoid "naming for an opponent company". All were built for the overseas market, although some were later repatriated.

Dennis had registered the Condor name in the 1950s for a lightweight haulage chassis.

The Dennis Dragon/Condor chassis was developed from 2-axle Dennis Dominator, with two separate wheels fitted in front of the rear axle (auxiliary axle was fitted since 1986). It was fitted with both Gardner or Cummins engines coupled to a Voith or ZF gearbox.. The Cummins engine was initially available as an option, but it gradually replaced the Gardner engine as standard

All Dennis Dragons/Condors, except four out of five prototypes, were fitted with Duple Metsec bodywork. In Hong Kong, this made Dennis Dragon/Condor easy to differentiate because most of the other bus models at the same period (such as Leyland Olympian, Volvo Olympian, Scania N113, etc.) were bodied with Alexander bodywork.

In 1982, Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) purchased three 12 m non air-conditioned Dennis Dragons with Alexander bodywork for evaluation. KMB purchased 188 Duple Metsec bodied 12 metre Dennis Dragons. These had three doors (one for boarding and two for alighting).