Plaxton Premiere

Plaxton Premiere
A Plaxton Premiere-bodied Volvo B10M.
Overview
Manufacturer	Plaxton
Body and chassis
Doors	1 door
Chassis	Dennis Javelin Volvo B10M DAF SB3000 Volvo B7R Volvo B12 Scania K93 Scania K113
Powertrain
Engine	DAF (DAF SB3000) Volvo (Volvo B10M/B7R/B12) Scania (Scania K93/K113)
Chronology

The Plaxton Premiere, Plaxton Excalibur and Plaxton Prima were closely related designs of coach bodywork built by Plaxton.

The Premiere and Excalibur were introduced in 1991 as replacements for the Paramount. The Premiere was the mainstream design, available in the same two heights as its predecessor (but expressed in centimetres, 320 and 350, rather than millimetres). The Excalibur was a premium specification coach, based on the Premiere 350 but with a more dramatically styled front end.

A taller export version of the Excalibur, built on Volvo B12 chassis, was briefly marketed by Volvo in France, and was named Prestige (a name which was subsequently re-used by Plaxton on the home market for a low-floor bus).

The Excalibur accounted for around 15% of production; the Premiere 350 was the most popular model taking about 45%; and the 3.2-metre Premiere 320 and Prima made up the remaining 40%.

The Volvo B10M was by far the most popular chassis on which the range was built, accounting for nearly three quarters of the total (including over 90% of Excaliburs). The Dennis Javelin chassis accounted for about 15% of output, with the remainder consisting of DAF SB3000, Volvo B7R, Volvo B12 and Scania K93 or K113.

Most of the Scanias were the low 320 model, and an early order from Shearings for thirty K93s accounted for a majority of them.

Over 97% of the bodies built were on 12m chassis.

The Premiere and the Excalibur share much of the same body structure, apart from the upper front end. They are flat-sided designs, with a high, straight window line. The cab window and door glazing sweep down, in a shape reminiscent of the Paramount III's pentagonal feature window, to meet the lower edge of the windscreen.

The Premiere has an upright front end; the Excalibur's is more raked back, and a thicker pillar separates the door or cab from the adjacent window. An air-intake grille was incorporated into the bumper on early Volvo B10Ms, whereas a plain panel was used on other chassis types. Later B10Ms had an even simpler, single-barred opening, or a plain panel. Updates to the front end during 1993 were minor; subtle changes to the headlight area replaced the vertical inner edges with angled ones, and the removable front panel section was reduced in width.