Volvo B12

Volvo B12
Drögmöller-bodied Volvo B12-600 in Hungary.
Overview
Manufacturer	Volvo
Production	1991-2001 (-2011)
Assembly	Sweden Brazil
Body and chassis
Class	Coach chassis
Floor type	Step entrance
Powertrain
Engine	12.0/12.1-litre rear-mounted I-6 Volvo TD122, TD123, D12A Brazil: TD122, D10A, D12D
Chronology
Successor	Volvo B12B Volvo B11R (Brazil)

The Volvo B12 was a rear-engined heavy-duty coach chassis manufactured by Volvo in Sweden between 1991 and 2001, and in Brazil between 1997 and 2011.

The B12 was Volvo's first large coach chassis with a vertically mounted engine, which limited the available body models that would fit. It was first fitted with the 12.0-litre TD122/TD123, which in 1995 was replaced by the 12.1-litre D12A. Because of the engine height it was probably less popular than its predecessor, the B10B, but it was Volvo's only rear-engined coach chassis that was offered as a tri-axle. The only other option for a tri-axle coach was the mid-engined B10M, and not all customers wanted to have the engine "where the luggage was supposed to be". It succeeded in 2001, by B12B which had the same engine but in a horizontally mounted version.

Like with the B6 (B6R) and the B6LE (B6RLE), the B12 was marketed as the Volvo B12R in Australia. They were of the standard version built in Sweden, and not related to the far more known B12R built in Brazil between 2003 and 2011.

After Volvo had acquired Drögmöller in 1994, they changed production there from building complete chassis-less coaches to building on Volvo chassis, and the obvious choice was the B12. Out of all the different models Drögmöller had, only two went on to become Volvo models from 1995. The E320 EuroPullman became Volvo B12-500 and the E330H EuroComet became Volvo B12-600. They were only available in standard 12-metre length. Later the B12-600 became the basis for the 9900.

The production of the B12 in Sweden ended in 2001 in favour of the B12B, but at Volvo's plant in Curitiba, Brazil, the chassis was available for many years to come. After first being imported from Sweden, the Brazilian-made B12 was launched in 1997 as the B12B, not to be confused with the European B12B launched four years later, and was built until 2001. It seems that it then became available as the B10R, also as a tri-axle, between 2000 and 2003. This should again not be confused with the original B10R, with a horizontally mounted engine. This Brazilian B10R is the only known occurrence of the 9.6-litre engine vertically mounted in a coach chassis. In 2003 it was relaunched as the Volvo B12R with a newer version of the 12.1-litre engine. When being introduced this late, it probably has more in common with the European B12B, except for one thing; how the engine is mounted. In 2010 it was launched in a quad-axle version for the largest double-deckers. The production ended in 2011, with the B11R taking over in 2012 under the names of B380R, B420R and B450R, depending on the power output.