Custom Bus (previously Custom Coaches) is an Australian bus body builder in
St Marys, New South Wales
St Marys is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 45 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith.
St Marys sits between South Creek which ...
.
History
Cycle Components Manufacturing Company
![Busabout_-_Custom_Coaches_315_bodied_Isuzu_LT1-11P_01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Busabout_-_Custom_Coaches_315_bodied_Isuzu_LT1-11P_01.jpg)
In 1935 Stanley Hillsdon founded Cycle Components Manufacturing Company (CCMC) in
Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
, having been involved in manufacture of bicycles since 1911. In 1946 the company won the contract to manufacture reversible seats for
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
's
tram system
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
.
[A Family Business Of Nephews]
Custom Coaches 13 October 2011
In 1955 CCMC successfully tendered to body 125 single deck
Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster
The Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster, sometimes simply known as the Leyland Worldmaster, was a mid-underfloor-engined single-decker bus or single-decker coach chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1954 and 1979.
Description
Succeeding the ...
buses for the NSW Department of Government Transport.
[ In May 1956 Jack Violet, Hillsdon's nephew by marriage, was employed as Bus Divisional Manager to oversee operations. In April 1958 CCMC bodied their first bus for a private operator, a ]Leyland Comet
The Leyland Comet was a long running badge used by Leyland for a series of trucks (and the occasional bus) intended mainly for export markets. The name lives on in India, where Ashok Leyland still uses the badge today.
First generation
The sem ...
for Rowes Bus Service.
Apart from six MAN SL200
The MAN SL200 was a transit bus manufactured by MAN between 1973 and 1988, and was based on the first generation German VöV-Standard-Bus body design. More than 5500 units were built of the standard left-hand drive version. There were also severa ...
and SG192s bodied for ACTION
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
in 1982/82 as part of a contracted included when Smithfield Bus & Coach Works was purchased and 19 Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...
K112TR coaches bodied for the State Rail Authority
The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003.
History
The ''Transport Authorities Ac ...
in 1985/86, CCMC built bodies exclusively for private operators after the completion of the Leyland Worldmaster contract for the next 37 years.["Bus Fleet" ''Australian Bus Panorama'' April 1999 issue 14/5 page 44]
Custom Coaches Manufacturing Company
In 1962 control of CCMC passed from Hillsdon to Violet.[ At some point the business was renamed Custom Coaches Manufacturing Company, upon the suggestion of Kathleen Metcalfe, sister-in-law of Violet and niece of Hillsdon and wife of Ray Metcalfe, another employee, in order to maintain the CCMC initials. In May 1981 the Smithfield Bus & Coach Works business was purchased from the Bosnjak family. Custom Coaches concentrated on bodying buses for the private sector. In 1967 CCMC entered into an agreement with ]Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
bodybuilder WA Newnham & Sons for CCMC to provide frames and other components.["Industry News" ''Australian Bus Panorama'' March 1989 issue 4/5 page 9] CCMC also supplied components to Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
bodybuilder Watt Brothers in the 1960s and Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
's Howard Porter in the 1970s.
In 1988 CCMC purchased WA Newnham & Sons with the business renamed Newnham Custom. In 1995 a plant was opened at Arundel
Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England.
The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...
on the Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
.[ Newnham Custom closed in 2001 with production transferred to Adelaide.
In 2000 Australian Bus Manufacturing (ABM) in ]Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
was purchased. It had been formed in 1999 when a consortium of CCMC, Jim Bosnjak
Jim Bosnjak is a Croatian-Australian businessman who rose to prominence as the chairman of Westbus, Australia's largest privately owned bus operator. Since selling his Westbus stake in 2005, Bosnjak has maintained a high profile as chairman of the ...
and John Hewson
John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election.
Hewson was ...
purchased the PMC Australia business following the collapse of Clifford Corporation
Clifford Corporation was a listed Australian company that purchased several bus manufacturing businesses in the mid-1990s before collapsing in November 1998.
History
In August 1995 Clifford Corporation purchased the Ansair
Ansair was an Aust ...
. Australian Bus Manufacturing was rebranded as Custom Coaches in 2004.[
In 1998, Custom Coaches began bodying buses for the ]State Transit Authority
The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for ...
after a break of over 37 years. By April 2013 over 1,280 had been bodied for the government operator.[State Transit Authority – Sydney Buses & Newcastle](_blank)
Buses Australian Bus Fleetlists
In late 2001 Custom Care was established as a bus refurbishment operation.[
In 2002, Mark Burgess, a great-nephew of Hillsdon by marriage, became CEO of the company. He, his brother Paul and a long-term business partner, Chris Absalom, completed the purchase of the business from Jack Violet in 2005.][
In 2008 production exceeded 400 buses per year, and by 2009 the total number of buses bodied had exceeded 15,000.][ In May 2010 the Sydney plant moved to new premises in Villawood and in June 2012 the company was purchased by British bus manufacturer ]Alexander Dennis
Alexander Dennis is a British bus manufacturing company based in Larbert, Scotland. The largest bus and coach manufacturer in the United Kingdom with a 50% market share in 2019, it has manufacturing plants and partnerships in Canada, China, ...
.
Custom Coaches was placed in administration in May 2014. On 15 August 2014, the business was purchased back by Mark Burgess and Allegro Funds and the company was renamed Custom Bus. The Royal Park, South Australia
Royal Park is located in the western suburbs of Adelaide. It is home to a large Polish community, as evidenced by the establishment of St Stanislaus of Cracow Catholic Church. Other ethnic groups represented include Italian, Croatian, Bosnian, ...
plant closed down in September 2014.
Dunn ownership
In February 2018, Custom Bus was again placed in administration, resulting in the sacking of 122 staff. The following month, Dunn Group purchased Custom Bus, and in May 2018, relocated its factory to St Marys. A year later, in June 2019, Custom Bus completed its 100th bus under Dunn ownership. In September 2019, Custom Bus acquired Denning Manufacturing
Denning Manufacturing is an Australian bus manufacturer in Acacia Ridge, Brisbane, Australia. In September 2019, it was acquired by Custom Bus, but its branding and operations will be retained.
Current Operations
Denning Manufacturing was forme ...
, but the latter's branding and operations will be retained.
In February 2021 they announced the production of their first electric bus under the Custom Denning brand, the Element, which is now in production.
Products
Source:
CB20/CB30
The Custom CB20 was similar in design to a minivan, paired exclusively with the Mercedes-Benz 815DL chassis. Busabout currently has 2 examples in its fleet.
The Custom CB30 was available as both an 11m midibus and a 12.5m full sized bus. CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency, under the United S ...
has a sizeable fleet of MAN 12.220 midibuses with CB30 bodywork while Transdev Melbourne had many full size CB30s with MAN chassis.
The CB20 and CB30 ceased production around 2007 with no replacement vehicles provided.
CB50
The Custom CB50 was in production from 1999-2006, replacing the Custom CB30 and the Custom Coaches 550 and being succeeded by the Custom CB60.
There were two variants, the high floor CB50 ordered in small numbers by several operators and the low floor CB50HCL which was more
popular, with Premier Motor Service ordering 10 on Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
B7RLE
The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013.
Specifications
The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the B10BLE. In essence the B7RLE is the front section of t ...
chassis. The CB50HCL had a window line similar to the Bustech VST.
CB60
Early versions
The CB60 was produced between 1999 and 2009, succeeding the Custom Coaches 550 and being replaced by the CB80. Some of the first CB60s were produced by ABM in 1999 for Torrens Transit
Torrens Transit is an Australian bus service operator in Adelaide. It operates some services as part of the Adelaide Metro network under contract to the Government of South Australia. It is a subsidiary of Transit Systems, which is a part of the ...
on MAN NL202 chassis, followed by many other examples. ABM produced many variants, the ABM CB62A was a CB60 with modified rear with Mercedes-Benz Citaro headlights and a modified front destination board mounting. The ABM CB64A was similar but with the CB60 headlights while the ABM CB60A was similar to the standard CB60.
Custom Coaches modified the CB60 in a similar way to the ABM CB62A for State Transit Authority
The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for ...
in 1999 for their Custom Citaro vehicles (on Mercedes
Mercedes may refer to:
People
* Mercedes (name), a Spanish feminine name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or last name
Automobile-related
* Mercedes (marque), the pre-1926 brand name of German automobile m ...
O405NH CNG chassis), but with the standard
CB60 rear.
The Custom CB60 Combo was introduced after Custom Coaches dropped the ABM branding. It is the same as the ABM CB64A, but only found in articulated form.
State Transit also bought a large number of CB60 bodied Volvo B12BLE
The Volvo B12BLE is a low-entry city and suburban bus chassis launched in 2001 with a rear-mounted transverse engine. It superseded the Volvo B10BLE and is used as a base for single-decker buses in Europe and Australia.
The B12BLE features the ...
vehicles, including several articulated vehicles.
The Custom CB60 CMAX was released in 2007, first deliveries going to Busways Western Sydney on Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...
K230UB Euro 3 chassis.
(They are not referred to as CMAX in the fleetlists).
The original CB60 ended production around 2008.
Evo II
The CB60 Evo II was introduced in 2005 for State Transit on Volvo B12BLE Euro 5 chassis. The Evo II featured weight reductions compared to the original CB60 as well as new headlight styling, a slightly modified rear and minor interior changes. The CB60 Evo II is slightly taller than the original CB60.
With the introduction of the Custom CB80, the CB60 Evo II ceased production in 2009, being one of Custom's most popular bodies.
CB80
The Custom CB80 was first revealed to the public in 2009 as a demonstrator vehicle on Mercedes O500LE chassis, which visited various depots. It was supplied by Mercedes to State Transit as a replacement unit after a Mercedes O500LE CNG Custom Coaches CB60 Evo II blew up in a fire near Hillsdale. Following privatisation, the demonstrator is now M/O 4878 with Transdev John Holland Buses.
State Transit was the first operator to order the CB80, a batch of 100 on Scania K280UB chassis were delivered in 2011. All vehicles are dual door and in Transport for NSW livery.
The CB80 was designed using 3D modelling. It is still Custom's lightest bus body and has lightweight plastic ducting. Composite materials are used extensively in the bus. It also has several innovative features such as the wireless stop bells, front wheel hump design to maximise seating space and the positioning of the rear engine grilles to maximise advertising space.
Series 2
The CB80 Series 2 brought a range of improvements to the original CB80. It came with LED destination displays by default, had improved stop bells (the ones on the original CB80 were notorious for malfunctioning) and other minor differences.
The first CB80 Series 2 vehicles were delivered to State Transit in 2017 on Volvo B7RLE
The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013.
Specifications
The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the B10BLE. In essence the B7RLE is the front section of t ...
Euro 5 chassis.
The CB80 Series 2 ceased production in 2019, being replaced by the Custom Endeavour. The final CB80 was 3120 ST, a Volvo B8RLE
The Volvo B8RLE is a 7.7-litre-engined low-entry bus chassis manufactured by Volvo since 2013 for Euro VI markets. It was designed as a replacement for the B7RLE and the B9RLE. The right-hand drive version was launched in November 2014. Custom CB80 for State Transit built in April 2020.
References
External links
Bus Australia gallery
{{Australian bus manufacturers
Bus manufacturers of Australia
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1935
Australian companies established in 1935
Manufacturing companies based in Sydney
St Marys, New South Wales