The Marshall Capital (later sold as the MCV Capital) was a

single-decker bus A single-decker bus or single-decker is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term ''single-decker'' refers to a standard two- axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which ...

body built originally by

Marshall Bus Marshall Bus was an English builder of bus and coach bodies based in Cambridge. It was owned by the Marshall Group until sold in a management buyout in 2001. History Marshall Bus was established in the 1940s by David Marshall. In 1958 it bo ...

between 1996 and 2002, and later by

MCV Bus & Coach MCV Bus and Coach is an Egyptian manufacturer of bus bodies founded in 2002 when Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles bought some of the design rights of defunct English bus builder Marshall Bus."A Capital idea, the evolution of MCV" ''Buses Magaz ...

between 2002 and 2003. Initially launched on the step-entrance

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...

11.220 and then

Iveco IVECO, an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy commercial vehicles. The name IVECO first appeared in 1975 after a merger o ...

Eurorider chassis, the Capital found greater success after being launched on the low-floor

Dennis Dart SLF The Dennis Dart is a Rear-engine design, rear-engined single-decker bus, single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floo ...

chassis from 1997. Marshall also produced a related, integral midibus, known as the Marshall Minibus, between 1996 and 1998. The vast majority of Capitals – more than 800 examples – were bodied on the Dennis Dart SLF chassis. Key design features of the Capital include the double-curvature windscreen, arched top with a separately mounted

destination display A destination sign (North American English) or destination indicator/destination blind (British English) is a sign mounted on the front, side or rear of a public transport vehicle, such as a bus, tram/streetcar or light rail vehicle, that dis ...

, and peaked roof dome. Production of the Capital passed to MCV in 2002 after Marshall entered administration. In 2003, when the newly formed

TransBus International 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, E ...

decided not to supply Dart SLF chassis to MCV, the Capital was replaced by the

MCV Stirling MCV Bus and Coach is an Egyptian manufacturer of bus bodies founded in 2002 when Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles bought some of the design rights of defunct English bus builder Marshall Bus."A Capital idea, the evolution of MCV" ''Buses Magazi ...

body on MAN chassis.

Variants

Arriva North West 7672 V672DVU (8815924660)

First Hampshire & Dorset 41646 R646 TLM rear

Marshall C43

Developed from the

Marshall C37 The Marshall C37 was a step-entrance midibus body introduced in 1993 on the Dennis Dart chassis, the body was also able to be fitted to the MAN 11.220 chassis. About 140 were produced. Brighton & Hove and Oxford Bus Company purchased 20 each whil ...

, the step-entrance Marshall C43 was the first variant of the Capital to be launched, based on high-floor

11.220 chassis as with its predecessor. In total, 33 C43 Capitals were produced between 1996 and 1999, including one unregistered prototype.Marshall C43 / MAN
Bus Lists on the Web R&I Tours of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(later taken over by MTL London) took delivery of the first C43 in April 1996, and between them R&I and MTL were the largest customer for the variant, taking delivery of 24 examples up until January 1997.

Dart Buses Dart Buses was an independent bus operator in the Paisley and Renfrewshire area in the 1990s. The company is attributed with starting a bus war with the main operator of the area, Clydeside Scottish. Bus wars were common following bus deregula ...

of Paisley were the second-largest customer, ordering six C43s, including the final example to be produced in January 1999. Two C43s were purchased by Shalder of

Scalloway Scalloway ( non, Skálavágr, "bay with the large house(s)") is the largest settlement on the west coast of the Mainland, the largest island of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The village had a population of roughly 900, at the 2011 census. No ...

, and one by

Thamesdown Transport Swindon's Bus Company (formerly Thamesdown Transport) is a bus operator in England, serving Swindon and the surrounding area. Previously owned by Swindon Borough Council, in February 2017 ownership passed to the Go-Ahead Group and the operatio ...

Marshall C39

The low-floor Marshall C39, commonly referred to simply as the ''Marshall Capital'', was launched on

in 1997, with the first three examples entering service with independent operators in March 1997. Between 1997 and 2002, 846 C39 Capitals were produced,Marshall C39 Series
Bus Lists on the Web making it by far the most successful variant of the Capital and one of the most successful buses in the United Kingdom market at the turn of the millennium. The most significant customer for the C39 was

First London First London was a bus company operating services in east and west Greater London, England. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup and operated buses under contract to Transport for London. It was formed in the late 1990s through the acquisition o ...

, who purchased more than 400 for its CentreWest, Capital and

London Buslines London Buslines was a bus operator in London that operated services under contract to London Regional Transport, London Buses between July 1985 and March 1996. History London Buslines was formed to bid for bus services being put out to tender ...

fleets. After retirement from service in London, many were cascaded to other

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.MTL purchased 76 C39s for its

operations - all of which passed to

Metroline Metroline is a bus company operating services in Greater London and south Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation and operates services under contract to Transport for London. As at March 2021, the fleet consisted of 1,5 ...

in 1998 - as well as 75 for its

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

fleet. Other notable customers were

London Central London Central is a bus company operating in South London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. History London Central commenced operating on 1 April 1989 when London Buse ...

Halton Transport Halton TransportCompanies House extract company no 1994122
...

, Warrington Borough Transport and

Isle of Man Transport Isle of Man Transport ( gv, Arraghey Ellan Vannin) is an agency of Isle of Man Government that operates public transport on the Isle of Man. Isle of Man Transport operates the following services: * Bus Vannin, island-wide bus service * Isle of ...

. The final Marshall-bodied C39 entered service with First Capital in September 2002.

Marshall Minibus

An integral version of the low-floor Capital, based on Marshall's own chassis, was launched in 1996 branded as the Marshall Minibus. The Minibus was a pioneering design as one of the UK's first low-floor midibuses, although it is ultimately considered to be a general failure due to low sales – just 36 were produced – and poor reliability. The first four Minibuses entered service in August 1996 with independent operators.

London General London General is a bus company operating in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The company is named after the London General Omnibus Company, the principal ...

placed the first sizeable order, for 15 examples, delivered between September 1996 and January 1997. This was followed by a slightly larger order from CentreWest for 16 examples, which were delivered between November 1997 and July 1998.Marshall Minibus
Bus Lists on the Web The Minibus was largely superseded by the launch of the C39 Capital on Dennis' more reliable Dart SLF chassis in 1997, although the final two Minibuses were not produced until May 2001, entering service with

Avon Buses Avon Buses was a bus operator based in Prenton providing services in Merseyside and Cheshire, England. History Avon Minis, as the company was originally known, was founded in August 1981 by Larry Smith. By 1995 it had six buses and ran most ...

Marshall Euro

In 1998, an experimental version of the step-entrance C43 Capital body, known as the Marshall Euro, was launched on

Eurorider 391E chassis, which at the time had previously only been available in the United Kingdom market as a coach chassis. The Euro was much longer than other variants of the Capital, offering a seating capacity of up to 51. However, the unusual Iveco/Marshall full-size high-floor bus combination proved unsuccessful, and only three Euros were produced; one bus for Whitelaw of Stonehouse, and two as custom-built mobile treatment centres for

St John Ambulance St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...

.Marshall Euro
Bus Lists on the Web

MCV Capital

When

entered administration in late 2002,

bought the design for the C39 Capital body and production continued as the MCV Capital. However, only five MCV Capitals were produced for Warrington Borough Transport in early 2003 before

decided to cease supplying Dart SLF chassis to MCV. The Capital was succeeded by the

on MAN chassis in late 2003."A Capital idea, the evolution of MCV" ''

Buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

'' issue 702 September 2013 page 31

References

External links

{{Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV) Buses of the United Kingdom Low-floor buses Midibuses Step-entrance buses Vehicles introduced in 1996