The Optare CityPacer was a

minibus A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, ...

body manufactured by

Optare Switch Mobility (originally called Optare) is an English bus manufacturer based in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Indian company Ashok Leyland. The company would be responsible for the EV operations of the group with ...

from 1985 to 1992. Launched in November 1985, it was fitted to the Volkswagen LT55 chassis. A total of 294 were manufactured, with

London Regional Transport London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operatio ...

purchasing 52. Its prominent feature was its large one-piece front windscreen, with large triangular quarterlights giving the impression that it wrapped around the sides of the body. Primarily built for the British market, two were built in

left hand drive Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...

configuration for an operator in the Netherlands. The CityPacer was supplemented but not replaced by the StarRider, based on the Mercedes-Benz 811D chassis. Both were replaced by the integral

Optare MetroRider The Optare MetroRider was a midibus manufactured by Optare between 1989 and 2000. History Optare based the original design on the MCW Metrorider after it bought the rights from Metro Cammell Weymann after the latter decided to cease production ...

, which had been a competing design from

Metro Cammell Weymann Metro Cammell Weymann Ltd. (MCW) was once a major contributor in transportation manufacturing in the UK and Europe. It was established in 1932 by Metro-Cammell's bus bodybuilding division and Weymann Motor Bodies to produce bus bodies. M ...

before Optare bought the rights to the design.Optare takes Metrorider
''Commercial Motor'' 3 August 1989

References

External links

Optare CityPacer flickr images
{{Optare timeline CityPacer Vehicles introduced in 1985 Buses of the United Kingdom Minibuses