The Plaxton Pointer (originally known as the Reeve Burgess Pointer, and later as the TransBus Pointer and Alexander Dennis Pointer) 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 manufactured during the 1990s by

Reeve Burgess Reeve Burgess was a bus body manufacturer based in Pilsley, North East Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. It was a subsidiary of Plaxton from 1980 until its closure in 1991. History The original company known as Harry Reeve was founded in Bridg ...

Plaxton Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough. Founded in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton, it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. In 2019, the maker was acquired by Canadian bus manufac ...

and latterly built by

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, ...

History

With the launch of the

Dennis Dart The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined 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-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor second ...

in 1989,

launched the Pointer body on the short 8.5 metre chassis. It was initially built by its

subsidiary, before moving to Plaxton's

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

factory. Launched in 1991, at 2.3 metres wide, this proved popular with many operators, and they sold in big numbers to

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 ...

.Our History
Alexander Dennis The modular nature of both chassis and body meant for various permutations in length, with 8.5, 9.0 and 9.8 metre variants being manufactured. The Pointer became the most successful

midibus A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which are generally larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between and long. While used in many parts of the world, the mi ...

body. The Pointer was also available with

Volvo B6 The Volvo B6 was a engined midibus chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1991 and 1999. It was also available as the low-entry Volvo B6LE. History In the United Kingdom, the B6 competed in the midibus market with the Dennis Dart, and with the ...

chassis. The introduction of the Super Low Floor version of the Dennis Dart, the Dart SLF, in 1995 saw the Pointer body redesigned with a 2.4 metre width, with a step-free entrance, giving easy access for disabled people. This redesigned Pointer bodywork was also built on the

Volvo B6LE The Volvo B6 was a engined midibus chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1991 and 1999. It was also available as the low-entry Volvo B6LE. History In the United Kingdom, the B6 competed in the midibus market with the Dennis Dart, and with the ...

, one for the UK and the other 20 for Citybus of Hong Kong. The

low floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

Plaxton Pointer 1 and the Plaxton Pointer 2 have a rounded roof dome (more rounded than the step entrance Pointer) with a double-curvature windscreen. Not long after, the body received an all-new lower front end design, and alterations to the rest of the body - the Pointer 2 was born, and has proved to be just as successful. This was also available in a range of lengths to suit individual needs - 9.3 m, 10.1 m, 10.7 m, 11.3 m "Super Pointer Dart" (SPD), and after 3 years of production, the 8.8 m "Mini Pointer Dart" (MPD). The 11.3 m "Super Pointer Dart" (SPD) is considered as a full-sized

. The Pointer 2 was built almost exclusively on Dart SLF chassis, except for a single prototype − NK53 TJV, delivered to

Arriva North East Arriva North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus, which operates bus and coach services across the United K ...

− which was built on the experimental Blue Bird LFCC9 chassis. – enter registration mark in "search" to see details. In 1998, the Mayflower Group, owner of Alexander Coachbuilders, took over

Dennis Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...

. The future of the Pointer at that time appeared uncertain as it was thought the Dart may be solely bodied by Alexander. As a result,

built two Pointer bodies on the

Volvo B6BLE The Volvo B6BLE was a 5.5-litre engined low-entry midibus chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1999 and 2001, with three unfinished or unsold chassis being bodied in 2004 and 2005. History The Volvo B6BLE was presented in November 1998 as a rep ...

chassis known as Bus 2000, but the project was scrapped when Mayflower also purchased Plaxton, forming TransBus International. Certain design features of the scrapped Bus 2000 project have since been used on other designs, most notably the

Alexander Dennis Enviro300 The Alexander Dennis Enviro300 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro300) is a light-weight full-size single-decker bus that was built by Alexander Dennis and its predecessor TransBus International between 2001 and 2015. The design was the first ...

and Enviro500.

Alexander Dennis

With the collapse of TransBus in 2004 and subsequent restructuring by the

administrators Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

, Plaxton and Alexander Dennis were sold to different parties. As Pointer production had been transferred to the former Alexander plant at

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, it became an Alexander Dennis product. Plaxton, once again an independent company, signalled its return to the bus market by developing the

Centro Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil *Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Duq ...

on VDL and

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 ...

chassis in 2005 to join its Primo

low-floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...

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, th ...

in competition with the Pointer.Serious about buses
''Bus & Coach Professional'' 14 February 2006 In August 2006 Alexander Dennis launched the Enviro200 Dart as a replacement for the Pointer Dart.

Gallery

File:Penzance - Market Jew Street 401 Western National (L401VCV).jpg, Preserved

Western National Western National was a bus company operating in South West England from 1929 until the 1990s. Early history Western National Omnibus Company was founded in 1929 as a joint venture between the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the National O ...

Plaxton Pointer bodied

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

in April 2014 File:Target Travel SUI8206 (5869498409) (cropped).jpg, Target Travel Plaxton Pointer bodied

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

in June 2011 File:Arriva Guildford & West Surrey 3091 P291 FPK.JPG,

Arriva Guildford & West Surrey Arriva Guildford & West Surrey was a bus operator based in Guildford, England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva. The company operated services in West Sussex and Surrey, as part of the Arriva Southern Counties division. Services that were run were p ...

Plaxton Pointer 1 bodied Dennis Dart SLF in

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...

in July 2009 File:First Hampshire & Dorset 40784.JPG,

First Hampshire & Dorset First Hampshire & Dorset is a bus operator providing services in the counties of Hampshire and Dorset. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History First Hampshire & Dorset was created out of various different smaller companies which were merged o ...

Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied

SLF in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in September 2008

References

External links

*
Alexander Dennis Pointer product website - Web archive
{{Plaxton Pointer Full-size buses Low-floor buses Midibuses Pointer Vehicles introduced in 1991

History

Alexander Dennis

Gallery

See also

References

External links