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 body manufactured during the 1990s by Reeve Burgess,

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 manu ...

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, E ...

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 seco ...

in 1989,

launched the Pointer body on the short 8.5 metre chassis. It was initially built by its Reeve Burgess subsidiary, before moving to Plaxton's Scarborough 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.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 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 th ...

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 th ...

, 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 single-decker bus. The Pointer 2 was built almost exclusively on Dart SLF chassis, except for a single prototype − NK53 TJV, delivered to Arriva North East − 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. 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 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 * ...

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

chassis in 2005 to join its Primo low-floor minibus 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 Om ...

Plaxton Pointer bodied

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

in Plymouth in June 2011 File:Arriva Guildford & West Surrey 3091 P291 FPK.JPG, Arriva Guildford & West Surrey Plaxton Pointer 1 bodied Dennis Dart SLF in Dorking 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