Ford R-Series Bus

Manufacturer	Ford Thames
design type	service bus
Production period	1964-1986
engine	Ford R 2.8 liter diesel engine
power	128 hp / 140 hp / 150 hp
length	10 or 11 m

 The Ford Thames R-Series was an bus chassis manufactured by Ford Thames in Dagenham , England. This was manufactured from 1964 to 1986.

History

The Ford R-Series was an omnibus chassis. A number of components, including the engines, were shared with the Ford D-Series truck . The engine was here, however, still mounted in front of the front axle, in order to arrange the passenger entry directly next to the driver's place. The vehicles were 10 (model R192 , later R1014 ) and 11 meters ( R226 , later R1114 ) long and equipped with a 140 hp diesel engine.The series has been continuously developed. In the last variants R1015 and R1115 , the turbo diesel engine was tilted to the side in order to save height. These variants were built from 1978.

The R-series was primarily a competitor of various Bedford - chassis , which were very successful at that time. Both chassis were a cheaper alternative to the designs of the then market leader Leyland Motors and later by Volvo and DAF . A synchronized transmission was standard, but some vehicles were later fitted with Allison automatic transmissions to reduce the driver's workload in urban areas. The superstructures came from Duple Coachbuilders  and Plaxton and also Willowbrook .

The R-Series enjoyed great popularity in Britain in the 1970s. However, following the conservative government's election in 1979, local public transport subsidies were cut sharply and demand eased. The last vehicles were produced in 1986. Buses with front engines are now rarely used in Europe because of the increased demands on accessibility that can only be met with low-floor buses .

 Some buses of the R-series are still used in passenger transport, such. For example, in Malta , other vehicles have been converted into motorhomes and car transporters.An important user of the buses built on this chassis was Jersey Motor Transport . In the 1970s and 1980s, the fleet consisted almost entirely of buses of the R-series. The reason was the willingness of the manufacturer and various bodybuilders to deliver non-standard shorter and narrower buses that met local size constraints. Most of these buses had the narrow structure of the Duple Dominant , earlier constructions also came from Willowbrook, later from Wadham Stringer. Jersey Motor Transport also owned several larger and longer buses with Plaxton bodies, originally built for operators in northeast England. These buses needed special operating instructions and could be on jerseyonly be used on some routes. Because of the operating restrictions, they were sold after a few years.

The South Korean manufacturer Hyundai built from 1969 to 1976, the Ford R192 with the 125 hp and R182 from 1973 to 1977 with the 150 hp diesel engine by badge engineering . After that, Hyundai replaced it with its own developed Hyundai HD160 / HD170 series .