The Featured Bus for December 2010 is Bus 674 – a Renault PR100
Bus 674 was a Renault PR100 demonstrator bus.
Built in 1980 in Lyon, France by Renault Vehicules Industriels, the bus was a demonstrator for the Singapore Bus Service and was first displayed at the 1980 International Motor Show in Birmingham. For the next four years it was a demonstrator in the UK before being stored in Lyon.
Mack Australia took ownership of the bus and upgraded it to PR100.2 standards and made various body changes.
It was registered as ZIR 888 from 4-15 March 1985 but was never put into service by ACTION. It was then evaluated by MTT Perth before returning to ACTION in July 1985 and was registered ZIB 672. It was re-registered as ZIB 674 on 11 February 1986 and on 25 June 1986, ACTION purchased the vehicle.
Further changes to the vehicle were made by ACTION –
- its original passenger seating was replaced with Saydair Metro moulded seats (with Holdsworth fabric), as used in the Renault PR100.3s;
- in February 1988 a Gulton flip-dot destination display was fitted to the bus, replacing the roller blinds installed by ACTION; this would later be changed to an Alcatel/STC Cannon display.
For a time, Bus 674 wore a special livery for the Summernats Car Festival – the first vinyl wrap livery applied at ACTION. Once this livery was removed, it was placed into a orange over blue livery, similar to the Mk2 PR100.2s.
It was withdrawn from the ACTION fleet in May 2000 and sold to Cavanagh’s of Kempsey.
In May 2014, to prevent this vehicle from being scrapped by Cavanagh’s, it was purchased by Sydney-based bus enthusiasts. In June 2019 it was again sold to another owner who intends to restore it.
More Images:
Further details:
- Bus 674 on ACT Bus Fleetwiki
- “ACTION tries out new bus” The Canberra Times, 5 July 1985
This page was last updated on 18 February 2024
