| The model -
the first glimpse of this new casting from Collector's Model was at the
Bus
Exhibition in August 2000, organised by 80M Bus Model Shop. The model was
released later that month in Hong Kong and a quantity of 500 were imported
into the UK, appearing in September 2000.
The bus
- as part of Citybus's expansion plans at the time of the commencement
of Network 26, fifty Dennis Dragons with Duple Metsec bodywork were ordered.
Twenty were of the 10.4 metre length whilst the remaining thirty were 12
metre (801-830). The bodies were completely knocked down (ckd) kits, which
were sent to Salvador Caetano of Porto, Portugal, where they were built.
They also featured the Alexander style front end, thus maintaining the
standard Citybus 'front-end' look. These buses were the first to carry
the now standard Citybus livery, i.e. without Network 26 branding. Delivery
commenced in August 1994. Two further batches of ten vehicles were subsequently
ordered, these being delivered in February 1996 and February/March 1997
respectively.
701, the first of the class, entered
service in September 1994 |
