# Plaxton Paramount

The Plaxton Paramount was a design of coach bodywork built by Plaxton. It first appeared at the 1982 British Motor Show, replacing the Supreme V and Viewmaster IV and was built until 1992, where it was replaced in its common single-deck form by the Premiere and Excalibur.

## Design
### Paramount I

Upon its launch in 1982, the Plaxton Paramount was initially available in single-deck form in two heights: the standard floor 3.2 metres (10 ft) Paramount 3200 (initially available in 8–12 metres (26–39 ft) lengths) and the high-floor 3.5 metres (11 ft) Paramount 3500 (available in 11–12 metres (36–39 ft) lengths). Structurally, the Paramount was similar its predecessor, the Supreme, utilising 25 millimetres (0.98 in) square tubing to form the frame. The bodywork was treated inside and out to resist rusting, and utilised a continuous steel panel below the windows that was Zintec-coated for corrosion protection. The front and rear panels, as well as the roof, used GRP panels as did many previous Plaxton coach ranges, and the rear end was similar to that used on the Supreme V and VI, but otherwise the styling was entirely new.
The Paramount had a squarer profile than the Supreme, cleaner lines, a flatter roof line and square-cornered side windows. The window line at over the front wheelarches sloped down to meet a large one-piece windscreen, and behind the sloped window on most bodies was a small 'feature window', uniquely designed with white lines on most bodies. The feature window was omitted on bodies shorter than 10 metres (33 ft), while some operators specified non-standard window spacing without the feature window on longer bodies.
Besides a standard specification equipped with features such as single-speed electric windscreen wipers, Aurora ducted heating systems, adjustable seating strips and a Radiomobile public address system, Plaxton marketed the Paramount in four luxury 'star' packages:
* The '1 Star' Paramount was equipped with a Radiomobile cassette stereo system, steel wheel trims, insulated roofs and lockable fuel fillers, doors and luggage lockers, also with the option for in-house exterior paintwork by Plaxton;
* The '2 Star' Paramount was equipped with reclining seats, a Blaupunkt radio, tinted side windows along with a driver's sunblind, fog lights and spotlights, an air-powered entrance door and two-speed windscreen wipers;
* The '3 Star' Paramount was equipped with an engine pre-heater manufactured by either Webasto or Eberspacher, double glazed tinted windows, a roof extractor fan, Tempo 100 heaters, interior roofs with moquette trim, a 'plug' entrance door and additional 'crew' seat by the entrance door;
* The '4 Star' Paramount was equipped with an in-built toilet, an offside continental door, and carpeted or moquetted trim to the on side panels and overhead luggage racks.

#### Paramount 4000 double-decker

In 1984, the Paramount I design was adapted by Ogle Design to create the Paramount 4000 double-decker coach, initially built on Neoplan chassis as a competititor to the Neoplan Skyliner. Paramount 4000 bodied Neoplans were equipped with a Mercedes OM403 16-litre 352 brake horsepower (262 kW) V10 engine with a choice of either maaual or ZF HP500 gearbox. The first prototype model was delivered in early 1984 to Excelsior European Motorways of Bournemouth and was valued at £122,000 (equivalent to £495,000 in 2023).
The Paramount 4000 was later offered on the Volvo B10M Tandem chassis, as well as the DAF SBR3000 and Scania K112TR chassis.

### Paramount II

The Paramount II, the first update to the original single-deck design, was launched in late 1984 for the 1985 season. Externally the mk.II incorporated only minor visual changes; gone was the black full width grille moulding above the headlights, while the small grille between the headlights and the trim around the headlights themselves changed from black to silver. Mk.II bodies on front-engined Ford R-series chassis retained the mk.I frontal treatment as the large grille was needed to ventilate the radiator. The chrome strip immediately below the side windows was also made continuous, rather than having a gap to accentuate the small feature window as on the mk.I. Internal modifications included deeper parcel racks that were capable of supporting air conditioning. A tweed like material was used to cover the interior skirt and a large part of the racks. Some important options were introduced, most notably bonded glazing, alongside the gasket glazing.
Some non-standard Paramount 3200 I bodies built on Quest 80 VM chassis had featured a low driving position, and with the launch of the mk.II this became more generally available as the Paramount 3200 LS and 3500 LS. The driver sat lower in the body so that passengers had a better view ahead, the headlights being closer to the road than usual. The Paramount 3200 LS used the two-piece 3500 windscreen, whereas the 3500 LS had a deeper two-piece windscreen unique to the type. Also new in 1985 was the Paramount 4000 RS, on mid-engined Volvo B10MT chassis. This was a 1½-deck version of the 4000, with a small lower deck saloon at the rear.
In 1986 the Paramount was made available on the Bedford VAS5 midicoach, finally allowing the Supreme range to be retired. However shortly afterwards Bedford withdrew from the bus market and only eleven VAS5 Paramounts were built. Although sometimes referred to as Paramount 3200s these bodies were lower in height, as was a one-off body on the unique ACE Puma III.

### Paramount III

The Paramount III was launched late in 1986. It introduced still stronger body structures than before and to quote a Plaxtons advert of the time "Progress is Paramount". It had bonded glazing as standard and also featured some more obvious changes to the design, notably the replacement of the original sloping and small "feature windows" with one small pentagonal window immediately behind the cab or door, with Plaxton's "castle" logo being engraved on it (though this was omitted on the shortest 8.5 metre bodies). Changes to the front end consisted of a new grille and bumper, and changes to the shape and angle of the windscreen. The rear window contained a blind like decal at the base with a castle badge in the centre. The dashboard consisted of a moulded cabinet; gone was the Formica and wood of the earlier versions. In the centre of the black finished cabinet was a large "castle" logo. Airline style locker doors were now available on the parcel racks to further give a sleek appearance like a 747. The Paramount 4000 mk.II double decker remained in production with no external changes, although in 1989 these did receive a mk.III type frontal treatment.

#### Expressliner

In March 1989, Plaxton launched the Expressliner, a variant of the Plaxton Paramount III 3500 built to National Express specification on Volvo B10M chassis. These coaches were leased through National Expressliners Ltd, a joint venture between Plaxton and National Express that intended to form a uniform fleet of Plaxton-bodied National Express coaches across the United Kingdom.
The Expressliner was equipped as standard with side-loading luggage lockers, a toilet and an on-board servery in Rapide specification, as well as a windowless, moulded plastic rear end featuring an embossed National Express 'double-N' logo, which could be replaced by a standard Paramount rear end when the coach was no longer used for National Express services. A total of 150 Paramount Expressliners were delivered to National Express coach operators before it was succeeded in 1992 by the Plaxton Premiere 350-based Expressliner II on the same Volvo B10M chassis.

#### Mini Paramount

A solitary Mini Paramount was built on a Mercedes-Benz 811D van chassis in 1988. Like its predecessor the Mini Supreme it was built at Plaxton's southern service centre at Ware rather than the main Scarborough factory. The sides and rear of the body of similar styling to the larger Paramounts, but it had a standard Mercedes-Benz van bonnet, Supreme IV headlamps and a Mini Supreme windscreen. Only one was built, as the Beaver minibus body made by Plaxton's Reeve Burgess subsidiary could be sold at a more competitive price.

## Chassis

Sales of Paramount bodies reflected changes in the UK coach market during the 1980s-90s, which was moving away from lightweight chassis to higher-specification heavyweight coaches. Whereas only around 30% of Paramount Is were the high-floor 3500 version, this rose to 34% of Paramount IIs and 55% of Paramount IIIs. The proportion of bodies built to the maximum permitted length of 12 metres also climbed steadily, from 66% of Paramount Is to 74% of Paramount IIs and 91% of Paramount IIIs. Lightweight Ford and Bedford chassis accounted for 23% of Paramount Is, but these were discontinued in 1985 and 1987 respectively leaving this segment to the mediumweight Dennis Javelin which accounted for only 11% of Paramounts from the 1988 season onwards. Rear-engined chassis were always greatly outsold by the mid-engined types, but slowly increased as a proportion of Paramount chassis from just 2% of 1983 season bodies to over 12% of the 1991 season output.
The Paramount was built on the following chassis types, listed by quantity built:

### Mini Paramount

* Mercedes-Benz 811D (1)

### Paramount 3200 and 3500

* Volvo B10M (1817)
* Leyland Tiger (1433)
* Bedford Y series (580)
* DAF MB200 and MB230 (335)
* Dennis Javelin (225)
* DAF SB2005, SB2300 and SB2305 (221)
* Scania K series (171)
* Ford R-Series (140)
* Leyland Royal Tiger (37)
* Leyland Leopard (34, mostly rebodies)
* Dennis Dorchester (33)
* DAF SB3000 (26)
* Mercedes-Benz O303 (26)
* Quest 80 VM (17)
* Volvo B58 (15, all rebodies)
* Bedford VAS5 (11)
* Ward Dalesman (6)
* ACE Puma IV (4)
* ACE Puma III (1)

### Paramount 4000

* Auwärter (Neoplan) N722/3 (30)
* DAF SBR3000 (24)
* Volvo B10MT (23)
* Scania K series (22)

## Gallery

* Paramount 3200 I on short-wheelbase Bedford YMP chassis
* Paramount 3200 I on DAF MB200 chassis
* Paramount 3200 I Express on Leyland Tiger chassis, showing the wider two-piece Express door. This coach also has non-standard sliding-ventilator windows.
* Paramount 3200 I on Quest 80 VM chassis. This vehicle has a low driving position and non-standard window spacing which omits the small feature window.
* Paramount 3500 I on Leyland Tiger chassis
* Paramount 3200 II on Volvo B10M chassis. The minor revisions to the grille distinguished the mk.II from the mk.I, although some mk.IIs (mainly front-engined Fords) retained the original style.
* Paramount 3200 II LS on Volvo B10M chassis.
* Paramount 3500 II on Volvo B10M chassis
* Paramount 3500 II on Mercedes-Benz O303 chassis. This one-off body used a Mercedes-Benz front, whereas subsequent O303 Paramount III bodies had standard Plaxton fronts.
* Paramount 4000 II on Neoplan N722/3 chassis
* Paramount 4000 II RS on a Volvo B10MT. The rear-saloon version of the Paramount 4000 was for mid-engined chassis.
* Paramount 3200 III on Volvo B10M chassis
* Paramount 3200 III LS on Dennis Javelin chassis