Plaxton

**Plaxton** was a builder of bus and coach bodies, They was founded in 1907 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England by Frederick William Plaxton.

### Founded

Plaxtons was founded in 1907 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire as a joinery workshop.

From 1908 to 1918, they were a building contractor and they built buildings in Scarborough.

After World War I they started to build automobile bodies for Rolls-Royce, Sunbeam, Daimler and Crossley chassis.

In the 1920s to 1930s, they stopped making automobile bodies and started making coach bodies.

### Henlys

In 1989, Plaxtons bought Henlys. Henlys owned 34 motor dealers, and they owned Coleman Milne who were makers of hearses and limousines.

In 1989, the company was renamed from Plaxtons to Plaxton Group plc.

In May 1992, the Plaxton Group plc had replaced all of their management and renamed the company from Plaxton Group plc to Henlys Group.

In 1995, Henlys Group purchased bus body maker Northern Counties for £10 million. Buses were still made with the Plaxton name.

In August 2000, Henlys and Mayflower Corporation joined together, Mayflower Corporation were owners of Dennis and Alexander (Dennis made buses, fire engines, lorries and dustcarts. Alexander made bodies of buses and coaches). The joint venture was called TransBus International. Buses were made with the Transbus and Plaxton name.

### Independent again

On 31 March 2004, TransBus International went into administration.

On 17 May 2004, the Plaxton business was sold in a management buyout and they started trading as Plaxton Limited.

In May 2005, Plaxton announced its return to the bus market and they announced a new body of a bus called the Centro, the Centro was built on the VDL SB120 chassis, VDL SB200 chassis, MAN 14.220 chassis and Volvo B7RLE chassis.

### Purchase by Alexander Dennis

In May 2007, Plaxton was purchased by Alexander Dennis. Buses were made with the Alexander Dennis name and Coaches were made with the Plaxton name.

In March 2024, Alexander Dennis announced it was going to start making battery electric buses, they also announced that Plaxton coaches would stop being made until 2026.

#### Coaches

, the following models are being made:
- Cheetah XL minicoach
- Elite luxury coach
- Elite _i_ inter-deck coach
- Leopard entry-level coach
- Panorama double-decker coach
- Panther mid-spec coach
- Panther Cub short-wheelbase coach
- Panther LE low-entry intercity service coach

#### Buses

After the Centro, Primo and Pronto was stopped being made, Plaxton do not make any of their own buses. the Plaxton factory at Scarborough does currently make the Enviro200 MMC and Enviro400 MMC buses for parent company Alexander Dennis.

### Past

- Type A
- D Series
- Type F
- Type J
- K Series
- L Series
- M Series
- Q2
- Envoy
- Venturer I, II, III
- Crusader Mk I, Mk II
- Consort Mk I, Mk II, Mk III, Mk IV
- Highway – _(single deck bus)_
- Panorama
- Embassy I, II, III, IV
- Panorama I and Panorama II
- Panorama Elite, Elite Express
- Panorama Elite II, Elite Express II
- Panorama Elite III, Elite Express III
- Panorama IV (For Bedford SB and VAS)
- Derwent, Derwent II _(single deck bus)_
- Supreme I, II, III, IV, V, VI (1st version of Supreme for *Bristol LHS & Bedford PJK was to be known as Panorama Supreme)
- Viewmaster
- Bustler – _(single deck bus)_
- Paramount 3200, 3500, 4000, Mk I, Mk II, Mk III
- Plaxton Expressliner (Paramount III for National Express)
- Derwent 3000 – _(single deck bus)_
- Plaxton 321 (1989 version of the Duple 320 after takeover)
- Plaxton 425
- Verde – _for rear engined Dennis Lance, Volvo B10B and Scania N113 single-deck bus chassis_
- Excalibur – _for Volvo B10M and Volvo B12T chassis_
- Premiere – _for Volvo B10M, Scania K93, Dennis Javelin chassis and others_
- Prima – _for Volvo B7R, DAF SB3000 chassis_
- Prestige – _left hand drive coach sold to France and Italy on Volvo B12R_
- Prestige – _single-deck bus based on Northern Counties design_
- President – _double-deck bus_
- Beaver / Beaver 2 / Beaver 3 – _minibus for Mercedes-Benz van chassis_
- Pointer / Pointer 2 – _for Dennis Dart/Dart SLF and Volvo B6/B6LE chassis_
- Paragon – for Volvo B10M, B12M and B12B, Dennis R-Series, MAN 18.310 and Irisbus EuroRider
- Profile (10m and 12m) – for Volvo B7R and Dennis Javelin chassis
- Primo / Primo 2 – _midibus based on the frame of Enterprise Bus Plasma_
- Centro – _for VDL SB120, VDL SB200, MAN 12.240, MAN 14.220 and Volvo B7RLE single-deck bus chassis_
- Cheetah – for Mercedes-Benz Vario van chassis

## References

- Brown, Stewart J (2007). _Plaxton 100 Years: A Centenary of Innovation 1907 – 2007_. Ian Allan.
- Townsin, Alan (Editor) (1982). _Plaxtons The Great British Coach Builders_. Transport Publishing Company.

## Other websites

- Plaxton Body Styles 1946–1960 (John Kaye SCT'61)
- Plaxton Body Styles 1960–1975 – Lightweights (John Kaye SCT'61)
- Plaxton Body Styles 1960–1975 – Heavyweights (John Kaye SCT'61)

## Infobox (company)

- **logo**: Plaxton logo.svg
- **type**: Subsidiary
- **owner**: NFI Group
- **parent**: Alexander Dennis
- **industry**: Transportation, manufacturing
- **products**: Bus and coach bodies
- **num employees**: 750