Alexander Dennis Pointer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pointer is a successful single-deck bus manufactured during the 1990s by Plaxton but now built by Alexander Dennis.
With the launch of the Dennis Dart, in 1989, Plaxton's subsidiary Reeve Burgess made the Pointer body, a boxy affair, but with a very modern appearance, on the short 8.5m chassis. Launched in 1991, at 2.3 m wide, this efficient bus proved a huge hit with the big transport operators, and they sold in big numbers in London. The modular nature of both chassis and body meant for various permutations in length, with 8.5 m, 9.0 m and 9.8 m variants being manufactured. The Pointer became the most successful midibus body. In 1994, Thamesway (now First Essex Buses) bought the 1000th Plaxton Pointer-bodied Dennis Dart (it was also the 2000th Dennis Dart), registered M934 TEV.
The introduction of the Super Low Floor version of the Dennis Dart in 1995, the Dart SLF, saw the Pointer body redesigned at a 2.4 m width, with a step-free entrance, giving easy access for the disabled. The first Dart SLF to appear was also a Thamesway-owned bus - registered N701CPU. Not long after, the body received an all-new front end design, and alterations to the rest of the body - the Pointer 2 was born, and has proved to be just as successful. This was also available in a range of lengths to suit individual needs - 9.3 m, 10.1 m, 10.7 m, 11.3 m "Super Pointer Dart" (SPD for short), and after 3 years of production, the 8.8 m "Mini Pointer Dart" (MPD).
In 1998, the Mayflower Group, owner of Alexander's Coachbuilders, took over Dennis. The future of the Pointer at that time appeared uncertain as it was thought the Dart may be solely bodied by Alexander. As a result, Plaxton built two Pointer bodies on the Volvo B6BLE chassis known as Bus 2000, but the project was scrapped when Mayflower also purchased Plaxton, forming TransBus International. With the collapse of that concern in 2004 and subsequent restructuring by the administrators, Plaxton and Alexander Dennis were sold to different parties. As Pointer production had been transferred to the former Alexander plant at Falkirk, it became an Alexander Dennis product.
Certain design features of the scrapped Bus 2000 project have since been used on other designs, most notably the Alexander Dennis Enviro 300 and Enviro 500. Plaxton, once again an independent company, has also signalled its return to the bus market by developing the Centro on VDL Bus and MAN chassis to join its Primo low-floor minibus in competition with the Pointer.
The Alexander Dennis Pointer remains in production in 2006 and continues to remain popular in the UK, securing large orders from Stagecoach, First Group and Arriva.
On 20 March 2006 Alexander Dennis announced that the replacement for the Pointer Dart, the Enviro200Dart, would be launched in June 2006. Along with the Alexander Dennis ALX300 and ALX400, however, it is likely, that the Pointer will remain in production for as long as orders continue to be received.
[edit] See also
Other Alexander Dennis products:
- Dart SLF
- Javelin
- R-Series
- Trident 2
- Enviro200Dart
- Enviro 300
- Enviro 400
- Enviro 500
