Dennis Javelin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dennis Javelin

The name Dennis Javelin refers to a chassis for coaches that has been manufactured by the British manufacturer Dennis Brothers since 1987. Production continues to this day under the company name Alexander Dennis .

background

The Dennis Dorchester , designed as a heavy touring coach, could not establish itself on the market. Only 67 buses were built between 1983 and 1988. The Dorchester was created as a competitor to the Tiger , because Leyland initially only wanted to deliver this bus with its own engine, but not with a Gardner diesel engine as requested by the customers . Despite the failure, Dennis obviously saw market opportunities for heavy touring coaches weighing over 16 tons and developed the Javelin. So far, over 2500 buses have been produced. Although the bus was supposed to be replaced by the R series, buses of this type are still being produced, albeit in small numbers, due to orders that are still being received. Even if it did not reach the production figures of its main competitor, the Volvo B10M , the Javelin is Dennis' most successful touring coach design.

construction

The Javelin is a heavy touring coach with a gross vehicle weight of 18 t. It is offered with a length of 12 m, versions with a length of 8.5 m, 10 m and 11 m are optionally available. The bus was powered by a six-cylinder C-series diesel engine from Cummins , and a B-series engine was also available as an option. The engine is located underfloor directly in front of the rear axle, the radiator is located to the left of the engine in the direction of travel. The engines have meanwhile been replaced by the ISC and ISB series, which meet modern environmental protection regulations, with outputs of up to 300 bhp . available. A manual six-speed gearbox or an automatic five-speed gearbox, both from ZF , are used as the gearbox . Air springs are used in the chassis . The chassis has two axles. The longer versions are available as three-axle vehicles to relieve the weight of the engine on the rear axle and to reduce the rear overhang. The superstructures come or came mainly from Duple , Alexander and Plaxton. Depending on the design, they offer space for 49 to 57 passengers and have a luggage space of around 10 m³. Occasionally, multi-purpose and regular buses were also built on the chassis.

use

The bus has been sold to numerous smaller operators in the UK. The largest domestic customer, however, was the Ministry of Defense , which in 1993 procured a number of Javelins with a 40-seat Wadham Stringer body. The bus was exported to Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia.

Web links

Commons : Dennis Javelin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files