Mercedes-Benz bus

Buses under the brand name Mercedes-Benz have been manufactured by Daimler-Benz since 1926and by the Daimler subsidiary EvoBus since 1995. The internationally operating Daimler Buses division of Daimler AG is one of the largest manufacturers of buses , of which Mercedes-Benz is just one of the brands today.

In principle, three groups of buses can be distinguished in the model range since the 1960s: regular buses , coaches and minibuses derived from vans . The following article lists models from all three categories, but chronologically according to their appearance.

Constructions before 1945

Mercedes-Benz O 2600 (built from 1938)

The predecessor companies Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (Stuttgart and Berlin) and Benz & Cie. (Mannheim) had produced omnibuses. Daimler produced its first omnibuses from 1896, Benz from 1895. After the merger of Daimler and Benz to form Daimler-Benz in 1926, the construction of buses continued. The factories in Gaggenau ( chassis ), Sindelfingen (bodywork) and Mannheim were involved in production, and in the 1930s also Stuttgart-Untertürkheim . The commercial vehicles were designated with "L" ( truck chassis with high frame), "O" (omnibus with low / cranked frame) or "Lo" (medium-high frame for smaller trucks / delivery vans and buses) with a four-digit addition equal to the vehicle weight , e.g. B. O 4000 or Lo 2000.

At that time the engines were mostly at the front, the vehicles were designed as hooded vehicles with a clearly pronounced ("angular") hood. They were equipped with motors from our own production, the drive was on the rear axle. Diesel engines have also been installed since 1928, but buses with gasoline engines were still in the range. In addition to the two-axle vehicles, three-axle buses and chassis were also manufactured for double-decker and trolleybuses .

While at the beginning of the 1920s the bodies of all buses were often made entirely of wood, a wood-metal composite construction soon established itself . The first all-steel bodies were also available as early as the mid-1930s. At that time, all heavy vehicles were still based on separate chassis , mostly on heavy ladder frames . This largely structural separation of the chassis and body meant that bodywork companies built the bodies onto the technically ready-to-drive floor assemblies that were available ex works.

Front-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz OP 3750 ( re-bodyworked by Auwärter after the war )

As early as the early 1930s, a few cab-over- engine buses were also fitted. At Daimler-Benz, the forward control vehicles were given the somewhat misleading name "Pullman" , based on the luxurious railway wagons, which - among other things, through the addition of the letter "P" in the type designation - went up to the general implementation of forward control vehicles and the complete displacement of hooded buses stopped in the 1950s. In these early forward control vehicles, the driver's seat was placed next to the engine, which was usually positioned at the front, so the body was extended to the front. The heat and noise emanating from the engine were only dampened to a minor extent by the engine cover.

In the 1930s, before Opel and Büssing, Daimler-Benz was the market leader in buses, but in view of the large number of competitors at the time, the number of units was moderate. The success was mainly due to the rapid rise in popularity of the diesel engine , which Daimler-Benz relied on very early on.

Major buyers of Daimler-Benz buses at that time were already the Deutsche Reichsbahn and, above all, the Deutsche Reichspost , which was the largest bus operator in Germany at the time. Towards the end of the 1930s, in the course of the National Socialist armament , an increasing number of buses were delivered to the Wehrmacht . Due to the subsequent war economy during the Second World War , the model range was greatly reduced and later the remaining models were greatly simplified in order to save scarce raw materials and production capacity. In the course of the war, the bus manufacturing plants were also damaged, and the Gaggenau plant was almost completely destroyed.

Constructions from 1945 to 1967

Restart after the Second World War

Mercedes-Benz O 3500 coach

Mercedes-Benz O 3500 coach

Nostalgic Mercedes-Benz coach (O 3500) at the Viadukt Festival 2007 in Altenbeken

After the end of the Second World War, the temporarily interrupted production was resumed. The program initially only consisted of the re-produced hooded war type O 4500, which was equipped with a very simple body with cladding made of hardboard , and the floor assembly for a forward control trolleybus under the designation O 5000 T, but only in small numbers was produced. In 1948 the O 5000 was again equipped with a sheet steel body as the successor to the O 4500 and remained in the range until 1950. At Daimler-Benz, there were no longer front-control buses with factory-built bodies.

The last O 3500 and O 6600 hooded buses

→ Main article : Mercedes-Benz O 3500

→ Main article : Mercedes-Benz O 6600 H

In 1949, the first new design after the war appeared with the O 3500 , a hooded bus of medium size, which was available as a chassis for body builders as well as with bodies from the Daimler-Benz body factory in Sindelfingen for city, intercity and tourist traffic. As was common with many manufacturers at the time, this model shared large parts of the technology and construction with the similarly large truck series; at Daimler-Benz this was the L 3500 . The production numbers rose sharply; the buses were also increasingly exported (e.g. to South America).

From 1950 to 1955, the O 6600 was built as the successor to the O 5000, initially still as a hooded vehicle, from 1951 also as the first post-war model again as a front-wheel drive under the designation O 6600 H with a vertical engine in the rear of the vehicle .

Technical development in the early 1950s

In addition to fully equipped vehicles, Daimler-Benz, like its competitors, continued to deliver chassis with engines, but without a body, which bodywork companies provided with self-constructed bodies. The external appearance of buses bearing the Mercedes star can therefore deviate considerably from the design of the buses bodyworked by Daimler-Benz itself, especially in early models.

So far, the buses had been manufactured in the classic design: a heavily dimensioned chassis was provided with a body made of sheet steel. This design was very robust, but also very heavy. Self-supporting bodies offered themselves as an alternative, as they also began to establish themselves in the post-war period in car construction and were offered early on in bus construction, especially by the competitors Kässbohrer Setra and Auwärter Neoplan . However, this design had the disadvantage that it was no longer possible to sell chassis to third-party bodywork companies because there was no longer a separate chassis in the real sense. Daimler-Benz therefore decided to build buses with semi-self-supporting bodies so that floor assemblies could continue to be sold to external companies for assembly.

The Mannheim plant became the parent plant for bus production after truck production was gradually relocated from there to other production locations.

First semi-self-supporting front control arm: O 321 H

→ Main article : Mercedes-Benz O 321

Mercedes-Benz O 321 HL, coach (long version with Steib body)

Mercedes-Benz O 321 H.

The first representative of this type was the O 321 H in 1954, a medium-sized vehicle that replaced the now antiquated O 3500 . This model was also available as a city, intercity and touring bus. As with the O 6600 H, the engine was located behind an externally accessible flap in the rear of the vehicle. In 1956, a version longer by a window appeared under the name O 321 HL, which offered two additional rows of seats. The models O 321 H and HL were very successful and remained in the domestic sales program until 1964, for export they continued to be built for some time afterwards. Until 1961, the large O 6600 H was also available as a front control, later under the name O 320 H.

In addition, there were always some chassis intended for third-party bodies that were even more closely related to the truck range, such as the types OP 311 and OP 312.

Own minibus O 319

Mercedes-Benz O 319, panorama minibus

From 1956, Daimler-Benz also offered smaller bus models that were designed together with the Mercedes-Benz L 319 vans built from 1955 . As a consequence, the minibuses, some of which were already quite comfortably equipped for the time, were given the name O 319, after most buses since the 1930s and all buses since 1945 had the code letter "O" for omnibus at the beginning of the model name. As the transporters were also the minibuses either with diesel or petrol engines on offer. The range began with the 43 hp diesel engine, which was already quite weak for a vehicle of this size, while the gasoline engine initially delivered 65 hp. By the end of production, the engine output rose to 55 (diesel) or 80 hp (Otto). There were simple and upscale equipment variants, the latter partly with a raised roof. The O 319 remained in the range until 1967, when the vans also saw a generation change.

First pure public service bus O 317

→ Main article : Mercedes-Benz O 317

Mercedes-Benz O 317, Postbus (moving post office)

After coaches and public service buses had previously been based on the same chassis, the O 317 appeared in 1957 as the first pure public service bus for urban and intercity transport. This semi-self-supporting model, like the O 321 H, had an underfloor engine located below the floor of the car between the axles , actually a domain of its competitor Büssing . This design also made it possible to use the floor pan for the construction of articulated and one - and -a-half-decker buses , which was realized by external body construction companies from 1958. In addition, self-body buses and coaches were also built on the O-317 floor pan.

In 1963, the 12 m long O 317, manufactured in the Mannheim plant, was supplemented by a slightly shorter version called the O 317 K with a wheelbase of 5,850 mm and a length of 11,270 mm (from 1966 also 11,730 mm). In addition to minor changes in appearance, there was a major leap in development in 1966. The window areas were enlarged by about a third, but the car body was no longer so rounded and raised on the sides, which gave the car a much more modern look. There were different door arrangements (front, center, rear) with two, three or four-part inner folding doors that were now flush with the outside. In addition, the interior (seats) and heating (additional heat exchanger) have been improved.

During the long construction period, the power of the built-in diesel engines also increased in this model , from an initial 172 hp to 185 or 210 hp (direct injection engine OM 346 ).

The type O 317 was very successful and was also procured in large numbers by the German Federal Railroad and the German Federal Post Office for overland traffic (especially in southern Germany). It remained - most recently alongside the rear-engined bus types O 302 and the first-generation O 305 standard public service bus - on offer until 1972, and as a chassis for third-party bodies even until 1976.

The O 317 has now disappeared from European roads. In Germany, the municipal transport company of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck kept a copy of this series (status 2014). The Essener Verkehrs-AG also owns an O 317 with a one - and -a-half-decker superstructure and the Stuttgart trams own a historic articulated bus based on the O-317 with a Vetter superstructure, which is marketed under the nickname "Gottlieb Schlenkerle", as well as another identical model as a spare parts donor. Also in Luxembourg there is a copy from 1959, restored in the original colors, the BUS 34, which was previously used for the TICE (intermunicipal tram syndicate of the canton of Esch) in the south of the country until 1977 and is now the "Services des Sites et Monuments" " heard. Today this bus can be rented from the "Vereinigung BUS 34" for tours and special occasions. The Stuttgart trams have had another O-317 solo bus from 1961 in a 12-meter long-distance version as a historic vehicle since 2016.

Coach and public service bus O 302

Mercedes-Benz O-302 coach, shorter version

The O 302 rear-engined bus appeared as the successor to the O 321 H in 1964. It was primarily designed as a touring coach, but - meanwhile in a large number of variants - it was also available as an intercity bus and even a city bus with folding doors for quick passenger changes. The O 302s delivered to the Bundeswehr were given the wide four-part folding doors in the middle and a simple flap door at the front.

The O 302 remained in the range for ten years until it was replaced by the O 303 in 1974, which, however, was closely related to it both in terms of design and appearance.

Football World Cup 1974

For the 1974 World Cup in the Federal Republic of Germany, Daimler-Benz provided each national team with an O 302 touring coach with the exterior painted in the respective national colors. From a West German perspective, the behavior of the GDR was viewed as a scandal . The latter did not accept their bus because there were no hammer and compass , although part of the GDR state flag . After massive intervention by the delegation, the state symbol of the GDR was finally attached.

After the original West German team bus had existed with a bus company in Germany until the end of the 1990s, this vehicle was sold abroad a few years ago and could no longer be found. As the manufacturer wanted to present the 1974 team bus as part of the advertising campaign for the 2006 World Cup, it was decided to recreate it from another vehicle. A replica of the German team bus was presented at the IAA 2005 in Frankfurt am Main . A copy of the Pinneberger Verkehrsgesellschaft (PVG) restored a few years earlier served as the basis . This bus, which was built in 1972 and had a mileage of over 700,000 kilometers, showed massive rust perforations again. This replica has been in the new Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart since May 2006 , albeit marked as such .

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  Bus of the German national soccer team 1974 ...

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  ... but a replica

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  Logo of the 1974 World Cup

• MB O 302-13 R Üh
• Mercedes-Benz bus 302-13 R Üh
  • Year of construction / first registration : 1974
  • Mercedes-Benz OM 355 engine
  • Power 240 hp and 824 Nm torque
  • Gearbox ZF -S6-80
  • Air suspension with roll bellows
  • Luxury seating custom-made 1/40
  • Rear toilet, version color "Cognac"
  • Galley with refrigerator and coffee maker
  • Night illumination with blue light
  • two fans in the driver's seat
  • Air conditioning Westinghouse D1
  • Panoramic glazing on the side windows / roof
  • Restored in the EvoBus ServiceCenter Neu-Ulm (OMNI plus )

1967 to 1995

Cubic minibus O 309

Minibus O 309, from 1981 with new front panel with optional rear door

In 1967 the O 319 (or L 319) minibus and van, which had been in production for a good ten years, was replaced with the so-called Transporter T 2 by a new design that was in line with contemporary tastes and based on the new, medium-weight, front-wheel drive vehicles introduced in 1965. The truck of the LP 608/808 models was given a cubic design. In contrast to the designation schemes of the trucks, which vary depending on the equipment, the bus was basically given the designation O 309. As with its predecessor, petrol and diesel engines were initially available, the basic model offered space for up to 17 passengers. Initially, engines between 60 and 80 hp were available, but from 1968 engine power increased to up to 130 hp. The vehicle remained in production in this form until the late 1970s; From 1979 a wider version came on the market, which with the same length now offered four passengers on two double seats next to each other and thus a total of up to 25 people and also received a higher roof. From then on, this was the bus version that was best-sold. In 1981, all T-2 vans - including the bus - received a facelift . The front of the vehicle, which was previously made of steel, has now been clad with a wide black plastic panel. While the vans were replaced from 1986 by the successor generation, also known as the T2, with a short bonnet at the front, the bus remained on offer until 1987, when it too had to make way for a derivative of the new model called the O 609.

For the smaller (van-based) vehicles, the following types were and are used:

• Mercedes-Benz T 2 , Düsseldorf Transporter
• Harburg transporter
• Mercedes-Benz T 1 , Bremen Transporter
• Mercedes-Benz MB 100
• Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

First standard line bus and StÜLB generation: O 305 / O 307

In 1967 the Daimler-Benz prototype of the VÖV standard line bus was presented. The series production of this O 305 began in 1969. These were standardized line buses for urban and intercity traffic. Daimler-Benz became the largest manufacturer of VÖV standard buses, ahead of its competitors MAN and Magirus-Deutz as well as the initially very successful competitor Büssing , which quickly spread throughout Germany and partly also abroad. For example, the French company Heuliez also used the floor assemblies of the O 305 and O 305 G to build regular buses for the French market.

In addition to the two-axle solo cars, articulated buses were also manufactured for city traffic , but initially only by external companies. It was not until 1978 that a fully self-made articulated bus was offered with the model O 305 G, an articulated pusher bus that used the articulation angle control developed by FFG Fahrzeugwerkstätten Falkenried for the trailer in the joint. Along with the standard buses, a track bus system was also developed , which was shown for the first time in 1979 at the International Transport Exhibition (IVA) in Hamburg .

Main article see: Mercedes-Benz O 305

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  O 305, standard city bus

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  O 307, standard intercity bus (StÜLB)

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  Right-hand drive O 305 in Perth ( Australia )

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  Standard bus on the Trolleybus in Adelaide ( Australia ), 1997

Coach of the 1970s and 1980s: O 303

Mercedes-Benz O 303 in an older look with a chrome frame on the front

Mercedes-Benz O 303, touring high-decker of the last design

In 1974 the new O 303 omnibus series appeared, which was available in different versions as well as an intercity coach, as well as regular buses, combination buses for regular and occasional transport and various coaches ranging from simpler equipment to high-deck long-distance coaches, which, however, had only been running since the end the 1970s appeared on offer. With around 38,000 vehicles built, the O 303 is still the most successful touring coach today.

Main article see: Mercedes-Benz O 303

Second standard bus generation O 405

According to the new specifications of the VÖV, standard buses of the second generation under the designation O 405 (city) and O 407 (intercity) were built from 1984 . They were also available in different versions for urban and intercity transport and were able to build on the successes of the first generation. The solo city bus was called the Mercedes-Benz O 405, the articulated bus O 405 G derived from it analogous to its predecessor . The O 405 family also includes the O 407 intercity bus with luggage racks and more comfortable seating, as well as the O combi bus that was not released until 1989 408, which, in addition to being technically closely related, also unmistakably carry the design lines of the basic model.

Main article see: Mercedes-Benz O 405

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  VÖV-II standard bus O 405

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  O 407, StÜLB II regional bus of the WEB

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  O 407, StÜLB II of the BRN

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  O 405 G, articulated bus with an interurban front of the BRN

Low-floor bus from the 1990s: O 405 N

Daimler-Benz originated in 1989 first low-floor buses based on the O 405 , which then O 405 N were called. This model has been further developed and the area of ​​the seats in front of the central door has now been designed without a pedestal. The bus designated as O 405 N2 can be distinguished from the previous model by the lower window line in the front area.

Main article see: Mercedes-Benz O 405 N

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  O 405 N , low-floor bus of the first version (track bus )

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  Three-door O 405 N, used by VBD Davos ( Switzerland )

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  O 405 N, trolleybus in Poland

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  O 405 GN 1 , low-floor articulated bus (first version) for the HHA

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  O 405 N 2 , low-floor bus (second version)

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  O 405 GN 2 , low-floor articulated bus (second version) in Münster

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  Rear of an O 405 GN in Dresden

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  Mercedes-Benz O 405 GN from CVAG

O 404 coach from 1991, revised version

Touring buses from the 1990s: the types O 404 and O 340/350

In 1991 the long-standing and extremely successful touring coach model O 303 was replaced by the newly designed type O 404. In 1999 the O 404 was replaced by the O 580 Mercedes-Benz Travego .

Globetrotter Reisen, Rosengarten - Mercedes-Benz O 404 RH-K

Main article see: Mercedes-Benz O 404

1995 until today

In 1995, Daimler-Benz took over the bus division of the Kässbohrer company , which continues to be marketed under the name SETRA . The new acquisition was combined with the bus division of Daimler-Benz to form the newly founded EvoBus , which has since sold buses under both brand names (Mercedes-Benz and SETRA) and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler.

In the first half of the 1990s, the range of low-floor buses was expanded, which increasingly became the standard in city traffic. In 1998 the first public service bus appeared with its own name, the Citaro . The intercity buses were given the name Integro (modified SETRA vehicle). Smaller city buses are called Cito , the touring buses Travego and Tourismo . Vehicles based on the Vario were given the name Medio . The Conecto and Tourino models have since been added. The Travego was reissued in 2005. The Integro also got a facelift.

Also in the 1990s, natural gas vehicles that are powered by natural gas ( CNG ) instead of diesel fuel appeared in urban traffic . The gas tanks are attached to the roof of these vehicles and are clearly visible through the elevation (for example on the Irvine Citaro shown above). The Citaro also received a facelift, and the second generation came onto the market in 2011. A year later this bus appeared as a Euro 6 variant. Changes were also made to the rear. The Tourismo has also been revised. The Travego Edition 1 Euro VI has also been available since 2012. This coach is equipped with numerous safety systems (ABS, ESP, ASR, ABA 2, SPA, ART, FCG etc.). In the minibus group there is the Sprinter City, Travel, Mobility and Transfer. The Intouro, which was previously sold exclusively in Eastern Europe and Turkey, has been on the German market since 2012. This is the successor to the Conecto and is offered in the emission standard Euro 6 or. The Conecto was taken out of the range in Germany in 2007, it is now only available in Eastern Europe and Turkey. In the latter country, the Conecto was revised. In 2017 the Tourismo got a new look and was launched on the market in 2018. The Travego was discontinued in the course of this, it is still available in Turkey, but is only offered as a super high-decker (SHD).

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  O-530 Citaro articulated bus in Dresden

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  Citaro articulated as right-hand drive in the UK

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  Citaro of the üstra designed by James Irvine

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  O 345 H Conecto , intercity bus

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  O 550 Integro , station wagon

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  O 520 Cito , midibus

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  Mercedes-Benz Tourino , coach

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  Mercedes-Benz Travego 100 at the MOT exhibition 2005

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  Mercedes-Benz Medio with front engine

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  Mercedes-Benz Tourismo 1st generation as a long-distance coach

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  Mercedes-Benz Tourismo of the 2nd generation of the German Federal Police

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  Tourismo 3rd generation

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  Citaro with fuel cells

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  CapaCity articulated bus

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  Mercedes-Benz Sprinter City in the Netherlands

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  Rear of a Sprinter City at the IAA 2010

Production sites

The European production sites are in

• Mannheim (city buses)
• Neu-Ulm (mainly coaches)
• Ligny-en-Barrois (France)
• Dortmund-Brackel (subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Minibus GmbH , conversion of vans such as Sprinter into minibuses, since 2001)

There are also plants for the various brands of the internationally marketed Daimler Buses in Turkey, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, where mainly chassis are manufactured that are fitted with bus bodies for the local market by coachbuilders. At the Indian BharatBenz truck production site in Chennai , another production site for the manufacture of bus chassis (initially for 1500 units per year, later 4000 units possible) is to be set up, which is also to serve the African market.

literature

• Wolfgang H. Gebhardt: German omnibuses since 1895. 1st edition, Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-613-02140-4 .

Web links

Commons : Mercedes-Benz buses  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Mercedes Benz
• EvoBus

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jan Boyd: Vintage buses . Komet-Verlag, Cologne, pp. 54/55
2. ↑ Large city bus with a new body . In: Der Stadtverkehr , issue 2/1967, p. 49, Verlag Werner Stock, Brackwede 1967.
3. ↑ Stefan Göbel: Daimler Buses back in profit - BusStore as a new brand . In: Stadtverkehr , Issue 4/2014, pp. 31–33, EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2014, ISSN  0038-9013