Steyr SL 12H 210

Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG
Steyr SL12H210 of the Austrian Post , PT 12.078 , chassis number 535-13, first registration October 30, 1972
Intercity bus Steyr SL 12H 210
Manufacturer	Steyr-Daimler-Puch , ÖAF Gräf & Stift AG
design type	Intercity bus
Production period	1968-1988
axes	2
engine	Sour 4F
power	154.45 kW (210 hp)
length	11.633 m
width	2,500 m
height	3,026 m
Wheelbase	5728 mm
Turning circle	21,500 m
Seats	51
Standing room	37
Empty weight	9,640 kg
Perm. total weight	15,500 kg
Previous model	Steyr 4SHFN-OL Gräf & Stift OLH 150/53/4
successor	Steyr-Mercedes SML 14H 256 Graef & Stift GSÜH 240 M12
Similar models	Gräf & Stift OLH 150/53/4 Saurer 5 SH 4 F-OLL

The Steyr SL 12H 210 is the second standard bus in Austrian bus history after the ET 13 from 1912. The only engine variant was the Saurer 4F engine with six cylinders and 154 kW (210 PS) and 10 l displacement. In addition, an eight-speed transmission with electropneumatic splitting was installed.

customer

The first six prototypes were built in 1968 under the name Saurer 5 SH 4 F-OLL . At the post office they bore the registration number PT 11.278 - PT 11.283 and were registered for the first time from February to April 1968. The body in the roof area and the radiator grille were made much more rounded in these prototypes. The series vehicles followed on the basis of the body of the Gräf & Stift OLH 150/53/4 from 1970 to 1978. Only the radiator grille and the headlights were arranged lower. The first 42 series vehicles for the Post were delivered with the registration number PT 11.890 - PT 11.931 from May 1970 to April 1971 under the name Saurer SL 12H 210, although the Austrian Saurer works were taken over by Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG as early as 1970 . A few hundred vehicles were also bodyworked by ÖAF Gräf & Stift AG with an identical body . These were labeled with Steyr Gräf on the front and back . The ÖBB also received several hundred vehicles.

The deliveries at the post office ended in January 1978 with PT 12,841. Around 1175 buses were delivered to the post office and rail. There are also license builds and coach variants. The Post alone received a total of 949 SL12s. In the same period, around 226 vehicles were delivered to the railway (license plate approx. BB 7.774-BB 7.999). This makes the SL12 the best-selling Austrian bus of all time to this day.

The deliveries to the Austrian Post took place over the following years:

Deliveries to the Austrian Post

year	1968	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978
Extraditions	6th	33	53	94	132	117	146	138	144	13

variants

There were also the SL 10H 210 and SL 11H 210 bus variants with a length of 10 m and 11 m. There were also the coach variants SIR 11H 210 and SIR 12H 210, which were manufactured with an Ikarus body from 1969 to 1975.

Predecessor and successor

The predecessor of the SL 12H 210 was the Steyr 4SHFN-OL and the Gräf & Stift OLH 150/53/4. The successor to the SL 12H 210 was the Steyr-Mercedes SML 14H 256 and the Gräf & Stift GSL 240/60 (from 1978 GSÜH 240 M12).

Whereabouts

In Germany, no originally preserved SL12H210 is known, only a few residential buses still exist.

PT 12.630, built in 1976, is registered as a residential bus in Baden-Württemberg.
PT 12.604 made it to Schleswig-Holstein.
As of November 2017, PT 12.604 is now also in Baden-Württemberg.
Philis Welten operates with PT 12.390 (later BB 7.797) in the blue European bus livery of ÖBB Oldtimerverkehr.

A collector in Upper Austria has signed off a SL 10 H 210 (PT 12.806) in postcreme. It should be the last existing copy of the short version.

At Gschwindl Reisen there is another SL 12 H 210 Postbus (PT 12.821) painted in postcreme. The vehicle had previously been registered with ÖBB Strasseennostalgie as BB 7.777.

As a Pulling Racing Transporter tractor (ex.PT 12.756) there is also a SL 12 H 210 at teambastard.at in Austria.

In Hafnerbach (Lower Austria) there is also still a piece in use as a residential bus (ex.PT 12.710).

In contrast to the very popular and widespread successor type Steyr-Mercedes SML 14H 256, only very few other surviving examples of the Steyr SL 12H 210 are known in the Balkans outside of Austria and Germany.
One of the reasons is that when he left active service at the Post and Railroad between 1980 and 1989, the iron curtain had not yet fallen. Most of the specimens remained with local scrap dealers or were put to subordinate use.
There are only very few examples of the Steyr SL 12H 210 that continued to be used as a regular service bus after being withdrawn from the railways and post offices. This was also due to the fact that, between 1980 and 1989, regular overland traffic in Austria was still largely organized by the state.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ extinguishing - Pötschner: 90 years post bus . ISBN 3-925301-97-6
2. ↑ Erich Novak: 70 years of vehicle service on the Austrian Federal Railways . ISBN 3-9500743-0-9
3. ↑ Ing Johann Kopács. The Austrian Saurer-Werke. Volume 1 Company history 1906–2006 . ISBN 3-9501854-6-1
4. ↑ Horst Schaffer, Walter Schwarz: Post buses. New vehicles made in Austria 1947 to 1997. ISBN 978-3-200-03915-5
5. ↑ BahnBus.net: http://www.bahnbus.net/
6. ↑ my -wohnbus: http://my-wohnbus.de/category/projekt-bus/
7. ↑ BahnBus.net: http://www.bahnbus.net/
8. ↑ Retrobus eU | Rent a vintage bus & wedding van near Steyr. Retrieved January 10, 2020 .