TL = transverse low-floor (Volvo's original DD offering was a short-wheelbase B7L, whose overhang and minimum length were too long for most UK operators)Windy wrote:VOLVO:
The following are model types, which were desginated by numbers.
B55 Ailsa = Front engined double deck chassis
B57 = Front engined
B58 = Mid-mounted underfloor engine
B59 = Rear mounted underfloor engine
These numbers have a "B" prefix, I assume it stands for "bus", but I'm not entirely sure on that.
10 = "10 litre" motor (effectively 9.6L)
12 = 12 litre motor
7 = 7 litre motor
6 = 6 litre motor
These suffixes signify details as to where the engine is located, and other extra details.
M = Mid mounted underfloor engine (B6M)
R/B = Rear mounted underfloor engine (B10B, B10R)
L = rear underfloor engine vertically mounted, low floor chassis (B7L, B10L)
LE = low entry (up to rear axle, or thereabout) (eg. B10BLE, B6LE, B7RLE)
A = articulated (eg. B10MA, B7LA)
SE = special edition (?) (eg. B10MSE)
TL = double deck, vertically mounted rear engine (B10TL, B7TL)
FA = not sure (eg. B6FA)
FA (UF) = mid mounted engine (eg. B6FA (UF))
F = Front-engined (the 'third-world' option, popular in Brazil)Windy wrote:SCANIA:
Note: MOST Scania chassii have rear mounted engines, there are very few mid mounted underfloor examples)
The prefix applies to how the engine is mounted.
L = Vertically mounted engine, tilted 30 degrees to the left (not sure how it is tilted as such)
K = Vertically mounted engine
N = vertically mounted engine, horizontally opposed (east-west mounted)
I'm sure there are others, so please help.
UA is the articulated front end, the 'marriage point' being just fore of the rear axle (in the UA, that includes the entire tractor, articulation and the front half of the tail).Windy wrote:These are the digits which signify the engine capacity, and follow immediately after the prefix.
9 = 9 litre engine (from 1st to 4th series)
11 = 11 litre engine (from 1st to 3rd series)
12 = 12 litre engine (from 4th series)
The following digits, which follow the engine capacity indicate the series
1 = 1st series
2 = 2nd series
3 = 3rd series
4 = 4th series
The suffixes inidicate the chassis type, and other extra details.
CRB = standard/city floor height with stepped entry (1st to 3rd series)
CRL = low floor chassis (1st to 3rd series)
ARB = standard floor height articulated chassis (1st to 3rd series)
ARL = low floor articulated chassis (1st to 3rd series)
TRB = extended chassis (1st to 3rd series)
UB = low floor chassis (4th series)
UA = low floor articulated (4th series)
IB = "intercity" height chassis with stepped entry (4th series)
EB = touring chassis? (4th series)
Ok, now the examples.
K94IB = vertically mounted, 9 litre motor, 4th series chassis, intercity floor chassis
N113ARB = horizontally opposed vertically mounted 11 litre motor, articulated standard/city floor chassis
L113TRBL = vertically mounted 11 litre motor tilted 30 degrees to the left on an extended chassis
I'll be picky and fix a bit of spelling - G = Gelenkenbusse (and, it has been suggested, explains why the sandgropers call their bendies 'linc' buses).Windy wrote:MERCEDES:
Most of the prefixes and suffixes are in German, which make it a bit tough, but I'll take a stab.
Suffix:
O = Omnibussen (Bus) (Yet it doesn't explain why the coaches also had an "O" prefix, so maybe I'm wrong)
In minibus chassii, it signifies that it has airbag suspension. This could possibly be the same for the heavy duty chassii.
Pre O.500 chassis:
OH = rear engined Brazilian built chassis
OC = mid engined Brazilian built chassis
OF = front engined Brazilian built chassis
Numerical:
Most of the numbers are model numbers which were designated to a chassis, with no real meaning.
305 = Early cityfloor chassis
405 = successor to the 305
400 = Brazilian built chassis
500 = successor to the 405
309 = front engined minibus (like an 814D)
302 = early coach
303 = successor to the 302
404 = successor to the 303
Brazilian chassii:
The first two digits refer to the Gross Vehicle Mass.
The last two digits of the 4 digit number refer to the brake horsepower, divided by 10.
1316 = 160 bhp, 13 tonnes, GVM
1622 = 220 bhp, 16 tonnes, GVM
Suffixes:
N = Niederflurbusse ("Low floor bus" with a vertically mounted engine and stepped entry)
N^2 (N-squared) = Niederflurbusse ("Low floor bus" with a vertically mounted engine, and stepless entry all the way)
NH = Niederflurbus-Hybrid (Front section of an "N" chassis mated with a non low floor chassis with a horizontally mounted engine for a low entry chassis, but not low floor)
G = Glenkebusse ("Bending bus"/Articulated chassis).
LE = Low entry chassis with a horizontally mounted motor (O.500 chassis only)
LF = Low floor chassis with a vertically mounted motor (O.500 chassis only)
OK, now for some examples.
OF1417 = front engined bus with a 170bhp motor.
OC1621 = mid-engined bus with a 210bhp motor.
OH1622 = rear engined bus with a 220bhp motor.
O.405NH = front section of an O.405N^2 chassis mated to the rear section of an O.405 chassis.
O.305G = articulated O.305.
The three digit numbers in the SL/NL series are as follows:Windy wrote:M.A.N:
I do not know what the numbers mean for the SL and NL series chassii are, but the translation of the SL and NL are as follows:
SL = Stadtlinenbusse ("City-line bus")
NL = Niederflulinenbusse ("Low floor bus")
12- = Nominal engine power in horsepower, divided by 10 (e.g. NL232 is supposed to have a 230hp donk)
--3 = Series number.
Mind you, the above is all up the spout: series numbers were only formally introduced for Series 3 (late 1990s), while power ratings were (until Series 3) only nominal, with some models having more than one power option.
In addition, other prefixes are:
SG = Stadtlinen Gelenkenbusse (City Line Articulated Bus)
NG = Niederflur Gelenkenbusse (Low-floor Articulated Bus)
NM = Niederflur Midibusse (Low-floor Midibus - Europe only)
SGG = Stadtlinen Doppelgelenkenbusse (Double-articulated Bus - Europe only)
NGG = Niederflur Doppelgelenkenbusse (Low-floor Double-articulated Bus - Europe only)
See previous post re FOCL (front-engined bus).Windy wrote:For the "numbers only" (for want of a better description), they are as follows:
Before the decimal point = the gross vehicle mass in tonnes
After the decimal point = ideally, the output of the motor in bhp.
UOCL = Underfloor chassis
HOCL = rear engined chassis
So, a 16.240 UOCL is a heavy duty chassis of 16 tonnes GVM and of an output of 240bhp.
Feel free to comment, or to castigate my butchering of the German language.