The Wright Handybus was a single-deck bus body built primarily on Dennis Dart chassis by Wrightbus between 1990 and 1995. It was also built on a small number of the higher-floor Leyland Swift chassis. It has a bolted aluminium structure with two windscreen styles.

Wright Handybus
West Midlands Travel Handybus bodied Dennis Dart in 1995 with flat driver's windscreen
Overview
ManufacturerWrightbus
Production1990 - 1995
AssemblyBallymena, Northern Ireland
Body and chassis
Doors1
Floor typeStep entrance
ChassisDennis Dart
Leyland Swift
Powertrain
EngineCummins B Series (Dennis Dart)
Capacity29 to 37 seated
Dimensions
Length8.5 m (27 ft 11 in), 9 m (29 ft 6 in) and 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
Width2.52 m (8 ft 3 in)
Height3.02 m (9 ft 11 in)
Chronology
SuccessorWright Crusader
Arriva Scotland West Handybus bodied Dennis Dart in Glasgow in April 2008 with raked driver's windscreen

The outward styling was quite plain, with a flat front. Some vehicles had a single-piece flat windscreen whilst others had two, separate, flat windscreens with the glass on the driver's side being raked back, reminiscent of some 1950s single-decker buses and the Leyland Lynx.

London Regional Transport was the first and also the largest customer, buying nearly 200 Handybus bodied Dennis Darts.[1][2][3] Go-Ahead Northern also bought over 80, and Ulsterbus and Citybus had 40 between them.[4] The Handybus was succeeded in 1995 by the Crusader.

Preservation

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A former London Regional Transport Handybus has been preserved by the London Transport Museum, Acton.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Wright midi boosts jobs Commercial Motor 1 November 1990
  2. ^ Gold Arrow remembered at LBM heritage running day Buses issue 752 November 2017 page 10
  3. ^ Dennis Dart: the first Generation Ian's Bus Stop
  4. ^ Go-Ahead goes for Handybus Commercial Motor 3 October 1991
  5. ^ Wrightbus hands over Gold Arrow Bus & Coach Buyer 24 March 2016
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