East Lancashire Coachbuilders

East Lancashire Coachbuilders Ltd.
Company typePrivate
IndustryBus building
Founded27 October 1934; 90 years ago (1934-10-27)[1]
FounderWalter Smith
DefunctMarch 1, 2010 (2010-03-01)
FateDissolved after parent company Darwen Group performed a reverse takeover
SuccessorOptare
HeadquartersBlackburn, Lancashire, England
ProductsBus bodies
WebsiteOfficial website
East Lancs Olympus, one of the last East Lancs badged products, this one run by Metroline
1987 East Lancs body on Scania K92 chassis
Lolyne run by Transdev Yellow Buses
Myllennium Vyking owned by Wilts & Dorset
Scania OmniDekka in London, run by Transdev London

East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a builder of bus bodies, They was founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.

History

On 17 August 2007, the company went into administration,[2] but was saved and bought out by the Darwen Group. The new company was called Darwen East Lancs.[2]

In 2008, Darwen East Lancs was purchased by Optare.[3][4][5]

East Lancs bodies stopped being built and the factory in Blackburn closed in 2012.[6][7][8]

Products

Past

East Lancs had many different types of bodywork. They misspelled names on pupose, replacing the letter i with a letter y.

East Lancs (1934–2007)

Single-decker
Double-decker
Single-decker

Darwen Darwen East Lancs (2007–2008)

Single-decker
Double-decker

Optare (2008–2012)

Single-decker
Double-decker

Kinetec series

The Kinetec was made in 2006. They are low-floor bodies for MAN chassis. They have the Esteem/Olympus body but with MAN's own Lion's City design front and rear.

References

  1. ↑ "EAST LANCASHIRE COACHBUILDERS LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Coach building firm buyout deal". Lancashire Telegraph. 22 August 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  3. ↑ Briggs, Ben (19 May 2008). "Blackburn-based coach builder is powering on". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  4. ↑ Briggs, Ben (27 June 2008). "Blackburn-based coach firm in £15.95m buyout". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  5. ↑ Feddy, Kevin (18 April 2010). "Darwen in £16m deal". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  6. ↑ "Gates at Blackburn finally close - new era for Optare". Optare. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  7. ↑ "Blackburn's 80-year bus manufacturing era set to end as Optare moves to Yorkshire". Lancashire Telegraph. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  8. ↑ "Ashok Leyland's UK arm shuts down 3rd plant". 20 January 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2024.

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