Australia is a country where buses and coaches have to be able to stand up to very challenging conditions, with the vehicles having to survive the heat and dust as they cover large expanses at a rapid pace. In Australian Buses and Coaches Tony Finneran has picked a wide assortment of photographs from his collection, aiming to depict a vehicle from each of the five states and two territories which make up Australia’s Commonwealth.
Although Australia had its own in-house bodybuilders, British and American chassis were commonly used both before, and after, World War II; with British chassis then being favoured during the 1960s. During the 1970s however the European chassis, such as Volvo and Mercedes, led the way, with only the Leyland Tiger still measuring up to them. Australia was influenced by many chassis manufacturers from Japan, Korea, USA, New Zealand and Canada. Body builders were present in every state and had a diverse product range. This book features many of the various body designs used.
The focus is mainly on buses, although many Australian-built chassis were generally used for coach operations and some of these are featured. Throughout the book Tony presents his photographs in chronological order of build date. His captions accompany the pictures, which are displayed in 2-per-page format.
186 colour photographs. 96 pages.