Custom Coaches
Encyclopedia
Custom Coaches is an Australian bus manufacturing company started in 1935 in Guildford
, New South Wales
, Australia
as the Cycle Components Manufacturing Company by Stanley James Hillsdon.
who took first place in the 1926 Professional Goulburn to Sydney race. By 1927, Walter had left in order to concentrate on a car sales business, leaving Stanley working with bicycles.
The great depression of 1929 increased demand for economical transport, which included bicycles. The business flourished.
tram
system. As modes of transport and technologies changed, CCMC become a major provider of the specialist plating of metals using chrome
molybdenum
.
CCMC won numerous contracts for tubular seat frames, such as for Commonwealth Engineering
government buses.
In 1955, CCMC successfully tendered to provide the NSW Department of Government Transport with 125 single decker buses. The single deckers were known as “standees” and for the first time in Sydney, standing passengers could look out of small fixed windows above the opening windows for seated passengers. To ensure that he could fulfil the order he subcontracted work on it to Commonwealth Engineering. In May 1956, Jack Violet, Hilldon's nephew by marriage, was employed as Bus Divisional Manager to oversee operations.
buses, the factory expanded to Smithfield
. Under Violet's leadership, the business moved into the national market and opened manufacturing plants in Victoria
, Queensland
and South Australia
. By the 1980s the company was producing over 100 bus bodies annually.
In 1988 a Melbourne
coachbuilder, WA Newnham & Sons, was taken over.
In 1995, a purpose built bus manufacturing plant was established on Queensland's Gold Coast at Arundel
. In 2000 the acquisition of the Australian Bus Manufacturing Company in Adelaide
took place. The Adelaide plant is the largest bus manufacturing plant in Australia.
In late 2001, a new division of Custom was set up, Custom Care, specializing in parts, repairs, refurbishments and technical support to the entire industry, not just Custom clients.
Custom Coaches has fulfilled an order from Sydney Buses for 1,000 vehicles. The last of these received special stickers and a slightly different interior.
Numerous bus operators around Australia use Custom bodywork, including Adelaide Metro
, Sydney Buses, Busways, and Westbus. Custom Coaches bus bodies can be installed on a large number of chassis, including Dennis
, Hino
, Iveco
, Scania
, Mercedes
, Volvo
, Denning
, and MAN. In 2008, production exceeded 400 buses per year, and by 2009 the total number of buses produced had exceeded 15,000.
The company was rebranded in 2010 and relocated to Villawood, Western Sydney
.
and SB50
, the CB30
and special government buses. The CB range designates "City Buses", while the SB range are "School Buses".
On 7 October 2009, their new low floor model, the CB80, was demonstrated for the first time at the Bus NSW 2009 Bus and Coach Show. Since February 2010 the CB80 demonstrator bus has been at two of Sydney's bus operators, Busways and Shorelink, and is expected to be shown further afield. The SB50 was launched in 2010, and is built on a Hino chassis.
Guildford, New South Wales
Guildford is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Guildford is located 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Holroyd and the City of Parramatta...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
as the Cycle Components Manufacturing Company by Stanley James Hillsdon.
Origins
The origin of Custom Coaches can be traced to 1911 when Stanley James Hillsdon joined his brother Walter Hillsdon in Hillsdon Bros, builders of racing bicycles. At this time Stanley Hillsdon competed in bicycle racing, finishing third in the 1921 Goulburn to Sydney race. Hillsdon Bros became a leader in manufacturing high-speed bicycles and they were a strong favourite amongst professional cyclists, including Ken RossKen Ross
Kenneth Douglas "Ken" Ross was an Australian rules footballer who played for Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League ....
who took first place in the 1926 Professional Goulburn to Sydney race. By 1927, Walter had left in order to concentrate on a car sales business, leaving Stanley working with bicycles.
The great depression of 1929 increased demand for economical transport, which included bicycles. The business flourished.
Cycle Components Manufacturing Company
In 1935, Stanley and his wife opened a shop in a garage adjacent to their home in Marion Street, Guildford and began Cycle Components Manufacturing Company ((CCMC). This specialised in the new technology of tube bending and manufactured bicycles, children’s toys, and desks, as well as tubular seats and furniture. In 1946 the company won the contract to manufacture reversible seats for Sydney'sSydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
system. As modes of transport and technologies changed, CCMC become a major provider of the specialist plating of metals using chrome
Chrome plating
Chrome plating, often referred to simply as chrome, is a technique of electroplating a thin layer of chromium onto a metal object. The chromed layer can be decorative, provide corrosion resistance, ease cleaning procedures, or increase surface hardness.-Process:A component to be chrome plated will...
molybdenum
Molybdenum
Molybdenum , is a Group 6 chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The name is from Neo-Latin Molybdaenum, from Ancient Greek , meaning lead, itself proposed as a loanword from Anatolian Luvian and Lydian languages, since its ores were confused with lead ores...
.
CCMC won numerous contracts for tubular seat frames, such as for Commonwealth Engineering
Commonwealth Engineering
The Commonwealth Engineering Company Limited is the brand name of a former Australian Engineering Company that designed Locomotives, Electrical Multiple Units , Diesel Multiple Units and Trams.-History:...
government buses.
In 1955, CCMC successfully tendered to provide the NSW Department of Government Transport with 125 single decker buses. The single deckers were known as “standees” and for the first time in Sydney, standing passengers could look out of small fixed windows above the opening windows for seated passengers. To ensure that he could fulfil the order he subcontracted work on it to Commonwealth Engineering. In May 1956, Jack Violet, Hilldon's nephew by marriage, was employed as Bus Divisional Manager to oversee operations.
Custom Coaches Manufacturing Company
In 1962 Hillsdon passed control of CCMC to Violet, a nephew by marriage. As a result of successful contracts in the 1970s, including one to build the bodies for an order of NSW DGT Leyland Royal Tiger WorldmasterLeyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster
The Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster, sometimes simply known as the Leyland Worldmaster, was a mid-underfloor-engined bus chassis built by Leyland between 1954 and 1979.-Description:...
buses, the factory expanded to Smithfield
Smithfield, New South Wales
* Highest Recorded Temperature: 44.2 °C* Lowest Recorded Temperature: -2.3 °C* Warmest Month: January* Coolest Month: July* Highest Precipitation: February* Lowest Precipitation: August-Demographics:...
. Under Violet's leadership, the business moved into the national market and opened manufacturing plants in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. By the 1980s the company was producing over 100 bus bodies annually.
In 1988 a Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
coachbuilder, WA Newnham & Sons, was taken over.
In 1995, a purpose built bus manufacturing plant was established on Queensland's Gold Coast at Arundel
Arundel
Arundel is a market town and civil parish in the South Downs of West Sussex in the south of England. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Worthing east southeast, Littlehampton to the south and Bognor Regis to...
. In 2000 the acquisition of the Australian Bus Manufacturing Company in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
took place. The Adelaide plant is the largest bus manufacturing plant in Australia.
In late 2001, a new division of Custom was set up, Custom Care, specializing in parts, repairs, refurbishments and technical support to the entire industry, not just Custom clients.
The present
In 2002, Mark Burgess, a great nephew of Hillsdon by marriage, became the CEO of Custom Coaches. Shortly after, in 2005, Burgess, along with his brother Paul and long time business partner Chris Absalom, completed the purchase of Custom Coaches from the Violet family.Custom Coaches has fulfilled an order from Sydney Buses for 1,000 vehicles. The last of these received special stickers and a slightly different interior.
Numerous bus operators around Australia use Custom bodywork, including Adelaide Metro
Adelaide Metro
Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of the South Australian capital of Adelaide and the brand name of the Public Transport Division of the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. It is an intermodal system with services provided by bus, tram or commuter rail throughout the...
, Sydney Buses, Busways, and Westbus. Custom Coaches bus bodies can be installed on a large number of chassis, including Dennis
Dennis
Dennis or Denis is either the first or last name of a male derived from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius meaning "servant of Dionysus", the Thracian god of wine, which is ultimately derived from the Greek Dios combined with Nysos or Nysa , where the young god was raised.Alternative forms and...
, Hino
Hino Motors
-External links:Global* * * Overseas offices****.*.***.*.* - Philippines**...
, Iveco
Iveco
Iveco, an acronym for Industrial Vehicle Corporation, originally an alliance of European commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Fiat , Unic and Magirus. Iveco is now an Italian truck, bus, and diesel engine manufacturer, based in Turin...
, Scania
Scania
Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...
, Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
, Volvo
Volvo
AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...
, Denning
Denning
Denning can be:...a placename, as in the following* Denning , a crater located on the far side of the Moon* Denning * Denning, New York, an American town in Ulster County, New York...
, and MAN. In 2008, production exceeded 400 buses per year, and by 2009 the total number of buses produced had exceeded 15,000.
The company was rebranded in 2010 and relocated to Villawood, Western Sydney
Western Sydney
Western Sydney is a major region of Sydney, Australia. It has a number of different definitions but one consistently used is the region composed of the 11 councils which until recently were all members of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils:* Auburn Council* Bankstown City Council*...
.
Products
Custom Coaches' current product line includes the New Generation models CB80Custom Coaches CB80
The Custom Coaches CB80 is new-generation bus body built by Australian company Custom Coaches and launched at the Australian Bus & Coach Show in 2009...
and SB50
Custom Coaches SB50
The Custom Coaches SB50 is a new-generation school bus body built by Australian company Custom Coaches. Like its CB80 sibling, the SB50 uses new technology in its construction.Features include:* A seating capacity up to 61...
, the CB30
Custom Coaches CB30
The Custom Coaches CB30 is a low-floor midibus body built by Australian company Custom Coaches. It seats between 30-42 seats, making it ideal for narrow streets.It won the 2000 Australasian Bus of the Show Award.-References:...
and special government buses. The CB range designates "City Buses", while the SB range are "School Buses".
On 7 October 2009, their new low floor model, the CB80, was demonstrated for the first time at the Bus NSW 2009 Bus and Coach Show. Since February 2010 the CB80 demonstrator bus has been at two of Sydney's bus operators, Busways and Shorelink, and is expected to be shown further afield. The SB50 was launched in 2010, and is built on a Hino chassis.