East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 bodies and carriage

Carriage

A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...

s founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

In 1994 the company expanded in to new premises and commenced a programme of development that resulted in a range of single and double deck buses which was the primary source of income for the company.

On August 17, 2007 the company went into administration, but was saved and bought out by the Darwen Group

Darwen Group

The Darwen Group was a bus manufacturer located in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company originated from the purchase of East Lancashire Coachbuilders who went into administration in August 2007...

 the next day. It is thought that the problem was a direct consequence of changing to the Euro 4 chassis, with a shortage of Scania chassis being a factor. After the purchase, the Darwen Group rebranded the company as Darwen East Lancs

Darwen East Lancs

Darwen East Lancs was the name used by the Darwen Group for its bus manufacturing construction arm.-Background:East Lancs was originally the shortened name of East Lancashire Coachbuilders, founded in 1934 in Blackburn...

.

In 2008 Jamesstan Investments, an investment company controlled by the Darwen Group purchased another bus manufacturer Optare

Optare

Optare plc is a bus manufacturer and importer based in Leeds and Blackburn, UK. The company operates from three main business units, Bus Manufacturing, Coach Sales and Unitec....

. Later, in June 2008, a reverse takeover

Reverse takeover

A reverse takeover or reverse merger is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public...

 was performed, with the Darwen name disappearing in favour of Optare's. This brings East Lancs name into the Optare Group, now providing an expanded range of vehicles.

Past

East Lancs has had many different styles of bodywork. They had a tradition of using misspelt product names which continues until the Esteem and Olympus series.

Older past bodies

• Greenway
  East Lancs Greenway
  The East Lancs Greenway, or National Greenway, is a type of bus which is rebuilt by East Lancashire Coachbuilders from a Leyland National single-deck bus.-History:...
  
  
• EL2000
  East Lancs EL2000
  The East Lancs EL2000 is a type of single-deck bus body built on a wide variety of chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.-Chassis:Many different chassis types, both new and secondhand, were fitted with EL2000 bodywork...
  
   predecessor to the Flyte
  East Lancs Flyte
  The East Lancs Flyte is a type of bus body built on several different chassis types by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.-Chassis:Chassis types on which the Flyte was built include:* Scania L113CRL* Scania K112CRB and K113CRB...
  
  
• Cityzen
  East Lancs Cityzen
  The East Lancs Cityzen was a double-decker bus body built on the Scania N113 chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders between 1995 and 2000. The name started East Lancs' long tradition of using 'misspelt' product names.-History:...
  
   predecessor to the OmniDekka
  Scania OmniDekka
  The Scania OmniDekka is a double-decker bus built for sale in the UK...
  
  
• Pyoneer
  East Lancs Pyoneer
  The East Lancs Pyoneer is a type of double-decker bus body built on the Volvo Olympian, Dennis Arrow and Volvo B10M by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. The name continues the pattern of using 'misspelt' product names, started by the Cityzen.-History:...
  
   predecessor to the Lolyne
  East Lancs Lolyne
  The East Lancs Lolyne is a type of double-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It is the double-deck version of the Spryte. It continued the long line of 'misspelt' names which continued until the Scania OmniDekka. It was built on the Dennis Trident 2 chassis.Later on in its life...
  
  

Lolyne and Spryte series

In the early 1990s, East Lancs created a new style of bus body. Like most East Lancs buses, this body style didn't have a definite name and was named by its chassis as follows:

Double-Decker

• Lolyne
  East Lancs Lolyne
  The East Lancs Lolyne is a type of double-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It is the double-deck version of the Spryte. It continued the long line of 'misspelt' names which continued until the Scania OmniDekka. It was built on the Dennis Trident 2 chassis.Later on in its life...
  
   for Dennis Trident
  Dennis Trident 2
  Dennis Trident 2 is a 2-axle low-floor double-decker bus chassis originally built by Dennis in the United Kingdom, which was unveiled in 1997 and replaced the Dennis Arrow...
  
  
• Vyking
  East Lancs Vyking
  The East Lancs Vyking is a type of double-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It is the double-deck version of the Spryte. It continued the long line of 'misspelt' names which continued until the Scania OmniDekka...
  
   for Volvo B7TL
  Volvo B7TL
  Volvo B7TL is a low-floor double-decker bus which was launched in 1999 and replaced the 2-axle version of Volvo Olympian...
  
  
• Lowlander
  East Lancs Lowlander
  The East Lancs Lowlander was the type of double-decker bus planned by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It would have been the double-deck version of the Spryte. It was going to be the name of the body built on the DAF/VDL DB250 chassis, along with the similar Vyking and East Lancs Lolyne on the Volvo...
  
   for DAF/VDL DB250
  VDL DB250
  The VDL DB250 is a double-decker bus sold in the UK through VDL Bus International's UK dealer Arriva Bus & Coach. A small number of DB250s have also been exported to Istanbul, Turkey.-DB250:...
  
  
• Nordic
  East Lancs Nordic
  The East Lancs Nordic is a type of double-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It is built on tri-axle 12 metre Volvo B7L and later tri-axle Volvo B9TL chassis, and have around 73 seats....
  
   for 3-axle Volvo B7L
  Volvo B7L
  Volvo B7L was a low floor citybus chassis with a rear engine mounted vertically on the left of the rear overhang, it was built as a replacement for the Volvo B10L...
  
  /B9TL
  Volvo B9TL
  The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo Buses since 2002. It superseded the older Volvo B10TL and the Volvo B7TL.-Chassis:...
  
  

Single-Decker

• Spryte
  East Lancs Spryte
  The East Lancs Spryte is a single-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It was designed to body the Dennis Dart chassis, but a handful had been built on others, for example, the Volvo B6...
  
   for Dennis Dart
  Dennis Dart
  The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....
  
   and Volvo
  Volvo Buses
  Volvo Buses is a subsidiary and a business area of the Swedish vehicle maker Volvo, which became an independent division in 1968. It is based in Göteborg....
  
   B6BLE chassis
• Flyte
  East Lancs Flyte
  The East Lancs Flyte is a type of bus body built on several different chassis types by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.-Chassis:Chassis types on which the Flyte was built include:* Scania L113CRL* Scania K112CRB and K113CRB...
  
   for longer step-entrance and high-floor buses.

Myllennium series

In 2001, a new body was launched. Again, the product didn't have a definite name, it varied according to the chassis.

Double-Decker

• Myllennium Lolyne
  East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne
  The East Lancs Myllennium Lolyne is a type of bus body built on the Dennis Trident 2 chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.-History:The Myllennium Lolyne superseded the East Lancs Lolyne. The Lolyne was also the East Lancs body for the Dennis Trident 2, but in 2000, was given a facelift with...
  
   for Dennis Trident
• Myllennium Vyking
  East Lancs Myllennium Vyking
  The East Lancs Myllennium Vyking is a type of bus body built on the Volvo B7TL chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.-History:The Myllennium Vyking superseded the East Lancs Vyking. The Vyking was also the East Lancs body for the Volvo B7TL, but in 2000, was given a facelift with East Lancs'...
  
   for Volvo B7TL
• Myllennium Lowlander
  East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander
  The East Lancs Myllennium Lowlander is the type of bus body built on the DAF/VDL DB250 chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.-History:The Myllennium Lowlander superseded the East Lancs Lowlander. The Lowlander was also the East Lancs body for the DAF DB250, but in 2000, was given a facelift with...
  
   for DAF/VDL DB250LF
• Nordic
  East Lancs Nordic
  The East Lancs Nordic is a type of double-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It is built on tri-axle 12 metre Volvo B7L and later tri-axle Volvo B9TL chassis, and have around 73 seats....
  
   for 3-axle Volvo B7L/Volvo B9TL

Single-Decker

• Myllennium
  East Lancs Myllennium
  The East Lancs Myllennium is a type of bus body built on MAN, Volvo, DAF/VDL and Alexander Dennis chassis. It was built as a single and double deck body, with double deck bodies having slightly different names .-Single decker:...
  
   for DAF SB220
  DAF SB220
  The DAF SB220 is a city bus chassis produced by DAF Bus International in the 1980s and 1990s.It has been superseded by the DAF/VDL SB200 and SB250.-United Kingdom :*Optare Delta*Ikarus Citibus...
  
  , MAN 14.220, Scania N94UB and Alexander Dennis Dart
• Hyline, a high-floor variant of the standard Myllennium single-decker body but used to re-body older chassis

Until bought by Darwen

The generation until East Lancs went into administration continues the tradition of misspelt names but each has a different name and does not vary on the chassis.

Scania series

This series are the last surviving variants of the myllennium series. They are now part of their own series. These have the standard body but with Scania own front styling.

Single-Decker

• OmniTown
  Scania OmniTown
  The Scania OmniTown was a bus body sold in the United Kingdom. It utilised the Scania N94UB chassis , with East Lancashire Coachbuilders bodywork. It is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the OmniTown chassis or the Dennis Dart chassis...
  
   for Scania N94UB chassis

Double-Decker

• OmniDekka
  Scania OmniDekka
  The Scania OmniDekka is a double-decker bus built for sale in the UK...
  
   for Scania N94UD/N230UD/N270UD
  Scania N-series
  Scania N-series is a series of city bus with straight-up, transversely mounted Euro IV/Euro V engine at the rear.It is available as N230UB, N270UB as well as the N230UD and N270UD...
  
   chassis

Esteem and Olympus series

The Esteem was launched early in 2006. The Olympus was launched at the Euro Bus Expo 2006 and its lower dash is the same as the Esteem. The Visionaire launched in summer 2007 with Arriva's

Arriva

Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...

 Original London Sightseeing Tour.

Single-Decker

• Esteem
  Optare Esteem
  The Optare Esteem is a single-deck bus body. It has been built on Scania N94UB, Scania N230UB, Volvo B7RLE, MAN 12.240, Dennis Dart SLF, Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart and Alexander Dennis Enviro300 chassis.The Esteem was launched by East Lancashire Coachbuilders...
  
   for Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart, MAN 12.240, Scania N94UB and Alexander Dennis Enviro300 chassis

Double-Decker

• Olympus
  Optare Olympus
  The Optare Olympus is a double-decker bus built by Optare...
  
   for Alexander Dennis Enviro400, VDL DB250
  VDL DB250
  The VDL DB250 is a double-decker bus sold in the UK through VDL Bus International's UK dealer Arriva Bus & Coach. A small number of DB250s have also been exported to Istanbul, Turkey.-DB250:...
  
  , Volvo B9TL
  Volvo B9TL
  The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo Buses since 2002. It superseded the older Volvo B10TL and the Volvo B7TL.-Chassis:...
  
   and Scania N230UD
  Scania N-series
  Scania N-series is a series of city bus with straight-up, transversely mounted Euro IV/Euro V engine at the rear.It is available as N230UB, N270UB as well as the N230UD and N270UD...
  
   chassis
• Visionaire open-top body for Volvo B9TL chassis

Production of these buses continued under Darwen

Darwen Group

The Darwen Group was a bus manufacturer located in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company originated from the purchase of East Lancashire Coachbuilders who went into administration in August 2007...

 ownership.

Kinetec series

The Kinetec series was launched at the Euro Bus Expo 2006. They are designed as low-floor bodies for MAN chassis. They have the Esteem/Olympus body but with MAN's own Lion's City design front and rear.

Single-Decker

• Kinetec
  East Lancs Kinetec
  The East Lancs Kinetec is a type of bus body for MAN chassis. Both variants were launched at Euro Bus Expo 2006.-Kinetec :The standard Kinetec is a single decker body that appears to have been influenced by the Optare Sigma body in styling and construction. Unlike the Sigma though it is of low...
  
  

Double-Decker

• Kinetec+

East Lancs subsidiaries

East Lancs also ran sub-divisions of the company, in addition to the production of buses:

• British City Bus
  British City Bus
  British City Bus was the parent company of the English bus manufacturer, East Lancashire Coachbuilders, which was based in Blackburn. After going into administration in August 2007, the company was bought by the Darwen Group....
  
  
• East Lancs Overseas
  East Lancs Overseas
  East Lancs Overseas was a subsidiary of the English bus manufacturer East Lancashire Coachbuilders, which was based in Blackburn. East Lancs Overseas was the part of East Lancs in charge of taking orders and exporting buses outside of the UK. After going into administration, the company was bought...
  
   - The export of East Lancs buses
• NW Bus & Coach Repairs - A bus and coach repairs business in the North West of England