Jonckheere is a motor coach

Coach (vehicle)

A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...

 and 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...

 builder, founded in 1881 by Henri Jonckheere in Roeselare

Roeselare

Roeselare is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke....

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. Presently, the company is known as VDL Jonckheere.

History

In 1881, Henri Jonckheere began to build horse drawn carriages in the town of Beveren

Beveren

Beveren is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Beveren proper, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene....

, near Roeselare in the province of West-Flanders, Belgium. 1902 saw Jonckheere build his first "luxury automobile". In those days many, largely wooden bodies with their typical styling, were built upon several famous chassis such as Minerva and Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce Limited

Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....

.

1922 saw Henri's son and successor Joseph Jonckheere built his first bus body. Car bodies were still a large part of the production until the early 1930s when Jonckheere moved all of the production to bus and coach building, making Jonckheere the Belgian market leader. Jonckheere was also becoming a famous and well-known name throughout Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

After the second world war

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, there was a huge need for vehicles for road transport, which included of course a lot of buses and coaches. Jonckheere was able to meet quickly all new market trends. The product range also included luxury touring coaches, city and intercity buses, articulated bus

Articulated bus

An articulated bus is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usually a single-deck design, and comprises two rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint...

es but also heavy duty buses for worldwide export and several special bodies. In the 1970s, Jonckheere launched the Bermuda range that started to appear in the UK in 1977 and stayed in production until 1982.

Jonckheere celebrated its first century in 1981 with a touring coach with the appropriate name of Jubilee. The range included a low floor P599 model, regular P50 model, P99 double decker and P90 semi-decker. In 1989, Jonckheere launched the Deauville range and in 1994 came the Monaco double deck model.

1996 saw the arrival of the Mistral touring coach model (in two heights Mistral 50 and 70). The Mistral remained in production until 2007 when it was replaced by the SH series.

In 1994 Jonckheere became a part of the Berkhof Group which was subsequently acquired by VDL Groep

VDL Groep

Established in 1953, the VDL Groep is an international industrial and manufacturing company. From its head office in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, VDL supervises its subsidiaries, which have a high level of autonomy and responsibility for results....

 four years later. The official name of Jonckheere was then changed to VDL Jonckheere.

A new high-specification coach was launched in Europe. The SH-series was initially available on the rear-engined Volvo B12B

Volvo B12B

The Volvo B12B was a rear-engined coach and intercity bus chassis built by Volvo. It is built as a direct replacement of Volvo B12 in the European market and the Volvo B10B....

 chassis. The demonstration model was built to a height of 3.8m. The body was also built on the Volvo B12M, and is now offered on the Volvo B9R. Longer 14m versions have been added to the range on the Volvo B12BT and B13R chassies.

Discontinued

• Bermuda
• Jubilee
• Deauville
• Monaco
• Arrow 30, 50, 70
• Mistral 30, 50, 70

Other VDL Groep coach companies:

• VDL Berkhof
• VDL Bova
• VDL Bus Chassis