The Optare Prisma was a single-decker bus body produced for the Mercedes-Benz O405

Mercedes-Benz O405

The Mercedes-Benz O 405 was a highly successful single-decker bus chassis built by Mercedes-Benz from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s. It was the replacement for the Mercedes-Benz O305 chassis and was widely used in Europe, Australia and Singapore....

 chassis. 121 vehicles were built, the majority were bought by Tees & District (now Arriva North East

Arriva North East

Arriva North East is a division of the transport group Arriva. It is a major provider of bus services around north east England, alongside Stagecoach North East, and Go North East...

); Grampian Regional Transport (now First Aberdeen

First Aberdeen

First Aberdeen Ltd is the main bus company serving Aberdeen, Scotland and is part of FirstGroup. It was renamed First Aberdeen Ltd in 1998, having previously operated buses in Aberdeen as Aberdeen Corporation, Grampian Regional Transport and First Grampian.-Aberdeen Corporation:Aberdeen Corporation...

); Eastern Scottish, (now First Edinburgh

First Edinburgh

First Edinburgh is a bus operator which operates in the south east and central Scotland, and was created by the merger of three companies: Lowland Scottish, Eastern Scottish and Midland Scottish to form a single company for the area and is part of First Group plc...

); Leicester Citybus (now First Leicester

First Leicester

First in Leicester is the trading name of Leicester Citybus Ltd., a bus company owned by the First Group. It runs buses in the city of Leicester, England...

); and East Yorkshire Motor Services

East Yorkshire Motor Services

East Yorkshire Motor Services is a large bus and coach operator which operates throughout Kingston upon Hull, the East Riding of Yorkshire, the North Yorkshire coast and the North York Moors. In and around Scarborough, EYMS operates as Scarborough & District Motor Services...

.

The front end of the body was built by Mercedes-Benz as standard. So the Wright Cityranger, which was the main rival body to the Prisma for the O405 chassis in the UK, is very similar in styling to the Prisma. The sides and back end of the body followed the styling of other Optare products at that time, such as the Delta

Optare Delta

The Optare Delta is a single-decker bus body produced for the DAF SB220 chassis. They were built in a factory in Leeds. They are known for their distinctive sloping front window.-Production:...

 and Vecta

Optare Vecta

The Optare Vecta is a single-decker bus body produced for the MAN 11.180/11.190 chassis. Most were built on the 11.190 variant. Only two were based on the less powerful 11.180, both being K-regs for Reading...

. The Prisma eventually outsold the 22 Wright Cityranger bodies.