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Plaxton Paramount
Plaxton Paramount II 4000 and 3500 coaches
Overview
Manufacturer	Plaxton
Body and chassis
Doors	1 door
Floor type	Step entrance
Chassis	Paramount 3200 and 3500: ACE Puma Bedford VAS Bedford Y series DAF MB200 & MB230 DAF SB2005 DAF SB2300 & SB2305 DAF SB3000 Dennis Dorchester Dennis Javelin Ford R-Series Leyland Leopard Leyland Royal Tiger Leyland Tiger Mercedes-Benz O303 Quest 80 VM Scania K92, K93, K112 & K113 Volvo B10M Volvo B58 Ward Dalesman Paramount 4000: Auwärter (Neoplan) N722 DAF SBR3000 Scania K112T & K113T Volvo B10MT

The Plaxton Paramount was a body of a coach It was made from 1982 to 1992 by Plaxton.

In 1986, the Paramount replaced the Supreme V and Viewmaster IV.

In 1991, the Paramount was was replaced with the Premiere and Excalibur.

Models

Plaxton Paramount I

From 1984 to 1985, Plaxton made a body of a coach called the Paramount I. Its height was 3.2 metres (10 ft)

Plaxton also made different heights of the Paramounts; the names and heights were:

the standard floor 3.2 metres (10 ft) Paramount 3200 (initially available in 8–12 metres (26–39 ft) lengths) and the high-floor 3.5 metres (11 ft) Paramount 3500 (available in 11–12 metres (36–39 ft) lengths).

Plaxton Paramount 3500

Paramount II

From 1984 to 1985, Plaxton made an improved body of a coach called the Paramount II.

The improvements were:

• The black full width grille above the headlights was removed
• The small grille between the headlights and the trim around the headlights was changed from black to silver.
• The chrome strip below the side windows went from the first window to the last window (the Paramount I chrome strip had a gap).
• The air conditioning was improved and the interior was improved.

Paramount III

From 1986 to 1992, Plaxton made an improved body of a coach called the Paramount III.

The improvements were:

• A new grille and front bumper,
• A new windscreen,
• A rear window was added in the middle of the bus,
• The interior was improved.

Expressliner

From 1982 to 1992, Plaxton made a body of a coach called the Expressliner. It was made for National Express.

The Plaxton Expressliner body was built on the Volvo B10M chassis.

The rear of the coach had the National Express moulded on, it didn't have a back window, and it had rectangular lights about the brake lights.

Mini Paramount

In 1988, Plaxton made a body of a bus called the Mini Paramount.

The Mini Paramount body was built on the Mercedes-Benz 811D van chassis.

The sides and rear of the bus looked the same as the bigger Paramounts, but it had a Mercedes-Benz van bonnet instead.

Only one was built because Plaxton wanted to sell more of its Beaver minibus body.

Chassis

Sales of Paramount bodies reflected changes in the UK coach market during the 1980s-90s, which was moving away from lightweight chassis to higher-specification heavyweight coaches. Whereas only around 30% of Paramount Is were the high-floor 3500 version, this rose to 34% of Paramount IIs and 55% of Paramount IIIs. The proportion of bodies built to the maximum permitted length of 12 metres also climbed steadily, from 66% of Paramount Is to 74% of Paramount IIs and 91% of Paramount IIIs. Lightweight Ford and Bedford chassis accounted for 23% of Paramount Is, but these were discontinued in 1985 and 1987 respectively leaving this segment to the mediumweight Dennis Javelin which accounted for only 11% of Paramounts from the 1988 season onwards. Rear-engined chassis were always greatly outsold by the mid-engined types, but slowly increased as a proportion of Paramount chassis from just 2% of 1983 season bodies to over 12% of the 1991 season output.

The Paramount was built on the following chassis types, listed by quantity built:

Mini Paramount

• Mercedes-Benz 811D (1)

Paramount 3200 and 3500

• Volvo B10M (1817)
• Leyland Tiger (1433)
• Bedford Y series (580)
• DAF MB200 and MB230 (335)
• Dennis Javelin (225)
• DAF SB2005, SB2300 and SB2305 (221)
• Scania K series (171)
• Ford R-Series (140)
• Leyland Royal Tiger (37)
• Leyland Leopard (34, mostly rebodies)
• Dennis Dorchester (33)
• DAF SB3000 (26)
• Mercedes-Benz O303 (26)
• Quest 80 VM (17)
• Volvo B58 (15, all rebodies)
• Bedford VAS5 (11)
• Ward Dalesman (6)
• ACE Puma IV (4)
• ACE Puma III (1)

Paramount 4000

• Auwärter (Neoplan) N722/3 (30)
• DAF SBR3000 (24)
• Volvo B10MT (23)
• Scania K series (22)

Body numbering

From the 1982 to 1988 build seasons, Plaxton's body numbering system used three character codes to identify the body style. The following codes were used for the Paramount:

• P1C Paramount I 3200
• P1X Paramount I 3200 Express
• H1C Paramount I 3500
• H1X Paramount I 3500 Express
• P2C Paramount II 3200
• P2X Paramount II 3200 Express
• H2C Paramount II 3500
• H2X Paramount II 3500 Express
• P3C Paramount III 3200
• P3X Paramount III 3200 Express
• H3C Paramount III 3500
• D1C Paramount 4000
• D2C Paramount II 4000 or 4000RS

The "Express" suffix identifies the variant with a wider entrance and two-piece door. Examples of H1X, H2X and P3X are rare.

Since the 1989 build season, Plaxton's body numbering system has used a letter to identify the body style. The following letters were used for the Paramount III:

• A Paramount III 3200
• B Paramount III 3500
• C Paramount 4000
• D Paramount 4000RS

Gallery

• 
  Paramount 3200 I on short-wheelbase Bedford YMP chassis
• 
  Paramount 3200 I on DAF MB200 chassis
• 
  Paramount 3200 I Express on Leyland Tiger chassis, showing the wider two-piece Express door. This coach also has non-standard sliding-ventilator windows.
• 
  Paramount 3200 I on Quest 80 VM chassis. This vehicle has a low driving position and non-standard window spacing which omits the small feature window.
• 
  Paramount 3500 I on Leyland Tiger chassis
• 
  Paramount 3200 II on Volvo B10M chassis. The minor revisions to the grille distinguished the mk.II from the mk.I, although some mk.IIs (mainly front-engined Fords) retained the original style.
• 
  Paramount 3200 II LS on Volvo B10M chassis.
• 
  Paramount 3500 II on Volvo B10M chassis
• 
  Paramount 3500 II on Mercedes-Benz O303 chassis. This one-off body used a Mercedes-Benz front, whereas subsequent O303 Paramount III bodies had standard Plaxton fronts.
• 
  Paramount 4000 II on Neoplan N722/3 chassis
• 
  Paramount 4000 II RS on a Volvo B10MT. The rear-saloon version of the Paramount 4000 was for mid-engined chassis.
• 
  Paramount 3200 III on Volvo B10M chassis
• 
  Paramount 3200 III LS on Dennis Javelin chassis
• 
  Paramount 3500 III on Volvo B10M chassis