A fine example of a classic city bus, this 1969 DAF chassis with a body built by ZABO. The history of ZABO (Zwijndrechtse Auto-Bus Onderneming) from Ridderkerk, the Netherlands, dates back to 1923. The manufacturer of city- and regional buses, which started as a bus service in the Rotterdam area, built its last complete bus in 1985. The company closed down in 2008.
From 1967 to 1971 ZABO built 44 buses for the BBA -the full name of the bus company is on the side of the bus- using DAF’s MB 200 bus chassis with an underfloor mid-engine. Typical for a ZABO bus are the polyester body parts.
The city bus is registered as a DAF MB200DO502. The letters DO mean that the engine is a Leyland O.680 diesel, an 11.1 liter 6-cylinder. Later this engine was superseded by the 11.6 liter DAF engine, called the DKDL in the MB 200 chassis. The number 502 is the wheelbase in cm.
Now let’s step inside for an interior-tour.
Welcome, city bus passenger !
Ah yes, the classic Pas 65. For the citizens aged 65 and older. Show it for discounts, especially on public services and such.
From top to bottom: Don’t talk to the driver, (a maximum of) 31 seated passengers, 52 standing passengers, 420 kg of goods, and no standing before the line.
NO EXIT. On the left, next to the mirror, is a small lever to open the doors in case of emergency. There’s also one on the outside, as you can see in the 2nd picture.
A perfect view, to all sides.
A typical DAF-dashboard from the sixties.
As spartan as a bus interior can get. The Leyland engine is laying underneath the floor hatch.
Sitting on top of the dual rear wheels.
Here’s the exit.
Some old-school rear window stickers for city- and regional buses. “…may I have some space ?”, the smiling regional bus -as it’s yellow- asks. The SVA (above the window) is a foundation that keeps classic buses and coaches on the road throughout the country. Keep up the good work !
Next: a semi-trailer bus. Previously in this series:
Thanks for the fine bus ride! Reminds me of the city buses in Innsbruck of the times. I like how airy they are. And spartan interior? With all those nicely upholstered seats? Not nowadays, in the US anyway.
In Iowa City in the early 70s, the buses still had upholstered seats. But one of the supervisors was very good at repairing them. it happened fairly often.
The upholstery is Skai, introduced in 1958 by Konrad Hornschuch AG from Germany. Some sort of fake leather, always red (in buses anyway). Used in city- and regional buses.
I remember from my childhood how your legs kind of sticked to the seats when you wore short pants on warm / hot days.
I remember that kind of upholstery on East Kent buses in the ’60s/’70s, contrasting to the nicer moquette London Transport always used. As you say, the ‘mock leather’, very like the Vinyde seats used in a lot of cars in those days, does stick like that, but at least they’re padded seats and not nasty hard plastic.
Same on Israeli buses, and before that we had… wood seats (I kid you not).
Windshield design is similar to the ones on Flxible city transit buses of the 60s and 70s.
What is the yellow box on the pole. I assume it is something to do with fare collection, but it seems out of reach for the driver.
It’s the stamp machine for the pre-paid “strippenkaart”, see below. An early automated system for public transport fare collection throughout the country, used from 1980 to 2011.
Party bus, – it has a striper post in the middle! ?
Another great post on a European model I was complete;y unfamiliar with. Interesting design – quite a bit of front and rear overhang similar to US Bluebird school buses. Looking forward to the next one. Jim.
GORGEOUS bus. Truly High-class industrial design from its time. ZABO was a fantastic company!
This was the red-colored ‘city bus’. There were also kaki- and later yellow-colored ‘county busses’. Also operated by BBA who hat at least 10 running.
I’m doing my best -at a certain moment- to restore that-one. It’ll be the only DAF-ZABO county bus of this type left…
Stay tuned 🙂
Good luck with the restoration process! And I will stay tuned…