Manufacturer Wright Doors 1 door or 2 doors | Production 1995–2002 Floor type Low floor | |
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Chassis Crusader:
Dennis Dart SLF
Volvo B6LE
Crusader 2:
Volvo B6BLE Engine Cummins B-series (Dennis Dart SLF)
Volvo (Volvo B6LE/Volvo B6BLE) | ||
The Wright Crusader is a single-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus from Northern Ireland on Dennis Dart SLF, Volvo B6LE and Volvo B6BLE chassis between 1995 and 2002.
Contents
First generation (1995–2000)
The Wright Crusader was introduced in 1995, replacing the Wright Handybus. Early Crusaders have tall, square-cornered or gasket side windows and a shallow roofline, similar to their predecessor. Most of them had a double-curvature windscreen with arched top as common.
Following the construction of one prototype and a demonstrator, the first production batch of Crusaders, on B6LE chassis, were delivered to Mainline in October 1995. The first Dennis Dart SLF Crusaders were delivered to London United in September 1996. Travel West Midlands were the largest operator of the first generation Crusader, taking 149 examples, all of them B6LEs; subsidiary Travel Merry Hill took delivery of a further 23 B6LE Crusaders. In all, 425 first generation Crusaders were built; 272 on Volvo B6LE chassis, and 154 on Dennis Dart SLF chassis.
Second generation (1999–2002)
The second generation Crusader, known as the Crusader 2, was introduced in 1999 on Volvo B6BLE chassis, the successor to the B6LE. In contrast to early first generation Crusaders, all Crusader 2s have shallower windows with a deeper panel above, bringing them in line with other Wrightbus designs like the Endurance and Pathfinder; some of the later built first generation Crusaders shared this characteristic however, making the two designs indistinguishable except for the different chassis. It retained its double-curvature windscreen with its arched top.
The first Crusaders 2s were delivered to Mainline in April 1999; the delivery included one rebodied B6LE with prototype Crusader 2 bodywork, as well as nine newly built Crusader 2s. FirstGroup were the largest customer for the Crusader 2. The last Crusader 2 was delivered to First Western National in April 2002; in all, 267 Crusader 2s were built.