Motor Coaches and Charabancs

The coach - distinguished from the bus by its use for longer-haul and more comfortable trips - has a long and august history. Its origins lie in the charabanc, a long open-topped vehicle used to transport passengers on works outings and pleasure excursions. Over time, coaches came to be enclosed and fitted with more comfortable seating and higher-quality bodywork than the charabancs and the buses used on shorter routes. By the 1960s and 1970s on-board toilets began to be fitted, and despite a decline due to private car ownership, coach travel remains popular, with Wi-Fi, electric sockets and even video screens now built in. This colourful introduction explains the development of motor coach design and the main coach manufacturers, models and operators, offering a fascinating insight into the history of the nation's most popular vehicles.

James Taylor has been writing about cars since the 1970s and has now had around 150 books published, a number of which have been for Shire. He lives in the UK.

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