Golden Arrow Buses

[Arthur Morgan]

For those who are familiar with the older GA buses in Cape Town, have you ever wondered who manufactured these steel boxes on wheels? I'm referring to the old orange ones. I use them everyday and I can tell you that I've never been in the same bus two days in a row. But the bit that puzzles me is the fact that no two buses are the same inside. You get longer wheelbases that can accommodate more, then shorter ones, then there's the different seat designs and sizes, different flooring. It's like they were put together with whatever they had laying around without taking any measurements. Can anyone shed some light on this? I know that the later models (white in color) are MAN Lion's Explorer buses.

 

[satanboy]

yeah

 

[genetic]

[video=youtube;lSFtWy_mg9I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSFtWy_mg9I#t=310[/video]

 

[Grubscrew]

There are multiple coach builders in SA, but it is more likely that Busaf build most of the older buses.

 

[Segg]

Ja, I remember those buses from school days, proper "make do" construction

 

[biometrics]

Can't see any branding on Google image search. But I see what you mean, they all do look slightly different ...

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Yeah like Grubscrew said, they were built by BUSAF. Chassis were from Leyland and Guy Victory.

I found this site with limited info on them:
http://www.sa-transport.co.za/buses_and_coaches/w-cape/leyland_victory-ll_ga-1522_ct_kr.JPG
http://www.sa-transport.co.za/buses_and_coaches/w-cape/leyland_victory-ll_ga-1410_ct_kr.JPG

 

[Progenix Oj101]

I've got a question about these MAN GA buses. For most of December and January I traveled to and from work by bus (lekker cheap, I must say ) and I noticed the gearing seems rather odd. It takes the bus quite a while to get out of first gear (they're automatic), the speed seems to increase very slowly, and then it hits second gear with quite a kick and a fair bit more acceleration than in first. What's up with that?

 

[Arthur Morgan]

I've got a question about these MAN GA buses. For most of December and January I traveled to and from work by bus (lekker cheap, I must say ) and I noticed the gearing seems rather odd. It takes the bus quite a while to get out of first gear (they're automatic), the speed seems to increase very slowly, and then it hits second gear with quite a kick and a fair bit more acceleration than in first. What's up with that?

My guess is the 20 tonnes its trying to pull away with initially. You should take a ride in one of the older semi-auto ones. It has a serious kick when shifting up to second. A serious case of whiplash can quickly ensue if you dont anticipate it.