Plaxton Primo

The Plaxton Primo was a low-floor minibus body manufactured by Plaxton on the Enterprise Bus Plasma chassis between 2005 and 2010.

Design
Launched in 2005, the Plaxton Primo body is the result of close cooperation between Enterprise Bus, the Hungarian chassis manufacturer, and Plaxton. The fully welded stainless steel integral chassis is supplied in right hand drive format as a running unit to Plaxton, with the final body assembly undertaken at their factory in Scarborough, England; the body and chassis design is also available in both single-leaf and two-door left hand drive form in Continental Europe. Much of the design of the Primo was also influenced the styling of the larger Centro.

The Plaxton Primo was originally intended to replace the Plaxton Beaver body, built on the Mercedes-Benz Vario chassis, but pressure from small operators such as Western Greyhound persuaded Plaxton to continue the Beaver, as the larger Primo could not fit down narrow roads that the Vario was suited to.

In 2008, Plaxton announced the Primo 2 with a number of modifications. The Primos in service were also modified to Mk2 form to enhance reliability.

Operators
The Primo proved particularly popular with independent bus operators in England and Wales. The first two Primos were delivered to TM Travel of Halfway, Sheffield between late 2005 and early 2006. Some of the first Primos produced were distributed via Mistral Bus & Coach, which took delivery of a total of 25 for its rental business during 2006. Six were delivered to East Yorkshire Motor Services in July 2006 for use on local services in Bridlington, while another major customer for Primos towards the end of its production was Reays of Wigton, taking delivery of fourteen Primos during 2010.