The Plaxton Cheetah is a minicoach body manufactured by Plaxton on Mercedes-Benz chassis between 1997 and 2019. Between 1997 and 2014, the Cheetah was built on Mercedes-Benz Vario chassis, with a redesigned midicoach variant called the Plaxton Cheetah XL built on Mercedes-Benz Atego chassis between 2015 and the body's discontinuation in 2019.
Launched at the Coach & Bus '97 expo in Birmingham on the 8.5 metres (28ft) Mercedes-Benz Vario 814D chassis, the Cheetah served as a replacement for Plaxton's first-generation Beaver body, and was initially marketed towards luxury minicoach operators. Retaining the headlights and the grille of the original Vario chassis cowl, the Cheetah featured a sloping one-piece curved front windscreen and a body built with a combination of aluminium and fibreglass panels, and two side lockers and a rear boot with a carrying capacity of 2.875 cubic metres (101.5cuft) or 3.63 cubic metres (128cuft) depending on seating configuration.[1] The Cheetah was launched with gasket window glazing, however from 1998 onwards, bonded double glazed windows were also able to be specified.[2]
The step-entrance interior of the Cheetah, accessible via an in-swing door behind the front axle leading to three steps up to the passenger area, featured an entirely flat floor with no wheelarch intrusion, addressing operator and passenger complaints about legroom at seats on the rear axles of minicoaches. The coach had a seating capacity of between 29 and 33, depending on legroom and luggage bay requirements,[1] and additional options included a Sutrak air conditioning unit, courier seats, television and video systems, a servery, tables, a chemical toilet and recliners.[2] Updates for the Cheetah in 2000 included new overhead luggage racks and floor covering also fitted to the Paragon and Panther full-size coaches, as well as larger luggage bay door handles and easier access to the battery compartment.[3]
Cheetahs could also be configured as public service minibuses, with a full-sized destination display capable of being fitted to the roof.[4]
Cheetah 2
The facelifted Cheetah 2 was launched in 2007 on the 815D variant of the Vario chassis. The facelift removed the Vario headlights and grille and replaced it with a more streamlined Plaxton design, including an unbroken central curve from the front windscreen to the bottom of the grille.[citation needed]
With Mercedes-Benz discontinuing the Vario chassis in September 2013, the final Cheetah 2 was delivered to Perryman's Buses of Berwick-upon-Tweed in July 2014.[5]
Following the discontinuation of the Vario, the Cheetah was redesigned and relaunched as the Cheetah XL on the Euro VI-compliant 9tMercedes-Benz Ategorigid truck chassis in 2015. Constructed with a stainless steel frame and designed as a midicoach with a more powerful Mercedes-Benz OM934 engine, the 'XL' moniker denotes it as a larger vehicle compared to the original Cheetah, capable of carrying between 33 and 36 seated passengers depending on configuration. As a result of having an underfloor-mounted engine, the Cheetah XL has a flat front and rear resembling larger Plaxton coaches such as the Leopard, but retains design elements from the Atego such as a separate driver's door and part of the front cab including windscreen wiper housings. The centrally-mounted Mercedes-Benz three-point star badge also functioned as an air intake for the front windscreen demister.[6][7]
Internally, the Cheetah XL retained the in-swing door behind the rear axle compared to other Atego coach designs, albeit requiring five steps up to reach the passenger area compared to the original Cheetah's three. Due to the body being mounted higher above the Atego chassis as opposed to directly on the chassis, the Cheetah XL had a doubled luggage capacity of 8 cubic metres (280cuft) accessible via a boot and two nearside luggage lockers. Standard interior features included reading lights and air conditioning, a drop-down TV screen, an AM/FM radio with CD player, a PA system and driver and courier microphones, with additional options for a chemical toilet and a servery.[6][7]
Plaxton announced in October 2019 that they had decided to discontinue the Cheetah XL in favour of the full-size Leopard and Panther coaches as a result of poor sales, with the Cheetah XL unable to meet the same high sales figures as the original Cheetah and Cheetah 2.[8]
1 2 Jones, Stuart (14 April 2015). "Plaxton Cheetah XL". Bus & Coach Buyer. Peterborough. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
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