BREAKING: AUSTRALIAN BUS-BODY BUILDER Coach Design is to celebrate its 1000th bus-body milestone next month on 20 July at an official function in Acacia Ridge, Queensland, the company reports.
Coach Design founder Chryss Jamieson was an apprentice coach builder in 1970 after leaving school at the age of 16. After serving six years learning the trade with Brisbane City Council, he moved on to a position with a prominent Brisbane coach builder specialising in luxury five-star coaches. After gaining a huge amount of experience in luxury coach building, in 1986 the “timing was in place to follow his dreams of creating his own coach building business,” it’s stated, with his business partner, Desiree Jamieson.
According to the company, it survived initially doing bus and coach repairs, spray painting and turning old coaches into mobile homes. As the demand for new bus and coaches increased in the early 1990s, Coach Design took new and innovative designs to market to take out 1992 Coach of the Show award at the prestigious Sydney Bus & Coach Show. Increased demand would see the company produce its first 4×4 off-road safari tour bus, it’s reported.
Further success in future years saw Coach Design win Coach of the Show awards at the Sydney Bus & Coach Shows five times in a row, the company states.
 |
|
Related article: Building with Brisbane stalwarts Coach Design
|
Ashley Jamieson, a part of Coach Design’s management team, says there is a lot of excitement around at the company for this 1000th bus, for sure – the latest Alpine body design.
“Our first vehicle was delivered in 1992. A lot of our staff have been working here for many years. We even have a couple of guys that started when our build number was in two digits, so for them and everyone else, too, there is a big sense of accomplishment,” he explained.
In terms of who will receive this special commemorative coach, Jamieson could reveal it is for Trevor Heise and Chris Fogg from Cooma Coaches.
“The vehicle will be painted in Cooma Livery. The base colour [is] in light grey and there are three strips down each side: yellow, red and dark grey – all clear over base. They are a fantastic-looking vehicle when they’re finished,” he said proudly.
“Job 1000 will be the 10th vehicle we’ve built for Cooma Coaches. With Trevor’s proximity to the snow the roads that the vehicles use are often salted, so we go to a lot of preventive measures to stop corrosion and rust. Things like stainless steel luggage bins. We also fit special vents on the inside to defuse the air for the climate control to stop fogging. We have commissioned a jeweller to make a special plaque to be fitted to the vehicle also,” he explained.
So what does the 1000th Coach Design bus body mean to all involved?
“One thousand vehicles is a good time to reflect on our achievements, but it is also a good chance to look into the future and think about how we can keep putting out quality vehicles with competitive prices.”