Mid-mounted engine, standard toilet? Volvo buses: too high-end, less than 100 units were produced in three years!

Speaking of buses, many people will think of well-known domestic brands such as Yutong, King Long, and Ankai. Indeed, in today's bus industry, these brands occupy the main market share. If you observe carefully, you will find that the products of these brands are almost all rear-mounted and rear-drive layouts, that is, the engine is at the rear and drives the vehicle forward by transmitting power to the rear axle.

If you were told that the engine of a bus is in the middle of the vehicle, and that the bus also has a high-end bathroom with a flushable toilet, would you be very interested?

This car comes from the Swedish high-end car brand Volvo. Although Volvo is very famous in the field of cars, it is actually also an industry leader in the field of buses. This bus is code-named B10M. Although it bears the Volvo logo, it is actually jointly built by Volvo and Swiss body manufacturer Ramseier & Jenzer***. It is available in two specifications: 10 meters and 12 meters.

Although it was officially mass-produced in 1986, it looks no different from other ordinary buses in appearance, but if you see the perspective view of the body of this car, it is guaranteed to subvert your understanding of buses. . This B10M magically arranges the engine in the middle of the vehicle, in front of the rear axle. Although this design increases the difficulty of vehicle manufacturing and maintenance, and squeezes out the luggage space of the vehicle chassis, the benefit is also very obvious, that is, the center of gravity of the vehicle Lower, with better handling.

This design allows both the front and rear wheels to have good grip even in the Nordic snow with long winters. The spare space at the rear of the car where the engine was originally installed cannot be wasted. The imaginative Volvo designers designed a sunken bathroom in this area. There is a flush toilet in it, which solves the problem of the need for passengers in the car to go to the bathroom. The issue of pulling over. Such a design even gives it the potential to be converted into a luxury RV.

Unfortunately, because the design is too rare, many bus operators do not accept this model. Therefore, in the few years from the beginning of production to the end of production, only 80 of the B10M series were produced. There are many, and they are basically all in Europe.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.