The Dennis Dragon, also sold as the Dennis Condor, was a three-axle step-entrance double-decker bus built by Dennis in England between 1982 and 1999. It was developed for Hong Kong and almost all of the production went there, although some buses were later brought back to Britain.
Dennis Dragon at a glance
| Maker | Dennis, Guildford |
|---|---|
| Production | 1982–1999 |
| Type | three-axle step-entrance double-decker |
| Names | Dragon for Kowloon Motor Bus, Condor for China Motor Bus |
| Developed from | two-axle Dennis Dominator |
| Axles | two separate wheels in front of the rear axle |
| Engines | Gardner or Cummins |
| Gearboxes | Voith or ZF |
| Bodywork | Duple Metsec on all but four of five prototypes |
| KMB total | over 1,300 buses |
| Last withdrawals | 2015–2017 |
Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Dragon, which also covers the Condor.
History of the Dennis Dragon
Nine dragons
The Dragon was originally built for Kowloon Motor Bus, and its name came from the district of Kowloon, which translates into English as ‘nine dragons’. Buses of the same type ordered by China Motor Bus were called Condor instead, to keep the two customers apart. Dennis had registered the Condor name back in the 1950s for a lightweight haulage chassis. Every Dragon and Condor was built for the overseas market, although some later came back to Britain.
Dominator underneath
The chassis was developed from the two-axle Dennis Dominator, with two separate wheels added in front of the rear axle to carry the extra length and weight. It was fitted with Gardner or Cummins engines coupled to a Voith or ZF gearbox; the Cummins was at first an option and gradually replaced the Gardner as standard. All but four of the five prototypes were bodied by Duple Metsec, which in Hong Kong made the type easy to pick out: most rival buses of the period, such as the Leyland Olympian, the Volvo Olympian and the Scania N113, wore Alexander bodywork.
Kowloon Motor Bus and China Motor Bus
In 1982 KMB bought three 12-metre non-air-conditioned Dragons with Alexander bodywork for evaluation, then ordered 188 Duple Metsec bodied 12-metre buses with three doors, one for boarding and two for leaving. Between 1986 and 1994 it took the first of 370 11-metre non-air-conditioned Dragons for New Territories services, fifty of them with a closed rear end that had been reserved for air-conditioning which was never fitted. All of the non-air-conditioned Dragons were withdrawn in 2012. After an 11-metre air-conditioned test bus in 1990, KMB took 765 air-conditioned Dragons up to 1999: 235 of 9.9 metres, 360 of 11 metres and 170 of 12 metres. The last examples of each length were retired between 2015 and 2017.
The Condor fleets
China Motor Bus received two 12-metre Condors for evaluation in 1982, one with Duple Metsec and one with Alexander bodywork, but the opening of the MTR Island line kept orders small: between 1989 and 1997 it bought 46 non-air-conditioned 12-metre Condors, 28 non-air-conditioned 11-metre buses and 92 air-conditioned 11-metre buses. The whole CMB fleet passed to New World First Bus when the franchise changed hands in 1998. Citybus began ordering air-conditioned Dragons in 1993, with Duple Metsec bodywork assembled by Salvador Caetano in Portugal; between 1994 and 1998 it took 80 12-metre and 40 10.3-metre buses, and in 2000 rebuilt one 10.3-metre Dragon as the world’s first three-axle double-decker air-conditioned trolleybus. Elsewhere, Stagecoach ran ten Dragons in Malawi from 1992 and twenty in Kenya from 1995 to 1996.
Design and features
- Three axles: a Dominator-derived chassis with twin wheels ahead of the rear axle for Hong Kong loadings.
- Duple Metsec bodies: the standard bodywork, distinct from the Alexander-bodied rivals around it.
- Engine choice: Gardner or Cummins diesels, the Cummins becoming standard over time.
- Long service: the last examples worked for 35 years, until 2017.
Dennis Dragon versions
- 12-metre non-air-conditioned: the original KMB and CMB buses, with three doors on the KMB batch.
- 11-metre non-air-conditioned (1986–1994): 370 for KMB’s New Territories services.
- 11-metre air-conditioned (1990–1999): the biggest KMB group, 360 buses.
- 9.9-metre and 12-metre air-conditioned: 235 and 170 buses respectively.
- Condor: the China Motor Bus name for the same chassis, later passed to New World First Bus.
- Citybus 10.3-metre: 40 short buses, one rebuilt as a trolleybus in 2000.
The Dragon grew out of the two-axle Dennis Dominator, and the later Dennis Dart covered the smaller end of the market. More are in the Dennis collection.
Video: Dennis Dragon 10.3m and 12m
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Dennis Dragon, English Wikipedia: history, fleets, production numbers
