The Ikarus C83 was the modernised version of the articulated Ikarus 283, presented in 2001 when the 280 family was already out of production. Only five were built, and apart from two they were all demonstration buses, so the type never reached series production.
Ikarus C83 at a glance
| Maker | Ikarus |
|---|---|
| Type | articulated bus, modernised Ikarus 283 |
| Presented | 2001 |
| Built | 5 |
| Demonstrators | all but two |
| First two | built in 2000 for Transmilenio, Bogotá |
| Hungarian buses | one four-door conversion at Alba Volán, two Russian demonstrators at Vértes Volán, one Rába-engined prototype at Alba Volán |
The material is thin: the Hungarian article on the C83 gives no technical data, and the production figure of five comes from the article on the Ikarus 283.
History of the Ikarus C83
The C83 belongs to the long story of the 280: in 2001 Ikarus made an attempt to modernise the articulated 283 under the name C83, but only five buses were completed. The type thus closed the line of the 280 family, whose production had run from 1973 to 2002 and which the articulated 435 and the low-floor 412 had already made obsolete.
All but two of the buses were demonstration vehicles. The first two C83s were finished in 2000 for Transmilenio in Bogotá; one was shipped out, while the other stayed in Hungary. This second bus was rebuilt by MJT as a four-door version but stood in a depot for a long time; in 2006 it went to Alba Volán, where it entered service with the registration KBK-784. Two more buses went to Vértes Volán in 2003; they had been Russian demonstration cars. A Rába-engined prototype also reached Alba Volán after MJT built it on one of the frames in 2006. A gas-powered C83 built for Bogotá carried its gas tanks on the roof ahead of the articulation, and the diesel version of the same bus, converted to right-hand doors, was photographed at the Dunaújváros bus station on the Dunaújváros–Nagyvenyim route.
Design and features
- Modernised 283: the last attempt to bring the 280 family up to date.
- Demonstrator career: built mainly to show the type to foreign operators such as Transmilenio.
- Conversion potential: one bus was rebuilt as a four-door version for Alba Volán.
- Gas and diesel versions: the Bogotá bus ran on gas with roof tanks, and a diesel version was also built.
Ikarus C83 versions
- Transmilenio buses (2000): two built for Bogotá, one gas-powered with roof tanks.
- Four-door conversion: the bus that stayed in Hungary and went to Alba Volán as KBK-784 in 2006.
- Russian demonstrators: two buses that went to Vértes Volán in 2003.
- Rába-engined prototype: built by MJT in 2006 and delivered to Alba Volán.
The C83 was the modernised Ikarus 283, itself a long member of the Ikarus 280 family. More buses are in the Ikarus collection.
Video: KNJ-598, Ikarus C83
Video by HZT965 on YouTube.
Sources
- Ikarus C83, Hungarian Wikipedia: the five buses, conversions, operators
- Ikarus 283, Hungarian Wikipedia: the C83 as the 2001 modernised version, five built
