Jonathan Welch takes a look at a type of coach which is popular on the second hand market, especially for schools and rail replacement work, the Caetano Levante 2
What can you buy these days for £100,000, and maybe even get a few pennies of change? Depending where in the country you are, you might be able to buy a flat or a house for that. Or a fleet of new cars, maybe. If you’re reading this magazine, there’s a likelihood that, as well as the above, you might be in the market for a new coach.
Those of you who read CBW regularly will know that previous editor Richard Sharman is now the General Manager at Oxfordshire-based Bus & Coach Centre. Having worked closely together over the previous years, he knew only too well that a phone call saying ‘would you like to drive a coach?’ would always be answered with a yes, and I’m sure his offer had nothing to do with the five pages of free advertising it might generate for the growing business…
So it was that I found myself inspecting a 2017 Caetano Levante, one of a batch that Richard has in stock. The bright green livery gives away that this coach, which started its life with National Express, had spent its latter years on Flixbus work, operated by Whippet. If I’m being truly honest, I’ve never been a big fan of the Levante’s looks, though the latest version is an improvement. The previous iterations, the Levante 1 and Levante 2, I always found somewhat wide-eyed and ungainly-looking at the front, and strangely bulbous at the rear.
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