busnews.com.au May 2018 ABC^33This bus certainly has ‘get up and go’
with a solid 200hp.
The one thing that was really
impressive was the power steering; at
any speed you could steer this old girl
with one hand. Even at slow speed on
full lock the pump didn’t struggle or lag –
it always applied the right pressure.
Visibility was surprisingly good. There
are plenty of mirrors for both good
internal and external viewing. The glass
area visibility was also unexpected
as sometimes the older vehicles
have limited visibility for driver and
passengers. There were no issues with
blind spots and obviously the Mark 1 is
a very good example of workmanship
and design for its era.
Internal noise was surprisingly better
than expected. Being a rear-mount
engine from a driver’s perspective, it
was good. The naughty kids sitting
down the rear might have a different
experience, though.
The 1923 has dual-circuit air brakes
with a spring-applied parking brake and,
after driving for a short time, you get
to feel how much pressure to apply to
them. Yes, it’s a bit more foot pressure
than a modern system, but it was a
really wet day during our photoshoot
and it didn’t take long to adjust and feel
super confident with them even in the
poor conditions. Going up and down
the gears with the Mercedes-Benz W3D
080 automatic transmission was super
smooth; there was no jerking and it
seemed to know what gear to be in.
The’ refurb’ of this bus has been done
impeccably. It really was a pleasure to be
in. All of the original signage and details
are amazing: the chrome bezels around
the tail-lights and the Mercedes-Benz
badging – every small detail is intact.
For many families back in the day who
didn’t own a car, they’d catch buses just
like this one every day. Driving one now,
you could easily feel like an excited kid
back in 1978 waiting with your family on
Parramatta Road to hop on board.
The museum records show that the
1923 was withdrawn from service on
January 10, 1992, with 580,00km on the
speedo. For 1978, the Mercedes guysreally had this bus down to a fine art
when it was built, giving a truly nostalgic
and impressive historical drive today.
Our nostalgia expectations were well
and truly met....It goes like a
rocket and when
you drive it, it’s
hard to imagine
it is a museum
piece.