Mercedes-Benz Bus History - Daimler

Only the broad scuff plates and trim strips of the O 302 were still
reminiscent of the 1950s. A bare sheet-metal band ran across the
front end and connected it with the sidewalls. On many O 302 units, a
broad strip or color band extended along the sides, from the front to
the rear bumper, giving the bus a well integrated appearance.
Otherwise the O 302 with its clear and cool lines carried on the design
trend that the Mercedes-Benz O 317 had established in 1958 (though
still with small side windows). But whereas the O 317 with its convex
grille looked rather grim, the O 302 with its horizontal grille and large
rectangular headlamps had a much more conciliatory mien.
Only a narrow strip now divided the windshield
The O 302 was available with plane side windows or with curved
glazing. The latter extended into the roof, thereby converting the bus
into a classic panoramic vehicle. On this version, the rear door was
adapted to the side contour by means of an additional window at the
top. The panoramic glazing had first and foremost been designed for
touring coaches but was also optionally available for the regular-
service buses with their destination indicators. In the beginning, roof
edge glazing could be had to supplement the plane side windows. The
driver’s workplace in the Mercedes-Benz O 302 was visually separated
from the passenger compartment in that the lower edges of
windshield and front door windows formed a single line that was
clearly below the passenger compartment’s window sills. In the
versions with high, curved side windows, the roof was slightly raised in
the area of the passenger compartment. The windshield now only was
divided by a narrow vertical strip.
Diversity was one of the special hallmarks of the three-meter-high bus
with its high floor: it was available with four wheelbase lengths
Daimler Communications, 70546 Stuttgart/Germany
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