Mercedes-Benz Bus History - Daimler

interior compartment was to provide space for 41 seated and 61
standing passengers.
The members of this committee represented some 70 percent of the
German fleet of regular-service urban buses – a powerful argument for
the Association’s demands and the reason why the O 305 had to put
up with certain modifications shortly before its production startup.
At the time of the launch in 1967, the fathers of the concept would
never have thought it possible that more than 16,000 units of the new
O 305 urban bus would have come off the assembly lines by the time
its career came to an end in 1985. Quite on the contrary, at the 1967
Frankfurt Motor Show, not only the new Mercedes-Benz bus but also
its competitors from Büssing and Magirus were critically reviewed.
Soon, the mocking reference to the “container on wheels” was passed
around. Many contemporary witnesses felt that the new standardized
regular-service bus with its rational rectangular shape was too drastic
a break with the customary design that dated back to the 1950s and
featured familiar elements such as chrome trim and chubby
proportions.
But there was method in this apparent madness: the local public
transportation operations had come under double pressure even in
those days. They had to cut costs and at the same time improve the
attractiveness of local public transportation, which was faced with
growing competition from the ever more easily affordable passenger
car. Passengers were to be attracted by the low floor with convenient
entry, by high ride comfort afforded by air suspension and by an
unmarred panoramic view through generously dimensioned windows.
Costs had come under scrutiny mainly in three respects: the
standardized regular-service urban bus was to cut not only the vehicle
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