Mercedes-Benz Bus History - Daimler

along the lines of the standard urban service bus. It presented its
recommendations in 1969. The following year Daimler-Benz presented
a prototype at the “Rail and Road” exhibition in Essen, and series
production of the O 307 standard rural-service bus commenced in
February 1973.
Demanding specifications
Whereas the O 302 had been designed to cater for both urban and
interurban operations, there was to be a major difference between the
standard rural-service bus and the urban bus, for in 1967 the VÖV had
specified a low floor height for urban buses to make it as easy as
possible for passengers to enter and leave the vehicle. The rural-
service bus, however, was to have a luggage compartment with a
capacity of at least 2.5 cubic meters which could only be
accommodated beneath the floor, between the axles. Moreover, with a
length of 11.7 meters the rural-service bus was to be slightly longer
than the 11-meter VÖV urban bus. Comfortable seat rows were to be
provided for roughly half of the 102 passengers. Where the cockpit
was concerned the working group followed the lead of the urban bus.
The engine output was to be in the region of 200 hp.
It was therefore clear that city and intercity operations could not be
combined in a single model series. Nonetheless Daimler-Benz did not
miss the opportunity to include its own rationalization efforts in the
design concept for the rural-service bus, and made sure that the
greatest possible number of O 305 urban bus components were
adopted in the O 307, which was presented in 1973. These included
not only frame and body components, but also the highly praised,
practical and clearly arranged cockpit.
Daimler Communications, 70546 Stuttgart/Germany
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