Mercedes-Benz Bus History - Daimler

But precisely private coach operators missed another important
variant during the O 303’s first years: the sales range lacked a long-
haul high decker for long-distance travel to tourist destinations. These
coaches – recognizable by a central entrance whose door does not
extend beyond the window sills because the body is so tall – were
available from all renowned touring coach manufacturers in the
1970s. They had much stowage space, and for travel to faraway
places they, of course, also had compact galleys and toilets.
Mercedes-Benz didn’t supply high deckers until 1979, when the two
longest variants of the O 303, the 14 RHD and 15 RHD were launched.
They measured 3.4 meters tall, whereas the other variants – like the
predecessor, the O 302 – rose to a height of just over three meters.
A close affinity of the engines to those of the trucks from
Mercedes-Benz was one feature of the modular system of the new
O 303. Here the O 303 profited at its premiere from the “New
Generation (NG)” that had been presented just a year earlier. Whereas
the O 302 was driven by relatively weak in-line six-cylinder engines
with power in rather short measure, large-displacement V-engines now
saw use in both buses and trucks. In the first few years these were
naturally aspirated engines, without exception; Mercedes-Benz didn’t
rely on turbodiesel engines until the second half of the long life of the
O 303.
Installed in the rear end of the compact variants of the O 303 with
lengths up to 10.6 meters were compact V6 engines with a
displacement of 9.6 liters; 12.6 liter V8 powerplants and even the 16
liter V10 usually powered the two longer editions. Concurrent with the
launch of the RHD high-decker and the introduction of the undivided
windshield, a new engine generation arrived on the scene in 1979. The
V6 now got 159 kW (216 hp) out of a displacement of eleven liters; a
V8 with 14.6 liters displacement and 206 kW (280 hp) now powered
Daimler Communications, 70546 Stuttgart/Germany
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