Mack Australia and the Mack-Renault PR Series City Bus

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From 1945, Mack Trucks had a long history of selling buses in Australia. Mack had supplied a right-hand drive version on the CB model bus chassis to operators down under called the CBL. Bodies were built locally by Comeng and others.

The PR100 was actually designed and built by Berliet, a Renault subsidiary. The French government had merged Berliet and Saviem into Renault in 1978 to form Renault Vehicules Industriels (RVI).

The Berliet PR100 was an 11 to 12 meter long city bus with a rear engine, low floor and wide front entrance. Over 13,500 PR100s were produced between 1971 and 1999. While Renault initially wanted to replace the PR100 with the new R312, many customers requested that the PR100 remain in production, resulting in the updated PR112. One reason was because the new R312 was not available in an articulated version like the PR100 (the PR180).

With Mack Trucks and minority stake holder Renault enjoying strong success in the U.S. medium truck market, the two companies sought out other viable synergies. In 1985, an upgraded version of the PR100, the PR100.2, was demonstrated by Mack Australia to city mass transit officials throughout the country. This resulted in substantial orders from Perth and Canberra for PR100.2 and articulated PR180.2 municipal transit buses. Locally supplied bus bodies were used while retaining the PR100 front fascia (Late model PR100.3s sold to the City of Canberra had R312-type front ends).

Altogether, 650 Mack/Renault PR100-series bus chassis were delivered. The bus chassis were assembled by Mack Australia in Brisbane and then shipped to Australian bus body builders Ansair Bus & Coach, Austral Denning, Bolton and Howard Porter.

Mack and Renault also probed the U.S. and Canadian markets as they would do with the FR-1 motorcoach several years later. A North American spec PR100 was demonstrated in Montreal in 1980, and two PR100s were in revenue service with the New York City Transit Authority in 1982. An articulated PR180 was demonstrated in Montreal in 1986, and an articulated electrically-driven trolley bus was shown in Seattle. However, no buses orders resulted in North America.

Specifications (PR100.2):

Engine Model: MIPS 06.20.45B
Displacement: 9.8 liters
Power: 240hp @ 2100 rpm
Torque: 693 lb/ft @ 1400 rpm
Transmission: Voith model D863 with hydraulic retarder
Steering: ZF Power Assisted
Brakes: 4 x Drum Wabco ABS
Tires: 11R22.5
Fuel Capacity: 53 U.S. gallons (200 liters)
Electrical System: 24 volt with 80 amp alternator
Exhaust: Vertical Near Side rear Corner

Seats: 49 VOV II with Frontrunner Material and Chin Protector
Doors: 1 front and 1 rear - glide-away twin leaf type. Rear door fitted with safety edges and interlock
Flooring: Pirelli rubber matting
Luggage Rack: 1 Large over near side front wheel arch
Windows: Tinted bonded glass with top mounted hoppers
Roof Hatch: Happich 1 front, 1 rear – air operated
Handrails: Two overhead full length on either side of the aisle with vertical stanchions
Bus Stop Alert System: 12 passenger push buttons
Destination Equipment: Front: STC Cannon electronic operated route and three numbers
Side; STC Cannon electronic operated three numbers
Heating: One drivers cabin, three saloon
Drivers Fan: (1) dash-mounted
Air Conditioning: COACHAIR Integrated system – drivers cabin only
Overall length: 455.5 inches (11.57 meters)
Rear overhang: 129.9 inches (3.3 meters)
Front overhang: 103.5 inches (2.63 meters)
Wheelbase: 224.4 inches (5.7 meters)
Width: 98.4 inches (2.5 meters)
Height: 124.4 inches (3.16 meters)
Front Step Height: 13.8 inches (350 mm)
Rear Step Height: 13.8 inches (350 mm)
Floor Height: 25 inches (635 mm)
Arrival angle: 9 degrees
Departure angle: 8.33 degrees
Curb Weight: 22,112 lb (10,030 kg)
GVW: 35,274 lb (16,000 kg)
Top Speed: 51 mph (82 km/h)

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The 8x4 Mack MH Ultra-Liner wrecker operated by the City of Canberra's mass transit authority, ACTION (Australian Capital Territory Internal Omnibus Network), was quite impressive.

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