Volvo Olympian

The Volvo Olympian was a rear-engine double decker bus built by Volvo at Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. It was first built in 1992 and entered production in March 1993, replacing the Leyland Olympian.

The design was based on its predecessor Leyland Olympian, but the chassis had been modified such that only the chassis design and layout remained, with even the grade of steel for the chassis members being changed, Volvo's standard electrical system was used, as well as standard Volvo steering/"Z cam" braking systems. The early Volvo Olympians were offered with Cummins L10 or Volvo TD102KF engine, coupled to Voith DIWA or ZF Ecomat gearbox. From late 1996, only the Volvo D10A-245 Euro II engine with electronic diesel control was offered.

It was available with Alexander R-type, Northern Counties Palatine and East Lancs E Type/Pyoneer bodywork.

The Volvo Olympian remained as popular as the Leyland Olympian in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Also, a large number of Olympians were exported to Hong Kong and Singapore; most of them being air-conditioned.

Production of Volvo Olympian ended in 2000 and concluded a run of over 10,000 Leyland/Volvo Olympian chassis. The last built were for Yorkshire Coastliner and had Alexander Royale bodies. The chassis had two low-floor successors: the 2-axle Volvo B7TL and the 3-axle Volvo Super Olympian.