IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE
“An opportunity arose to build something I thought would make my life easier long-term and other bus operators’ lives easier long-term,” said Challenger Bus and Coach managing director Greg Sloan.
“Rather than build a bus from the point of view of somebody that just wants to sell one, the Challenger is built from a point of view of somebody who uses one and works on one, and wants to make your life a lot less complicated with repairs. The whole process has been built around the point of view of a bus driver, a bus owner and a bus mechanic.”
Today’s test drive of the V12 is encapsulated in these words from Sloan – a passionate bus man who will tell you “all he knows is buses”.
This is a build that’s come from a bus man, and in his own words ‘built for bus people’. It’s a huge leap from being a fleet operator to a bus builder and one that Sloan explains came about in part by a life of experience in the industry and part by a chance meeting that set the wheels in motion, resulting in the Challenger V12.
“We’ve had bus fleets all our lives,” explained Sloan, as to how it all got started.
“I’ve been operating up in Far North Queensland and the structure up there for buses was basically for replacement and was based on the Chinese-style build bus. We didn’t find them unreliable, but there were definite quality issues that were prominent.
“I met an engineer from China that
