Israel - Western Jerusalem - Jaffa Street in 1961 - Egged bus (Chausson, France) (color slide)
A panoramic view of Jaffa Street, in central Jerusalem, in 1961, showing one of the 129 French-built Chausson buses used by the Egged Bus Company throughout the 1950s and into the following decade.
The Chausson buses made their debut in Israel in 1951, as part of a special "cars for buses" deal between Israel and France. A massive shortage of reliable buses in Israel, coupled to a rapidly rising and nation-wide demand for a better and more frequent service, resulted in the decision to upgrade the existing fleet in spite of the challenging financial situation in Israel at the time. The solution was to export to France Israeli-made car bodies, and import over a hundred new and ready-to-run Chausson buses, in return.
A total of 129 Chausson buses were delivered to Egged, featuring upholstered passenger seats, a cashier's booth and, at least in theory, a new level of comfort. In practice, however, it was soon discovered that the new buses were mechanically unreliable, beginning with the front-mounted engines, the faulty brakes, the heavily corroded bodies and the fragile glass windows. An attempt to overcome the engine problems was carried out by replacing the original French motors with British Leyland units, and several improvements were also made to the penumatic steering system. Semi-automatic Wilson gearboxes were introduced later on. The attempt failed completely and the Chausson fleet was quickly rounded up and disposed of, simultaneously with the much-awaited arrival of new and infinitely superior Leyland Royal Tiger buses from the UK.
Israel - Western Jerusalem - Jaffa Street in 1961 - Egged bus (Chausson, France) (color slide)
A panoramic view of Jaffa Street, in central Jerusalem, in 1961, showing one of the 129 French-built Chausson buses used by the Egged Bus Company throughout the 1950s and into the following decade.
The Chausson buses made their debut in Israel in 1951, as part of a special "cars for buses" deal between Israel and France. A massive shortage of reliable buses in Israel, coupled to a rapidly rising and nation-wide demand for a better and more frequent service, resulted in the decision to upgrade the existing fleet in spite of the challenging financial situation in Israel at the time. The solution was to export to France Israeli-made car bodies, and import over a hundred new and ready-to-run Chausson buses, in return.
A total of 129 Chausson buses were delivered to Egged, featuring upholstered passenger seats, a cashier's booth and, at least in theory, a new level of comfort. In practice, however, it was soon discovered that the new buses were mechanically unreliable, beginning with the front-mounted engines, the faulty brakes, the heavily corroded bodies and the fragile glass windows. An attempt to overcome the engine problems was carried out by replacing the original French motors with British Leyland units, and several improvements were also made to the penumatic steering system. Semi-automatic Wilson gearboxes were introduced later on. The attempt failed completely and the Chausson fleet was quickly rounded up and disposed of, simultaneously with the much-awaited arrival of new and infinitely superior Leyland Royal Tiger buses from the UK.