04.05.2024

Can you see I'm in a good mood?. Today will be a real fun!. For those of you who know a little about MercedesBenz buses only: O302!. How good we will drive!. MercedesBenz O302 – the bus of my youth. The bus is from 1968.. And you are the second owner?. Actually, yes.. Who was the first owner?. SAP, SAP, Središka street.. SAP does not exist anymore; everything is Veolia now.. Vinko Zabukovec decided to be an independent bus operator when this bus was already 16 years old.. In 1965, when MercedesBenz introduced the model O302,. new standards were set with it.. Each seat had its own ventilation nozzle above the passenger's head,. it was possible to optionally order an air conditioner,. the driver sat on a comfortable suspension seat and turned the power steering wheel,. the bus was equipped with air suspension ,.

It had clean lines with lots of chrome trim, if it was a tourist bus, seats were comfortable reclining. Here in the back part, the ride is a little louder than in modern buses, but it drives just as well, even though there are metal leaf springs under us. The front axle is sprung with coil springs. Coil springs. It is even more comfortable to ride in front than in the back part. Yes, absolutely, because it does not feel at all that it is not on springs. Vinko was driving all the time in the tourist industry, so the bus had to be carefully maintained. Soon after the purchase, he installed an air conditioning system, which the bus did not have before.

In the 1980s, this was taken for granted. The engine is not original, as the vehicle has covered 2 million kilometres. It pulls well and the Mercedes drives like new. What is the maximum speed? Ah, no more than 80 km/h is allowed. Ha, ha Otherwise, it is capable of 120 km/h. Of course I wanted to try to drive a bus a little. It's great that the owner is big so I will be able to drive it . Yes. You say that we start with the second . With second, only push lever forward. Just press that handle down and we're already driving. Just push the lever down. Look, we're already starting. A, the clutch grabs a little higher.

Yes, the clutch grabs a little higher. Haha! What can I say, driving this bus really impressed me. Of course, since it is a model that was produced in 32,000 copies. Mercedes O302 was produced in Germany, Turkey, South Korea, Iran, Greece, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia in Macedonia, Croatia, and Slovenia. The OE302 was the first hybrid bus in 1969 – back of the rear axle there is a smaller diesel engine with a generator and an electric motor, and batteries in the luggage compartment. The fleet of these buses, which transported national teams at the World Cup, in 1974 in Germany is very well known.

A replica of the German one is in the MercedesBenz Museum,. with this, they transported the Yugoslav national team.. In the former Yugoslavia, the O302 was very popular, and many companies had it.. Ljubljana Transport bought 10 original buses in Germany in 1968. and one was brought by Janez Tarman , who gave me these photos.. Vinko, thank you very much for this experience, greetings, and good luck.