Nowadays, the European coach market is dominated by a few manufacturers whose products are sold across the Continent and beyond. It wasn’t always like this. From the end of the Second World War until the late 1960s, virtually all buses and coaches bought by British operators were British made. Until the 1960s, it was rare for European coaches to enter Britain. However, the introduction of roll-on, roll-off car ferries changed all that, and later the opening of the Channel Tunnel offered another rail-based route from the Continent to Britain.

Lavishly illustrated throughout, this book looks at European-owned tourist coaches visiting Britain from the 1970s onwards; British and European-owned coaches on scheduled international services; and the early days of European chassis or bodywork with British operators.