Hyundai FB

The Hyundai FB is a line of front engine buses built by Hyundai Motor Company and commonly called the FB, for Front engine Bus. The bus and coach chassis evolved from designs by Hyundai's Thames commercial vehicle subsidiary, with the engine mounted at the front, ahead of the front-wheel-driven front and rear axles. The original FB485 and FB500 became benchmark vehicles for a program of constant revision, and new models replaced them in 1986 with a lowered floor and a supercharged diesel engine tilted to one side. The FB485 was an economy bus for urban and suburban service and the FB500 an economy and city bus. The designs were popular with South Korean bus companies in the 1980s while financial help for fleet renewal was available, but demand fell after 1988 with a more conservative government and recession, and production of the FB range was halted. Only a small number remain in passenger use, and many have become tour buses and stock car transporters.