Mercedes-Benz O 317

The Mercedes-Benz O 317 was a high-floor city and regional bus built by Daimler-Benz from 1957 to 1972, with bare chassis made for outside coachbuilders until 1976. After the O 321 it was the company's second self-supporting bus, but unlike the O 321 it was designed purely for urban and regional service, with the engine mounted under the floor between the axles. Daimler-Benz itself built only solo buses; firms such as Vetter, Kaessbohrer and Ludewig made articulated, one-and-a-half-deck and double-deck versions on its floor assembly. Three basic two-axle models existed: two 12 metre versions differing in engine output and the shorter 11.2 metre O 317 K introduced in 1963. The OM 326 six-cylinder pre-chamber diesel of 10.8 litres gave 200 DIN-PS, the OM 346 direct-injection engine arrived in 1964, and facelifts followed in 1961 and 1966.