Optare Visionaire

The Optare Visionaire is an open-top double-decker bus body that was introduced in 2006 as the East Lancs Visionaire and was branded the Darwen Visionaire between 2007 and 2008, before ending up as an Optare product. In engineering terms it is an open-top version of the Olympus, itself a double-decker variant of the Esteem, and it was also built on tri-axle double-decker chassis. The first order came in November 2006 from Arriva's The Original Tour for ten buses on Volvo B9TL Euro IV chassis at a cost of 1.6 million pounds. After East Lancs went into administration in 2007 the business was bought by the Darwen Group, which later completed a reverse takeover with Optare, so the Big Bus Tours London buses ordered in the Darwen period were built under the Optare name. Wilts and Dorset also took nine for the Purbeck Breezer services. An open-top single-decker called the Panaire was offered but none were built.