It was going to be a long day. After an early flight from Stansted to Badalona Airport near Barcelona, Spain, Mick from BASE and myself are met by our driver for the forty minute drive into the hills to the Beulas factory.

This October day was starting to warm up and on arrival at Beulas we took a walk through the factory and had a sneak preview of the new Jewel double-decker. This is the first Beulas decker and is hoped to be ready for the Spanish coach show in December.

We walked towards the pre-delivery area where a giant of a coach stood out from the rest. The Beulas Glory towered above the surrounding coaches. It looked even more impressive than expected.

For a couple of moments I just stood there wondering where to start, it’s just so big. I decided to start back to front.

The engine compartment contained the 480bhp Euro5 EEV engine and 12 speed AsTronic ZF gearbox. Access to the engine was surprisingly simple and there was plenty of work space. The luggage lockers were cavernous with the luggage space above the drive axle able to take approximately eight cases. The main luggage lockers were just vast and quick calculations soon worked out that 70 passengers luggage would be swallowed by this beast.

The spare wheel was housed in the middle offside locker and had an ingenious ramp for easy access. The four two hundred litre fuel tanks are cleverly situated above the third axle and have plenty of handy space for the drivers cleaning equipment and tools etc... (800 litres, what a range).

A real bit of clever thinking was obvious with the positioning of the body and chassis fuse boxes. No need to clamber into lockers or tiptoe to reach the fuses and relays, just a simple latch and the electric panels just drop down to chest height in the main luggage hold. “Oops” I hear you say, “How do you open the air lockers if there is a big problem with the electrics?”. Don’t worry, there is full pneumatic override system for all the passenger doors and air lockers. All you need is a point, something like a ball point pen. Honest.

Now it is time to inspect the interior and wow what an interior. The the microfiber upholstered seats with blue leather headrests and piping give a real quality look and feel to the 71 seats. I was amazed at the ample leg room that every seat had and in some cases there was almost a small dance floor of leg room. I sat in every seat to find the seats that had the restricted outside views for the passengers but just could not find any seat with a restricted view problem. The forward seats have just the most amazing panoramic views. The interior trim quality was also to the highest standard, giving a real top quality feel. I had to congratulate the Beulas chaps on such a fine coach interior. Beulas explained to me that putting the extra hours into the finish vastly reduces the warranty claims.

Although the main cabin is a high deck the front stairs were surprisingly shallow pitched and even the middle nearside entrance door had very usable steps owing to the clever design in the dropped aisle keeping the stair pitch acceptable. The toilet was also spacious being totally submerged beneath passenger seats.

Back in the front entrance area there are two double seats, two of which can be removed in a second leaving a place for a wheelchair. With the coach lowered the wheelchair ramp become more of a bridge from a kerb and the wheelchair passenger gets a premium view.

Previous reports of a claustrophobic drivers cockpit in the Beulas Glory melt away when sitting in the driving seat with the perfect driving position. Everything is within easy reach of the driver and the cctv screen gave perfect information of the centre stairs, the main cabin and the screen doubles up as the reversing camera.

Sitting in the driving seat of this near 15 metre monster I expected it to be difficult to judge the length of the coach but I was pleased with the all round view to the front and rear. However the proof would be in the test drive.

Having driven every type of bus and coach from the Dennis Dart service bus to the four axle double-decker executive 15 metre Neoplan Skyliner and from the Mira adverse camber proving ground of Nuneaton to the Formula One, German Nurburg Ring, I had many expectations of the test drive and many coaches to match it against.

We drive away from the Beulas factory and I try different seats throughout the coach taking notice of the ride comfort and noise levels. Even empty, the coach is very quiet, rides very smoothly and gives all passengers a great view. The feeling in the front seats is that of floating through the air and I was already becoming jealous of the passenger that will be occupying these seats whilst travelling through beautiful mountain roads.

Now it’s time for me to take the wheel and I felt immediately at home and comfortable with this stunning coach. On the open road the drive was an absolute dream. The smooth 480bhp engine married to the latest ZF AStronic 12 speed gearbox just eats up the miles. After an hour of easy driving I wanted to give the coach a real challenge and the Beulas lads took me into the hills where we encounter narrow mountain roads with hairpin bends. You would think that these rosad conditions would cause concerns but the coach still takes everything in its stride. The mirrors give accurate information and tight cornering is done with confidence and knowing excactly where you are in the road. Eventually we came to the last turn around point for 30 miles. I pulled over to take some stunning photos and then without fuss the coach managed a complete U turn that I thought was only possible in a Setra 416. The Setra’s turning circle is tighter, but the extra metre and a half of the Glory still went around with ease.

Heading downhill really tested the retarder. I thought that I would see how easy it was for this coach to get out of trouble on a tight downhill bend. As I approached the bend I put my foot to the floor and quickly gained speed to the point that the Beulas guys were clearly uncomfortable. Without touching the foot pedal I simply pressed the max button on the retarder control. The coach quickly reduced speed without fuss and as I touched the accelerator to drive round the tight bend the retarder released and the coach just seemed to glide out of the bend under full control to the relief of my Spanish friends who’s nervous smiles became big grins.

The superb Beulas Glory sold itself to me and, the added bonus of this coach being the most environmentally friendly coach to go into service in the UK made the decision to sign the order a real ‘no brainer’. I can honestly say that the sixty mile test drive was a real pleasure and the Glory was so much more than I expected.