Family - Setra

26 | Setra Family News
Setra Family News | 27
Setra anniversary year coach stories:
Real-life Setra stories
For the 60 th anniversary of the Setra brand, we have been compiling stories about Setra coaches and
buses from around the world. The result is a rich collection of heart-warming, moving, at times even
bizarre and funny anecdotes. Beginning with this issue, the SetraFamily magazine is pleased to offer
you a selection of these very unique stories.
I
n
the eighties, an Austrian bus operator
drove one of his coaches from Salzburg
to Munich to pick up passengers
at the airport. On the way, he saw something
very unexpected and couldn’t believe
his eyes. A brand-new Setra was driving
towards him. But not just any Setra: it was
an exact replica of the one he was sitting in –
with his company logo. “How could it be?
All my coaches are parked in my courtyard”,
stunned, the driver continued on his way.
But he couldn’t forget about the mysterious
look-alike. He decided that he would have
to get to the root of it: was it just an illusion
or did the look-alike coach actually exist?
Two days later, he drove to the Kässbohrer
facility in Salzburg to find out what was
The look-alike coach
going on. You can imagine what he saw: a
new Setra S 212 H coach with exactly the
same finish and graphics as his coach. There
it was in the yard – but it wasn’t one of his.
As soon as the bus operator recovered
from his shock, he approached the sales
office, somewhat irritated. “But I didn’t
even order a new coach!”, he called to the
first sales person he saw. The sales rep
simply smiled and said: “You’re right, but
you’ll surely need another one soon!” Completely
flabbergasted, the bus operator left
the sales office. But this was far from being
the end of the story for the bus operator.
He couldn’t stop thinking about “his” new
coach. And with every visit, he appreciated
the new S 212 H more and more. Finally, he
could no longer resist and he bought the
coach – just like the clever sales rep had
anticipated. Although this sales strategy
may not be commonly used at Setra, there
is no doubt that bus operators still find
Setra irresistible – quite often in fact.
Submitted by Gerhard Benz, EvoBus Austria
GmbH, Salzburg/Austria
Setra. For two weeks, he went back to the
sales office again and again to admire the
I
n
1981, a brand-new Setra S 215 HU
was on its way from Spain to Germany.
The coach was equipped with a 210 hp
Pegaso engine, as well as a ZF transmission
with six gears and rear-axle transmission.
The driver who brought the vehicle to
Germany was immediately fascinated by
the coach’s unmatched technology and its
indescribable handling. He got so caught
Faster than allowed by law
up with the fun he was having, he simply
pressed on the gas pedal and completely
forgot everything around him. The German
police were somewhat less enthusiastic
about his performance, and couldn’t believe
their eyes when the coach sped past them
at 156 km/h. It finally took a helicopter to
abruptly wake the driver out of his euphoria,
and to call him back to hard-road reality
with a juicy fine. We are quite sure that the
driver has never forgotten this trip. And still
today, anyone who has ever driven a Setra
can understand just what he felt behind the
wheel of the S 215 HU.
Submitted by EvoBus, Spain