The bus was barely 20,000 km old. Many upholstery items were still wrapped in polythene. Interior appointments were quite understated. Seats and interiors were by a company called Mobility Solutions Ltd.
Like JCBL, the MSL factory is also at Lalru on Ambala-Chandigarh Road, in the Patiala dist. of Punjab.
The leather and maple faux-wood vinyl skin was a far cry from the old bus steering wheels we had seen in the past.
JCBL exports polyurethane bumpers and dashboard pads with and without vinyl skin to Europe and USA. They even manufacture and export 1965 Ford Mustang spares to the USA for restorers! A JC group company, “Jaycee” manufactures brake drums, clutch pressure plates and pump-body castings. Another JC group co., Sterling Tools Ltd manufactures high-tensile cold-forged nuts and bolts (fasteners).
These buses are assembled at JCBL’s factory at Lalru on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway.
Quite unlike what we’d seen on the Volvo B7R, the King-Long’s dash had a speedo with a digital LCD odometer.
At the left extremity of the dashboard was a Pricol Centralized Lubrication system.
Made by Coimbatore based Pricol Tech. (PRemier Instruments & Controls Ltd.), this embedded system automatically delivers lube grease for 2-3 min. every 5 hours. Thus all bearings get lubed even while the bus is running.
It had a digital clock with large and useful red LED display. The In-bus entertainment system was a Panasonic DVD player connected to a Samsung LCD monitor.
