ELBA HOUSE started producing prefabricated buildings and steel structures and added a new line for manufacturing of transport vehicles like trailers, low-beds, tippers and tankers. In order to further diversify its production, bus body building was added in 1991, using technology obtained from Auwärter in Germany, with production starting in 1992. Buses and coaches have been built on a variety of chassis: Mercedes, MAN, Scania, IVECO, TATA, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Volvo. ELBA received a licence from Mercedes-Benz to assemble Mercedes chassis and currently supplies the O500M city bus chassis and O500R and O500RS coach chassis with different engine ratings.
The first urban model was a rather squarish large high floor bus of which some examples on Mitsubishi, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz chassis could still be found in Amman in 2009. Coaches were somewhat more stylish and were mainly built on Mercedes-Benz and Volvo-chassis. The coach model gradually developed into the current distinctive designs. Around 2007 a new model range was introduced under the Star name. The new urban bus, still built on Mercedes-Benz O500M chassis, is called the Silver Star. It exists in normal floor and low-entry form. The coach model was redesigned. The Royal Star is a 3.39 meter high vehicle built om the O500R chassis and the the Grand Star is a 3.56 meter high vehicle on the O500RS chassis. Midibuses are built in an urban version with straight windshield, still to be seen with Autobus in Amman, and in a version for contract or coach work. ELBA also builds special vehicles like prison buses, armoured buses and mobile homes. ELBA’s website shows several and gives technical details of the buses and coaches.
Interestingly ELBA recently (2010) updated ist website and has considerably extended its bus range. The Mercedes-Benz O500M Silver Star urban bus, the Royal Star and Grand Star coaches are still offered. But additionally there is a double deck bus (Twin Star) with MAN components, an Airport bus with Deutz engine, a top end coach, Platinum Star, on IVECO Eurorider chassis, two new urban buses with Cummins engines, Light Star and Low Star, the latter in low-entry configuration, and an articulated bus in two designs with a Mercedes engine. There also is a range of smaller buses and coaches: the Town Star on Mercedes-Benz LO915 chassis, the Elite Star small coach with Cummins engine, the similar Desert Star as an intercity bus and the 7-meter Mini Star as a school bus. See www.elbahouse.com.
NEWS: Mid 2012 ELBA is building 60 new double-deckers for Baghdad, Iraq’s capital! They should be in service by June 2012.
the official site can be found at: www.elbahouse.com
Click HERE for pictures of ELBA buses