Van Hool luxury coach equipped with an Allison fully automatic transmission is a ‘game changer’ for East Midlands family-owned coach & bus business, which plans to stick with Allison transmissions from now on.

NOTTINGHAM, UK, July 16^th, 2025 – Premier executive coach operator, Sharpes of Nottingham, will specify Allison fully automatic transmissions on future executive coach orders following the company’s positive experience of the Allison T525R transmission in a Van Hool TX21 Altano.

Sharpes’ high quality coach touring and corporate hospitality fleet consists of 60 coaches and buses, its coaches being Van Hool, from a 39-seater touring coach up to 83-seater executive double deckers. Customers of the heavily utilized, fully equipped Altano team coach include an EFL League Two football team. Sharpes of Nottingham serves its local community from its base in Langar, 13 miles southeast of Nottingham, as well as customers in the wider East Midlands region, the UK and Europe.

The family business has worked with Van Hool coaches since buying its first three Van Hools 21 years ago. Sharpes’ latest order, a VDL Van Hool T17 Astron luxury coach, will be its first from the new VDL Van Hool organization, following VDL’s acquisition of Van Hool in June 2024.

”The premium luxury Van Hool coaches are considered to be relatively expensive by some, but in our opinion, they are the best you can buy,” said Neil Sharpe, Managing Director at Sharpes of Nottingham. “When we bought the TX21 Altano, we were aware that it came with the Allison transmission. We were used to the automated manual transmission (AMT) that comes as standard. But we found the fully automatic was a game-changer – those are the exact words used by our drivers!

“The Allison transmission is incredibly responsive, quiet and smooth, almost like driving an electric bus. When we talked to other coach operators about our experience, the sentiment was echoed, along with positive comments about the reliability, which the coach is living up to every day.

“It was therefore an easy decision to upgrade our order for the T17 Astron, due to arrive this summer, with an Allison transmission. In a normal year, we will purchase one or two new coaches and we plan to stick with Allison transmissions from now on. You get what you pay for. The Allison adds class and finesse to something that is already a quality product.

“The relationship with the UK team at Allison has been fantastic. We’ve recently been to their customer experience centre and factory in Hungary where we were impressed with how the transmissions are built, checked and tested,” concluded Neil Sharpe.

The VDL Van Hool T17 Astron luxury coach is equipped with a DAF Euro 6 NG MX 13 engine, available in two power configurations, 355 kW / 2,500 Nm and 390 kW / 2,600 Nm. The T525R transmission is from the Allison Torqmatic^® Series and is designed for simple and efficient operations. It has six forward gears and a reverse gear equipped with 6th generation electronic controls for improved performance and diagnostic and prognostic functions. An integral output retarder that allows the vehicle to come to a gradual stop and slows brake wear is also available.