Launched into the world in 1967, the first Neoplan Skyliner was the brainchild of Konrad Auwärter. Deemed unimaginable at the time as a double deck touring coach was thought to tip over on motorways, Konrad drove the 12m coach from Stuttgart to Brussels to prove its worth. To date, almost 5,000 Neoplan Skyliners have been built since the first and is now in its seventh generation.
A number of notable variants of it have been built over the years, including a 15m quad-axle version at Cape Canaveral, a shuttle for a casino in Philadelphia and a mobile home for a pilgrimage by an Arab royal family. Auwärter said, “The team bus that we built in 1995 for Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg was a particularly emotional creation for all our colleagues in the factory. Rosberg visited the factory himself several times to add additional definitions to this vehicle. The highlight was the stainless steel roof deck with fold-out railings. It was the highest level of bus architecture! The employees were very proud of that bus.”
