Volvo B58

The Volvo B58 is a mid-engined bus chassis built by Volvo of Sweden from 1966 until early 1982. It was the forerunner to the highly successful B10M.

In the United Kingdom, it was sold to many major operators including Wallace Arnold and Park's of Hamilton. Many of the Volvo B58s in UK were built as coaches.

Wellington in New Zealand ran until 2007 around 59 Volvo B58 trolleybuses. Originally with 68, some have been scrapped for spare parts & some have been preserved. As they were around 25 years old, they were in need of renewal. They were gradually cannibalised and vital parts (traction motor, axles etc.) were used combined with new parts to make new, larger trolleybuses. Last unit was delivered in 2009.

In Brazil, The Volvo B58 (called B58E) was built in a Curitiba factory from 1977 to 1997. It was used in city buses, including trolleybuses, and road coaches, in cities like São Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Campinas, Sorocaba and Belo Horizonte.

In Adelaide, South Australia, the B58 was delivered in three types, from 1980. The first service being on April 29, 1980, these buses entered service all in a distinctive Brown and Cream livery.

  • (1401–1420) 20 x Single door 43 seat rigid for Hills operations,
  • (1451–1495) 45 x 46 seat dual door rigid for suburban and low capacity express work and
  • (1351–1385) 35 x 66 dual door articulated for express and long distance operations

In Tasmania, Australia the Metropolitan Transport Trust (now renamed Metro Tasmania) purchased 68 B58s, mostly for use in Hobart although ten were used in Launceston. The first batch of 33 buses were bodied by Smithfield and were 2-door units delivered from 1975, all were allocated to Hobart. 15 CAC-bodied buses were delivered in 1978-79. These were also allocated to Hobart. Later a further 20 CAC-bodied buses were purchased with body variations from the earlier CAC-bodied units to reduce the weight on the front axle, ten of these were allocated to Hobart and ten to Launceston. The first batch were all fitted with ZF 2-speed automatic transmissions, however the later units were fitted with the ZF Ecomat 4-speed, an Allison 4-speed automatic, or a Wilson 5-speed semi-automatic.

Three B58 articulated buses entered service in Hobart in 1980, all fitted with Volgren bodywork and Allison 4-speed automatic transmissions.

Volvo Buses
Volvo B55-B59
  • B58
  • B57 & BB57
  • B59
  • Ailsa B55
Volvo B10
  • B10M/B10MA/B10MD
  • B10R
  • B10B
  • Super Olympian (B10TL)
  • B10BLE
  • B10L/B10LA
Volvo B6
  • B6/B6LE
  • B6BLE
Volvo Olympian
  • Olympian
  • Super Olympian
Volvo B7
  • B7L/B7LA
  • B7TL
  • B7R
  • B7RLE
Volvo B9
  • B9TL
  • B9S Articulated/B9 SALF Articulated
  • B9R
  • B9L/B9LA
Volvo B11
  • B11R
Volvo B12/B13
  • B12/B12R
  • B12B
  • B12BLE/B12BLEA
  • B13R
Volvo B5
  • B5L Hybrid
Volvo C10
  • C10M
North American makes
  • Prevost Car
  • Nova Bus