McCafferty's Coaches was an Australian family run interstate coach operator from 1940 to 2004. In October 2004 the McCafferty family sold its shares and its operations were rebranded as part of Greyhound Australia
 Over 60 Denning Landseers were purchased in the 1980s and 1990s | |
| Parent | Jack McCafferty |
|---|---|
| Founded | April 1940 |
| Ceased operation | October 2004 |
| Headquarters | Toowoomba |
| Service area | Adelaide Brisbane Cairns Darwin Melbourne Mount Isa Perth Sydney Toowoomba various regional destinations |
| Service type | Coach services |
| Fleet | 129 (January 2004)[1] |
History
editMcCafferty's Coaches was formed in April 1940 when Jack McCafferty began a service from Picnic Point to Rangeville in Toowoomba.[2] In 1955 McCafferty's began operating a service from Toowoomba to the Gold Coast.[3] Over the next few decades McCafferty's expanded to operate long-distance services throughout Queensland.
In December 1980 McCafferty's entered the interstate coach market with a Brisbane to Sydney service[4] extending to Melbourne in December 1983.[5] On 22 December 1989, one of their coaches was involved in a disastrous bus crash near Kempsey, New South Wales in which 35 people were killed.
In November 1992 McCafferty's commenced operating Melbourne to Adelaide and Adelaide to Darwin services[6] followed by Sydney - Canberra - Adelaide in late 1993 and Darwin - Broome - Perth in May 1995 making it a national operator.[7] The latter service was withdrawn in June 1996.[8][9]
The Brisbane to Charleville service was acquired from Skennars in 1992.[10] In 1999 McCafferty's purchased MotorCoach Australia from the administrator of Clifford Corporation.[11] As well as building coaches for McCafferty's it also completed orders for external customers.[12] It closed in 2004 having completed over 60 coaches.
In March 2000 McCafferty's entered into negotiations with Greyhound Pioneer Australia about a possible merge.[13] In September 2000 a takeover bid from McCafferty's for Greyhound was accepted.[14][15] As part of the deal the McCafferty family sold their shares to Tony McCafferty.[16] In October 2004 the McCafferty family sold its shares to ANZ Bank and George Chapman, and both operations were rebranded as Greyhound Australia.[17][18][19]
Fleet
editFrom the late 1960s, McCafferty's purchased exclusively new Denning coaches. In the first half of the 1990s, 40 second-hand Denning Landseers from a variety operators were purchased for its interstate expansion.[20] From 1994 it began purchasing MotorCoach Australia coaches.[21][22]
In the 1970s McCafferty's coaches were painted in a white with blue and black, then into the early 1980s, a magenta and blue livery appeared. In 1987 a silver, grey, blue and red livery was introduced followed by a two-tone gold and blue livery, originally intended as a special livery to mark the company's 50th anniversary in 1990, but adopted as standard. The final livery was a sand-like "Platinum" with blue colour scheme to celebrate the company's 60th anniversary.[23]
References
edit- ^ "McCaffertys Fleet List". 4 May 2004. Archived from the original on 4 May 2004. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ "Jack McCafferty" Fleetline March 1999 page 49
- ^ "Vale - Jack McCafferty" Australian Bus Panorama 14/4 page 2
- ^ "Victorian Buses in the Eighties" Australian Bus Panorama 6/1 July 1990 page 10
- ^ "Victorian Buses in the Eighties" Australian Bus Panorama 6/2 September 1990 page 13
- ^ "McCafferty's" Australian Bus Panorama 8/4 December 1992 page 38
- ^ "McCafferty's" Australian Bus Panorama 10/9 July 1995 page 34
- ^ "McCafferty's" Australian Bus Panorama 11/9 June 1996 page 38
- ^ "Private Operators" Fleetline September 1996 page 171
- ^ "McCafferty's Coaches" Australian Bus Panorama 8/1 July 1992 page 36
- ^ "Manufacturing Update" Australian Bus Panorama 15/5 April 2000 page 17
- ^ MotorCoach Australia gallery
- ^ "Greyhound Pioneer Australia" Australian Bus Panorama 15/5 April 2000 page 38
- ^ "National & Manufacturing" Australian Bus Panorama 16/2 October 2000 page 19
- ^ McCafferty finally gets Greyhound Archived 27 June 2013 at archive.today Australian Bus & Coach
- ^ McCafferty to take Greyhound within days Australasian Bus & Coach
- ^ McCafferty sues over $10 mil Australian Bus & Coach
- ^ Greyhound Australia's History Archived 6 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine Greyhound Australia
- ^ "End of the Road for McCafferty's Coaches" The Chronicle (Toowoomba) 2 November 2004
- ^ McCafferty's Bus Australia Fleet Lists
- ^ "McCafferty's Coaches" Australian Bus Panorama October 1994 page 34
- ^ Greyhound Australia Australian Bus Fleet Lists
- ^ McCafferty's Australia Showbus