Noun
- a medieval glove, as of mail or plate, worn by a knight in armor to protect the hand.
- a glove with an extended cuff for the wrist.
- the cuff itself.
Idioms.
Take up the Gauntlet
- to accept a challenge to fight.
- to show ones defiance.
Throw down the Gauntlet
- to challenge.
- to defy.
We are proud of the name we chose for our 1984 Austral Tourmaster. Our bus started it’s life in Brisbane Qld and was said to be taken to the Sydney bus show back in the mid eighties where we were told it was one of the first buses fitted with a television in Australia. The bus was optioned up with every thing like the alloy wheels, the air con shroud, 7 speed box, fog lights etc, it even has a sign on the back that is lit at night. This must have been a pretty plush coach back in it’s day.
We are the third owners after buying it from “Brunswick Valley Coaches” in Billinudgel, NSW. BVC owned it for 12 years or so and looked after it very well. We believe it was originally owned by “Forest” coaches in Sydney and hauled people to and from Sydney for trips to the snow etc.
The 6V92TA Detroit diesel coupled with a seven speed Spicer (crash box) gearbox pushes everything along nicely and will sit on 100 klm/h all day long, more if needed. It gives us a very quiet ride on the inside but on the outside it’s a real screamer. To keep Detroit 2 stroke diesels happy the revs need to be high and not lugged around.
Exhaust brakes are really good when driving down the really steep hills and going up is never a challenge. Airbag suspension gives us a really comfortable and smooth ride. We opted to leave the factory A/C in as well for them hot days on the road.
Our bus was delivered to our driveway and reversed up and parked for the fun of fitting it out.