Sunroofs save ski buses

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 42, 7 April 1987, Page 3 (Supplement)

Sunroofs save ski buses

Sunroofs have solved a winter headache for the Newmans rental company. By fitting AUtex-supplied glass sunroofs to its fleet of rental mini buses, Newmans eliminated damage caused by over-enthusiastic skiers. Now ski parties can retrieve skis from the roof rack without having to clamber over the vehicle. Mr Bill Hughes, general manager of Autex automotive division, says: "Newmans spent a lot of money on these mini coaches, equipping them with highback seating, carpeting, ski racks and dressing them up, but then they discovered that as the vehicles were so high, people were having to climb up over them to get their skis, leaving a few dents and scratches in the process." "We heard about the problem when we went to fit our auto alarm security systems to the coaches and suggested the sunroofs as a solution," said Mr Hughes. Since the sunroofs were fitted to the fleet of ski coaches the problems have disappeared and it now

means that summer users of these vehicles will also have extra fresh air to improve ventilation. The sunroof provided by Autex have only recently been introduced to New Zealand. Autex has appointed a nationwide chain of installers and says that a trained specialist should take little more than an hour to fit a sunroof.