The same Volvo ties that led Heuliez to produce the GX217 and GX417 also led to two rather different creations, the Heuliez Inter'Bus GX57 and GX87. Volvo products have never sold that widely in France, and the acquisition of a large stake in Heuliez had given Volvo a good opportunity to broaden its sales on the French market. On the other hand, Heuliez had never been heavily involved in the production of coaches and interurban/rural buses. The Volvo ties took Heuliez into this area.

3345 RV 62 - March 2002
Many French departments provide subsidies to support networks of rural services outside the main towns. The services are usually operated by smaller local bus or coach operators, often using a common livery. Rural/interurban services in the Pas-de-Calais (département 62) are provided using vehicles painted in the 'Colvert' livery. This Heuliez GX57, belonging to an unknown operator, was photographed in Calais.

CTS, Strasbourg no. 155 (6041 YR 67) - September 2001
Another example of a regional livery is the Réseau 67 livery used in the Bas-Rhin département in Alsace. Unusually, many of the services in this network are provided by CTS, the major urban operator in Strasbourg. Normally, urban operators tend to restrict their activities to their particular conurbation. Another point of interest can be seen here - the Colvert vehicle above has been supplied to a private-sector operator, so it carries a Volvo badge on the front end and Volvo B10B badging on the side. The CTS vehicle however, has been supplied to a public-sector operator - in this market French build is still seen as important, so the vehicle carries a Heuliez logo in the most prominent position on the front.

Heuliez' first major effort at a full-size coach was the GX57, and they produced a very tidy looking vehicle. The GX57 is mounted on Volvo underframes, in most cases the rear-engined B10B although there may have been some mid-engined B10Ms early on. The GX57 was pitched squarely at the rural and interurban bus market where it competed against the likes of Renault's Tracer.

At around the same time the GX57 was launched, Heuliez also launched its big brother, the GX87. 18-metre articulated coaches had recently been made legal throughout the EC, and Heuliez used Volvo's B10MG mid-engined articulated chassis to produce their new model. GX87s are big, impressive things - their manoeuvrability is aided by a rear axle that steers. Due to their rather specialist nature, GX87s are rather uncommon and tend to be used where the volume of schools or commuter traffic on a particular route is very high. CTS in Strasbourg have what is probably the largest fleet of the type, with 16 in service.

Production of both the GX57 and GX87 came to a rather abrupt halt in 2000, when Volvo sold its stake in Heuliez to the newly-formed Irisbus organisation. All production on Volvo chassis then ceased.

CTS, Strasbourg no. 366 (5717 YD 67) - September 2001
As well as a fleet of GX57s, CTS also operates examples of the rare Heuliez GX87 artic. Like the GX57s, these can be seen both in Réseau 67 and Strasbourg urban liveries. 366 is one that carries the urban livery - they are kept for the express routes up the autoroute to Mundolsheim and Lampertheim in the outer suburbs.

Bollé, Comines no. 8986 (5177 XY 59) - May 2000
Comines is a small town situated right on the Belgian border at the edge of the Lille -Tourcoing - Roubaix conurbation. Services from Comines to Tourcoing and Lille are provided by local firm Bollé, however they form part of the network provided by Lille urban operator Transpole. Some of Bollé's vehicles operate in Transpole livery. However when seen in Lille, this GX87 was still in plain white, albeit with both Bollé and Transpole logos. Note the radiator grille behind the front wheel - B10B-based GX57 coaches have rear-mounted radiators and the grille is to be found at the rear on the nearside.