model won the silver trophy out of 17 other vehicles. It also participated in a contest in Monaco, 1971, where the Ikarus 250 SL (luxury submodel) won Rainier III's grand trophy. From 1968 onwards, Ikarus started to develop and produce a variety of experimental vehicles, in order to find out the correct configuration for future models within the family. Finally, in 1971 the company decided that for city transportation, the best models will be the Ikarus 260 and Ikarus 280 models, which later on became the top-selling bus of that time. The articulated Ikarus was so successful worldwide, that the company even got into the North-American market, with its modified model, the Ikarus 286. At its peak, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the company set such records that has not yet been challenged since, like: During the 1970s and 1980s, two-thirds of the world's articulated-bus production was related to the Ikarus 280. Of all the buses worldwide, the Ikarus 260 was one of the most produced with a unit number of 72,547. In the early 1980s, somewhat over 12,000 vehicles were produced yearly by the company's two factories in Hungary. Ikarus 300-series After the success of the 200-series, the company did not stop developing new projects. The policy, however, changed in the late 1970s from one modular model family to two. One of which was to succeed the coach branch of the previous series, and one was to do the same with the city/suburban branch. The latter became the 400-series, while the former was the Ikarus 300-series. The first prototype of the 300-family was produced in 1981 and was bearing the name Ikarus 386 K1 (380 NE). It was later followed by a wide variety of models during the 1980s. Their major characteristics were the elevated passenger space, which made them resemble modern coaches. They were produced by Ikarus until 1989, when its newly formed subsidiary, the Ikarus EAG received their production and development branch. Ikarus 400-series The other specialised new model family was to create a variety of vehicles for city and suburban transportation. The first prototype was built in 1979, under the name Ikarus 413.K1, which was followed by almost a dozen other experimental vehicles in the early 1980s. By 1984, the development was finished, and production could start with the Ikarus 415 model's first generation. Although it was a well built model with the era's