and the National Bus Company for high-speed Rapide service. The project was conceived and developed in a very short time, allowing inadequate development, and the resultant vehicles developed a reputation for poor reliability. The Super Goldliner styling, including a continuous flat roof in place of the stepped roof, was mixed and matched on subsequent Goldliner vehicles. Imports of foreign makes, such as Neoplan, Bova, Van Hool and Jonckheere, began to make inroads into the UK market. To compete with them, two new body designs, the Laser and the Caribbean, were introduced in 1982. The Laser was a normal-floor body that resembled the Dominant, but with a rounder front and body-coloured front grille. The Caribbean was a high-floor design with a very square appearance. The Calypso was added in 1983 and was a low-floor version of the Caribbean on a Bova underframe. These new designs did little to halt the slide in production and in 1983, Duple output was just 340 bodies. In June 1983, Duple was sold to the Hestair Group, which had already acquired the long established business of Dennis Brothers of Guildford. Duple was renamed Hestair Duple and the Laser and Caribbean were given a facelift to try to improve their popularity. In 1985, a new coach model, known as the 300-series, was introduced. A bus version of the 300 was introduced in 1987, replacing the successful Dominant bus that had continued in production after the coach version had been replaced. A new integral coach of exciting design, with Dennis running units, was added soon after. Known as the Duple 425 (its coefficient of drag), it was greeted with enthusiasm, but the close tie-in with Dennis as chassis maker made dealers of other chassis manufacturers reluctant to use Duple coachwork. The business continued to struggle, but the deregulation of bus services, in 1986, caused uncertainty amongst bus operators and, as a result, little investment in new vehicles was made. By 1988, Duple's output was just 250 bodies. However, at the October 1988 Motor Show, Dennis introduced the Dennis Dart, a midibus chassis that would go on to be one of Britain's most successful buses. Duple displayed a bus body for the chassis, the Dartline, that was based on the 300-series but with a distinctive front design, featuring a stepped windscreen and curved lower panel. In November 1988, Hestair announced that they were selling the Dennis and Duple businesses