Technically, the vehicle is very different from the previous generations: Previously, a bus body was placed on a lorry chassis. Although this was a very solid solution, the vehicles remained heavy, slow and not very comfortable for longer journeys. Well, people were accustomed to little comfort and were happy to be able to drive at all.

This began to change after the war. The economic miracle flourished in Germany and in 1951 gave birth to the ‘Setra S8’, one of the first coaches with a self-supporting body (the French ‘Isobloc’ had already used this originally American design principle in the 1930s). The advantages were immense: better driving characteristics, more comfort, less weight - and therefore higher speeds with lower fuel consumption. The fact that the vehicles became significantly more susceptible to rust was a particular problem for later generations...

Saurer's answer was not long in coming, and the 2H with a semi-self-supporting design was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 1952. The engine moved to the rear, and despite the small but mechanically supercharged four-cylinder engine's output of 115 hp, which was not outstanding even then, the vehicle reached top speeds of over 100 km/h. And even today, coaches are not allowed to drive faster than this on European motorways.