Launched in 1991, the Optare Spectra is a double-decker bus body built on the DAF (now VDL) DB250 chassis. The vehicle was developed as a joint project between Optare and DAF; based on the designs of the successful MCW Metrobus which Optare had purchased, but they are no means a restlyed Metrobus. With the launch of the DB250LF chassis sometime after production commenced, the Spectra was built to low-floor specification, and was one of the first low-floor double deckers available in the United Kingdom. The design is notable for the exclusion of a lower deck rear window, a practice that has become more commonplace. The bus typically seated 47 on the upper deck and 28 on the lower deck in single-door format.