Hall-Scott Waukesha International Harvester Ford Super Duty
77-483: Diesel Cummins Detroit Diesel Caterpillar Methanol Detroit Diesel Compressed natural gas The Crown Supercoach is a bus that was constructed and marketed by Crown Coach Corporation from 1948 to 1991. While most examples were sold as yellow school buses , the Supercoach formed the basis for motorcoaches and other specialty vehicles using the same body and chassis. While technically available outside of
154-521: A 20-year/100,000 mile warranty for the body. During the mid-1950s, Crown made several changes to the Supercoach. In 1954, the company made the Cummins NHH available as an option, producing the first diesel-engined school bus. In 1955, Crown developed the largest school bus in the United States. In expanding the bodyshell to 40 feet (then the maximum for both school buses and motorcoaches) and adding
231-514: A Hall-Scott gasoline engine. In 1939, Crown acquired Moreland Motor Truck Company; as part of the acquisition, Crown moved to a larger factory in Los Angeles. Additionally, the Supercoach was changed from a mid-engine to a rear-engine configuration for 1940. During World War II, the production of Crown Coach was diverted towards military use; most bodies produced by the company were fire engine bodies for four-wheel drive truck chassis. Following
308-1035: A John Deere CNG option since it was also more expensive. While Carpenter would abandon production of the Supercoach II as a whole, several elements of its design would live on in a successive product, the 1992 Carpenter/Spartan Coach RE, including its left-hand driver control panel and its headlight layout. The bus was offered with diesel engine options only; the Detroit Diesel 6V92, Caterpillar 3208, and Cummins C8.3. No Methanol or John Deere CNG. 779 cu in (12.8 L) OHC I6 855 cu in (14.0 L) I6 1973–1991 (855) Available in naturally-aspirated and turbocharged configurations Available in naturally-aspirated and turbocharged configurations Also used in Crown-Ikarus buses. Diesel Most methanol-fuel buses converted to diesel. Crown Coach Corporation The Crown Coach Corporation (founded as
385-592: A diesel engine (the 37' could not be ordered as a 318D, a C-Series, or a VTF555-D). Caterpillar 3208 636 cu in (10.4 L) turbocharged V8 Fuller T905 5-speed manual Fuller RT610 10-speed manual Allison MT643 4-speed automatic Allison MT644 4-speed automatic Allison HT740 4-speed automatic C-170D C-180D C-190D C-170 C-180 C-190 1959–1976 (C170/C180/C190) 743DT 743 cu in (12.2 L) turbocharged inline-6 855DT 855 cu in (14.0 L) turbocharged inline-6 Largest-displacement engine ever fitted in
462-456: A fire engine, the Firecoach was also produced as water tenders , tiller and ladder trucks , and quints (TeleSquirts). Produced as open-air cabs, enclosed cabs (standard after 1965), and wide-cab (standard after 1979). Crown Coach HPO Bookmobile 35-foot and 40-foot chassis; 42-64 passenger capacity Gillig Transit Coach School Bus Diesel The Gillig Transit Coach School Bus
539-649: A front-mounted radiator. In 1940, Crown Coach redesigned the Super Coach bus body and chassis, moving the engine to the rear. Featuring a wider and taller interior, the Supercoach gained additional emergency exits (a rear exit window and right-side emergency door), following the standardization of school bus dimensions and exits in 1939. During World War II, Crown Coach produced few vehicles, with all production diverted towards military use. In late 1945, Crown resumed production of Super Coach school and coach buses, struggling to meet demand. To better ensure its survival after
616-593: A joint venture with Neoplan, the company developed its own mass-transit bus, leading to the Gillig Phantom in 1980. In 1982, the company chose to concentrate on mass-transit production, ending production of the Transit Coach after a 42-year production run. In 1986, a successor to the Transit Coach was introduced as Gillig launched a school bus variant of the Phantom; the Phantom school bus was withdrawn in 1993. Through
693-420: A major shift in company production occurred as Murillo M. ("Brock") Brockway , the son of the company founder, was put in charge of school bus production. Viewing school buses as a growth market in the suburbs of southern California, Brockway discontinued all wagon production in favor of bus and truck body production. To expand production and improve shipping of its vehicles, a much larger factory in Los Angeles
770-405: A manufacturer of school buses, Gillig currently exists as the second-largest American manufacturer of transit buses . Founded in 1890, Gillig Brothers initially existed as a manufacturer of custom-built automobile bodies. In the 1920s, the company produced the "Gillig top", a lift-off hardtop for open cars that provided retractable side curtains. As closed cars became more widely available,
847-402: A move back to the mid-engine layout, the design of the 1950 Crown Supercoach broke many precedents in school bus construction. Although built on a steel frame, to fight corrosion, the body panels of the Supercoach were of aluminum. In place of the traditional ladder truck-style frame, the Supercoach featured a monocoque-style integrated frame. In the early 1950s, Crown made several additions to
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#1732855847626924-497: A multi-year California Energy Commission study of the feasibility of alternative fuel school buses, the Series II introduced the first major visible changes to the Supercoach since its 1949 introduction. Alongside buses created for the CEC design study, the model line entered production alongside the standard Crown Supercoach (internally designated C-body). Produced for the first phase of
1001-403: A new mid-engine Supercoach. Heavily influenced by motorcoach design, Crown intended it primarily for school bus use. Introduced in 1949, the all-new Supercoach used unit-body construction with high-strength steel in place of a separate chassis; to combat corrosion, all body panels were aluminum. To prove the durability of the Supercoach to potential customers, Crown offered the Supercoach with
1078-495: A rear-engine version, as well as a raised-floor configuration (along with a version similar to the Scenicruiser ); the latter two provided for increased luggage space. To supplement its motorcoach offerings, in 1969, Crown became one of the first distributors of Quebec-built Prevost motorcoaches in the United States. The Firecoach was produced through the 1960s and 1970s with relatively few changes. While sold primarily across
1155-457: A result of declining demand for school buses at the time. At the beginning of the 20th century, Don M. Brockway found himself working at the first hardware store in Los Angeles, California . To supplement its income, the hardware store sold parts for wagons and carriages. In 1904, Brockway founded his own company, as Crown Carriage Company began life producing horse-drawn carriages . While
1232-456: A seating capacity of 97 student passengers, the DT-16 was the largest school bus ever mass-produced. In line with similar Crown Supercoaches, the DT-16 was configured with tandem rear axles; unlike motorcoaches , both rear axles were driven. In another change, the interior height was raised 7 inches, from 72 inches to 79 inches. A rear-engine version of the DT-16 was offered, the 636DT-16, powered by
1309-490: A second rear axle, Crown raised the seating capacity from 79 to 91 passengers. As a later option, some school districts ordered the Supercoach with a 16th row of seats, further expanding seating to 97 passengers; as with its Gillig counterpart, the 97-passenger Supercoach is the highest-capacity school bus ever sold in the United States. From the 1950s to the 1970s, school bus production on the West Coast evolved separately from
1386-436: A squared off body above the entry door, enlarged windshield (four-piece flat glass), and flat front bodywork (with horizontal quad headlights). During the early 1990s, the only CNG engine that complied with California emissions standards was the 8.1L John Deere engine. Since methanol was abandoned as an alternative fuel, Crown Coach Corporation was planning to replace that alternative fuel option by compressed natural gas. From
1463-414: A substantial redesign, grouping secondary controls together left of the driver. Following the production of the 153 CEC buses, the Supercoach II continued as a regular production model alongside the standard Crown Supercoach. The Detroit Diesel 6V92 V6 diesel remained, with Crown adding a Cummins C8.3 inline-6 and Caterpillar 3208 V8, and a John Deere 8.1L inline-6 (no longer offered). A mid-engine version
1540-532: Is a series of buses that were produced by the American bus manufacturer Gillig from 1940 to 1982. Alongside its namesake usage as a yellow school bus , the Transit Coach also served as the basis of motorcoaches and other commercial-use vehicles. Marketed primarily to operators on or near the West Coast of the United States (California, Washington State, or Oregon), the Transit Coach competed nearly exclusively against
1617-496: The Crown Carriage Company ) is a defunct American bus manufacturer . Founded in 1904, the company was best known for its Supercoach range of yellow school buses and motorcoaches ; the former vehicles were marketed throughout the West Coast of the United States. Competing alongside Gillig Corporation and similar its Gillig Transit Coach , the two companies supplied California with school buses nearly exclusively into
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#17328558476261694-501: The 1960s, in response to the Baby Boom generation reaching school age, school buses grew in size to accommodate the growth of student populations. From 1948, the highest-capacity Transit Coach offered seating for 79 student passengers. In 1967, several changes were made to the Transit Coach. The Model 743DT-16 was introduced, expanding from 13 to 16 rows of seating by extending the body to 41 feet long, requiring tandem rear axles. Offering
1771-402: The 1977 model year, federal regulations took effect that forever changed school bus design in the United States. To better protect passengers from crashes and rollovers, the structures of many school buses had to be updated; the metal-backed seats seen for decades were replaced by thickly padded, taller seats. Aside from the redesign of the passenger seats, which led to minor capacity reductions,
1848-550: The 1980s ended, the Crown Supercoach had reached over 40 years of production with only minor evolutionary changes made through its production. In 1989, the California Energy Commission began a study to test low-emission school buses, using methanol-fueled vehicles as part of the test; Crown Coach was a manufacturer selected to take part of the study, using a methanol-fuel Detroit Diesel 6V92 engine. The fitment of
1925-480: The 1980s. Crown also was the manufacturer of custom-built vehicles derived from its buses, including the Firecoach line of fire apparatus . For 80 years, Crown was headquartered in Los Angeles, California ; in 1984, the company relocated its headquarters and manufacturing to Chino, California , where it operated until its closure. In March 1991, Crown Coach (then a subsidiary of GE Railcar ) ended operations as
2002-523: The 1990s, as the California Energy Commission program moved into its advanced stages, methanol was abandoned as an alternative fuel (in favor of further development of compressed natural gas and diesel buses); virtually all of the 50 methanol-fueled Supercoach II vehicles were converted to operate on diesel fuel. Crown was unable to offer the CNG option due to closure. During the late 1980s, the only methanol-fuel engine that complied with California emissions standards
2079-654: The CEC study, 153 Crown Series II buses were acquired, including 103 "advanced diesel" and 50 methanol-fuel buses. Crown was going to offer a CNG option ( John Deere 8.1L) to replace the methanol option, but due to the closure of Crown Coach Corporation in 1991, the CNG option was cancelled. As a secondary objective of the study, the buses researched the practicality of advanced safety features for school districts replacing buses manufactured before 1977, including fire suppression systems, an increase in emergency exits, taller seats (made of additional flame-retardant material), anti-lock brakes (ABS), and automatic parking brakes. During
2156-534: The Carpenter RE, a similar coach to the Crown Supercoach in 1992. Crown built its first all-metal school bus body in 1930. Mid-engine version (1937) Rear-engine version (1939) Produced as school bus and motorcoach Crown Supercoach Series II Motorcoach/Tourcoach Crown Coach Highway/Intercity coaches Produced as both school bus and motorcoach First diesel-powered school bus (1955) First tandem-axle school bus (1956) 1984–1985 First produced as
2233-593: The Caterpillar 1160 V8 (later the 3208). In the early 1970s, Gillig introduced several new engines and retired others. In 1971, the first Detroit Diesel engine was offered, the Model 318D (powered by a 6V53 V6). In 1974, the Model 743 became the Model 855, as the Cummins NHH engine was enlarged to 855 cubic inches; in contrast to its 220 hp predecessor, turbocharged versions were introduced (available up to 335 hp). In 1974,
2310-492: The Crown B-3 between 1930 and 1933. 1932 would mark several major changes for the company. As part of his taking over day-to-day operations of Crown from his father, MM Brockway introduced a ground-breaking school bus body; elements of its design would change school bus design forever. To improve forward visibility, the new bus was a cab-forward design, with the driver sitting next to the engine and radiator. To improve safety,
2387-507: The Crown Supercoach, the mid-engine Model 743 was powered by a 743 cubic-inch Cummins NHH220 underfloor inline-6; the Model C-180 was the first diesel-powered school bus with a rear-mounted engine (Cummins C-180). To increase intake ventilation for the diesel engine, Gillig added a roof-mounted air intake (first used on the Pacific, in slightly different form). As another addition, the Model 534
Crown Supercoach - Misplaced Pages Continue
2464-519: The Crown were of original Crown Supercoach body design. Following the closure of the company, the designs and tooling of Crown Coach were acquired by Indiana-based Carpenter Body Works , who sought to replace its discontinued Corsair with a revived Supercoach II. Carpenter would soon abandon the project, as it could not produce the complex Crown Coach design at a competitive price (a diesel Supercoach II cost over $ 125,000 in 1990). Also, Carpenter did not offer
2541-418: The Firecoach, including water tenders , tiller and ladder trucks , and quints (TeleSquirts). In the United States during the years immediately following World War II, population growth of suburbs expanded, fueled by the post-war baby boom. As that segment of the population entered school, demand for new schools (and school buses to transport their students) rapidly rose. In 1946, Crown began development on
2618-498: The Model 590, fitted with a 590 cubic-inch Hall-Scott engine, the largest-displacement gasoline engine ever fitted in a school bus. The early 1950s Transit Coach was offered in multiple seating capacities, up to 79 passengers. Through most of the 1950s, the Transit Coach design had only minor changes, distinguished from later examples by a smaller windshield, lower roofline, different Gillig badging, and dual (instead of quad) headlamps. In 1957, Kenworth ended its presence in
2695-503: The Supercoach in 1980, focusing entirely on school buses. By 1982, sales of the aging Firecoach had largely collapsed, leading to a temporary hiatus in its production. After 34 years of production and with slightly over 1,800 examples produced, the final Firecoach was produced in 1985. During 1984, Crown moved its headquarters and production from Los Angeles to Chino, California in San Bernardino County . To diversify beyond
2772-557: The Supercoach lineup beyond its traditional two models. In 1988, a 38-foot version (84-passenger) was introduced. In 1989, two new 40-foot versions were introduced: a rear-engine and a single rear axle mid-engine. In March 1991, Crown Coach closed its doors; the final vehicle produced was a 36-foot mid-engine Supercoach (with standard body). During 1989, Crown Coach introduced the Crown Supercoach Series II (internally designated N-body). Developed for Crown to participate in
2849-475: The Supercoach model line. In 1951, the Crown Firecoach fire engine was introduced, heavily based on the mid-engine chassis of the Supercoach bus. At the same time, Crown began to explore other uses for the Supercoach; in 1954, several Crown Cargo Coach " brucks " were produced, combining the front body of a bus with the rear body of a van trailer. Crown Security Coaches came into use as prison buses throughout
2926-573: The Supercoach). In 1986, the partnership ended, with 243 examples produced. At the end of 1986, Crown Coach entered into receivership ; in addition to the closure of production, the Los Angeles factory (which it had owned since 1939) was sold. In April 1987, the company was purchased at auction by GE Railcar. After a reorganization as Crown Coach, Incorporated, production in Chino restarted in July 1987. As
3003-704: The Supercoach-based product line, Crown entered into a joint venture with the Hungarian firm Ikarus to produce articulated mass-transit buses. At 102 inches wide and 60 feet long, the Crown-Ikarus 286 was the longest and widest bus ever produced by Crown Coach. Bodied by Ikarus in Hungary, the transit bus was imported to Crown in California for final assembly, including its interior and American-sourced powertrain (shared with
3080-483: The Transit Coach after 42 years of production, concentrating its resources on the Gillig Phantom transit bus. For 1986, the company reentered school bus production, developing a school bus variant of the Phantom that was offered from 1986 through 1993; the high-floor Phantom was manufactured through 2008. The Transit Coach was manufactured by Gillig in its now-former facility in Hayward, California ; while no longer
3157-488: The Transit Coach resuming production. In 1948, a rear-engine configuration (in line with many other competitors) was introduced for the first time. Alongside the Transit Coach, Gillig sold the Gillig Coach conventional bus, sharing elements of its body design with its transit-style counterpart. Through the early 1950s, the mid-engine Transit Coach overtook the rear-engine configuration in demand. In 1950, Gillig introduced
Crown Supercoach - Misplaced Pages Continue
3234-452: The United States, intended to improve the crashworthiness and structural integrity of school buses. In compliance, manufacturers had to produce stronger bodies to better survive crashes and rollovers, seats had to adopt compartmentalization as a passive restraint system. While largely unchanged from the outside, from 1977 onward, the Transit Coach adopted high-back padded seats; the largest model offered now seated 90 passengers instead of 97 (as
3311-520: The West Coast, examples of the Crown Firecoach were purchased by fire departments across the United States. In 1965, a roof was made standard for all Firecoaches, in the interest of firefighter safety. In 1979, the Brockway family sold Crown Coach Corporation to a local truck distributor; this began a sequence of ownership changes. Due to slow sales, Crown ended production of the motorcoach version of
3388-703: The West Coast, nearly all Crown school buses were sold in Washington state, Oregon and California. From 1948 to 1984, the Supercoach was constructed at the Crown Coach facilities in Los Angeles, California; from 1984 to the 1991 closure of the company, the Supercoach was constructed in Chino, California . In 1932, Crown Motor Carriage Company built its first complete school bus, in a shift from building bus bodies on cowled truck chassis. Externally modeled after Twin Coach body designs,
3465-548: The West Coast. In 1954, Crown introduced the first diesel-powered school bus, introducing the 743 cubic-inch Cummins NHH220 as an option. For school districts with growing student populations, Crown introduced a tandem rear-axle Supercoach in 1955. Expanding the seating capacity from 79 to 91 (with a later option for 97), this would become the highest-capacity school bus ever mass-produced (alongside similar Gillig Transit Coach DT-models). To increase braking power, in 1956, Crown standardized 10-inch wide brake drums on all vehicles,
3542-479: The body. Although overtaken by school bus production, Crown continued production of the Supercoach as an intercity coach in various lengths. Designed similar to a GM Buffalo bus , the longest versions featured a raised deck over the luggage compartment; Crown also produced a bilevel coach similar to the GMC Scenicruiser in configuration. During the 1960s, Crown began to further expand its engine line. To aid
3619-554: The bus segment, resulting in Gillig obtaining the product rights to the Pacific bus product lines. With the acquisition of the tooling from Kenworth, the roofline of the Transit Coach was introduced with redesigned front and rear roof caps. While Gillig would not adopt the four-pane windshield of the Pacific T-Series, the Transit Coach saw its windshield expanded in size (from 2,340 to 2,580 square inches); until its 1982 discontinuation,
3696-462: The bus was designed with an integral chassis; the windows were mesh-reinforced safety glass. Alongside the standard braking system, the bus also was equipped with two backup braking systems. In 1935, the cab-forward school bus was updated and dubbed the Crown Supercoach . For 1937, to increase seating capacity to 79 passengers, Crown produced its first mid-engine Supercoach; the bus came with
3773-448: The bus were revised for the first time, as the guard rail below the windows matches the two on the lower body, replacing the previous set of four (used since the 1940s). For the school bus industry as a whole, the early 1980s was a period of struggle. At the same time Gillig had facelifted the Transit Coach, two East Coast manufacturers ( Superior and Ward ) had closed their doors; several others were also struggling financially. Alongside
3850-543: The company focused on body production, producing its first school bus body in 1932. In 1937, Gillig Brothers moved from San Francisco to Hayward, California. During the late 1930s, school bus manufacturers were beginning to develop transit-style school buses. In comparison to a cowled-chassis bus mounted on a truck frame, a transit-style bus allowed for greater seating capacity within the same body length; manufacturers also experimented with engine configurations. In 1940, after several years of experimenting, Gillig introduced
3927-544: The engine required an extensive update of the rear bodywork of the Supercoach, leading to a matching update of the front bodywork. Although not a completely new design, the Series II, as it was named, was the first major update to the Supercoach since 1948. GE railcar would find the business unprofitable and would seek a buyer. After an unsuccessful attempt at finding a buyer in 1990, Crown Coach would be shut down on March 31, 1991. Crown's difficulty in competing with manufacturers of smaller, less durable but cheaper school buses
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#17328558476264004-489: The final gasoline-powered Transit Coach was produced. In 1976 and 1976, the Transit Coach introduced the Model 555 and Model 426, powered by the Cummins VTF555 V8 and Detroit Diesel 6N71 inline-6, respectively. In 1974, the interior of the Transit Coach underwent a revision, with a molded-fiberglass dashboard replacing the previous all-metal design. To improve driver ergonomics, key switches were relocated from under
4081-405: The first vehicles were built in a wooden shed, the company moved to a brick factory in 1910. After 1910, as carriages gradually became "horseless", Crown experimented with building truck bodies. In 1916, the company built its first bus body for transit use; it was an open-air design heavily influenced by wagon design. After World War I, Crown built its first body for school bus use. In 1921,
4158-412: The ground up, both Crown and Gillig chose to serve as the West Coast distributor for other manufacturers. At various times, Crown would market Wayne , Blue Bird , and Thomas Built Buses in California. Sharing much of its underlying structure with the Crown school bus, the intercity Crown Supercoach was marketed with several configurations. Along with an underfloor configuration, Crown also produced
4235-405: The largest in the bus industry at the time. In 1960, the body of the Crown Supercoach underwent its first set of modifications since its introduction in late 1949. To enhance visibility, the windshield, driver window, and entry door windows were redesigned. To make the bus more visible, Crown moved the taillamps and brake lights from the doors of the luggage compartment towards the rear corners of
4312-422: The mid-1990s Crown was going to offer a John Deere CNG engine option on the Series II, but due to the closure of Crown Coach Corporation, no Series II was offered with CNG. To maintain production commonality with the standard commonality with the standard Supercoach, the Supercoach II shared nearly all of its bodywork between the entry door and the rear seats with its predecessor. The drivers' compartment underwent
4389-423: The model line offered the largest windshield on a school bus. Along with restructuring school bus production on the West Coast to essentially a Gillig Transit Coach–Crown Supercoach duopoly, the acquisition of Pacific led to design changes for the Transit Coach that were retained for the rest of its production. In 1959, Gillig introduced the first diesel-powered Transit Coach, offering two models. Similar to
4466-466: The original 1932 design proved too expensive to produce on a large scale, Crown shifted to a design based on a Reo commercial truck chassis. Named the Metropolitan, while still a front-engine bus, the new design significantly decreased forward visibility. In 1935, Crown revisited the 1932 design, introducing a new version as the first Crown Super Coach. With a seating capacity of up to 76 students, it
4543-460: The padded seats took up more interior space). During 1979 production, Gillig made the first visible exterior revisions to the Transit Coach since the company purchased the Pacific product line in 1957. In a major change, the windows were changed from a drop-sash configuration to a larger split-sash design (used on all school buses except the Crown Supercoach), the guard rails on the side of
4620-560: The performance of its 91-passenger buses, a 262 hp turbocharged Cummins NHH was added. Alongside the Cummins diesel, an additional option included an underfloor version of the Detroit Diesel 671 . In 1973, the 743 cubic-inch Cummins NHH diesel was replaced by the 855 cubic-inch NHH diesel, requiring internal structural updates to the frame. From the outside, 1973–1977 Crown school buses are distinguished by flat-topped wheel wells. During
4697-468: The powertrain layout was changed from front-engine to an underfloor mid-engine configuration. In several variants, the Crown Super Coach would retain an underfloor layout through its 1991 discontinuation. In 1937, Crown would build the first mid-engine school bus, with a Hall-Scott gasoline engine; the change expanded capacity to 79 passengers. To provide proper engine cooling, the bus was fitted with
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#17328558476264774-428: The production Transit Coach. Using a Fabco chassis powered by a Hall-Scott gasoline engine, the Transit Coach adopted a mid-engine configuration, placing the engine on its side. During World War II, Gillig entered war production, building hundreds of "Victory Trailer" trailer buses , serving as large-scale transportation on US military bases. Following the war, the company returned to production of buses, with
4851-556: The production of the Transit Coach, Gillig used the following numbering system to designate school bus models. C-Type C (conventional) D-Type D (Transit Coach) T-Tandem rear axle "#"-Number of rows of seats (maximum 16 before 4/1/1977, 15 after 4/1/1977) Example: 426DT15= A Transit Coach with 15 rows of seats, tandem rear axles, and a 6N71 Detroit Diesel engine. Depending on engine type, Transit Coaches were sold in 28' (only with gasoline engines), 30', 35', 37', and 40' body lengths. The two longest body lengths only were sold with
4928-414: The recession economy, student population growth had largely plateaued, as the entire Baby Boom generation was past the age of secondary education. Gillig Corporation, as a fairly niche manufacturer, saw its school bus sales drop off significantly; in 1980, the company ended production of the Gillig Coach conventional entirely. In the late 1970s, Gillig launched efforts to diversify its product line; after
5005-437: The rest of the United States, with the Crown Supercoach and the similar Gillig Transit Coach having a near-monopoly of the school bus segment in California and a large share of the rest of the West Coast. Outside of the region, many operators continued use of lower-capacity conventional-type buses based upon truck chassis. For users seeking lower-capacity buses on the West Coast, in place of developing an all-new model line from
5082-536: The school bus body used a front-engine layout, with the Waukesha gasoline engine positioned next to the driver. The body was of all-metal construction with an integrated chassis and safety glass; for braking, in addition to the standard hydraulic service brakes, the Crown bus was equipped with a redundant hand-operated system alongside the standard parking/emergency brake. From 1932 to 1935, Crown Body and Coach Corporation produced additional forward-control school buses. As
5159-426: The similar Crown Supercoach through much of its production. The Transit Coach was the first school bus produced with a mid-engine layout and would be among the first to use a diesel-fueled engine. The model line also offered the highest-capacity school bus ever produced, offering up to 97-passenger seating (current design standards restrict maximum capacity to 90). After 1982, Gillig discontinued
5236-463: The steering wheel onto a single control panel left of the driver; many full-size school buses use this layout to this day. In states outside of California, amber warning lights began to be phased in as a requirement alongside the red warning lights (seen since the 1940s); in 1975, the Transit Coach was offered with amber warning lights for the first time (to meet Washington State specifications). In April 1977, federal safety standards went into effect in
5313-414: The structure of the Supercoach needed relatively few changes to meet the new regulations; the company claimed that the Supercoach was compliant as far back as 1950. Post-1977 Supercoaches are distinguished by larger pillars behind the drivers' window and entry door as well as the fixed window next to the side emergency door. In the late 1980s, along with the Crown Supercoach Series II, Crown began to expand
5390-432: The war, Crown entered a joint venture with Indiana school bus manufacturer Wayne Works , becoming the West Coast distributor of its product lines. In 1946, Crown began development on a new generation of vehicles. Starting life as a sightseeing bus for a motorcoach customer, the new-generation Supercoach (renamed as a single word) entered production in 1948, with Crown producing its first school bus example in late 1949. In
5467-405: The war, the company returned to bus production, beginning design work on the 1948 Supercoach. As a side project, engineers at the company designed an all-new cabover fire engine, using the mid-engine chassis of the Supercoach bus. The first Crown Firecoach prototype was completed in 1951, after two years of design work. Alongside the initial pumper design, Crown developed several configurations of
5544-471: Was a rear-engine bus powered by a Ford Super Duty gasoline V8 (replacing the Hall-Scott and International Harvester engines). The rear-engine diesel Transit Coach would prove successful, as manufacturers of rear-engine transits from the eastern United States did not widely offer diesel engines until the 1970s; Crown did not offer a diesel rear-engine Supercoach (in school bus form) until the late 1980s. During
5621-653: Was cited by company president Bruce Freeman in October 1990 as a primary factor in GE's decision to leave the school bus market. The assets of Crown Coach would be purchased by Carpenter Body Works in May 1991. This included tooling and intellectual property of the defunct company. Carpenter hoped to restart production of the Crown Supercoach II , but deemed the unibody construction too expensive for mass production. Carpenter would introduce
5698-408: Was introduced, including the Detroit Diesel 6-71. Produced primarily in a 40-foot rear-engine configuration, the Supercoach II was also offered in a 38-foot length; both rear-engine and mid-engine versions were produced (no tandem-axle examples are known to have ever been produced). The Supercoach II was offered by Crown Coach through its closure in 1991; however, many of the 1991 vehicles produced by
5775-462: Was one of the largest school buses ever produced at the time. As with its 1932 predecessor, the 1935 Crown Super Coach featured an all-steel body with an integrated chassis, safety glass, and a front-engine body. In a big change, the redundant braking system was redesigned, with the Supercoach featuring full air brakes. In 1936, Crown produced the Super Coach as an intercity motorcoach, featuring onboard sleeper compartments. To maximize interior room,
5852-532: Was opened in 1923. In pursuit of developing heavier-duty and higher-capacity school buses, Crown introduced the first school bus with dual rear wheels in 1927 (on a Reo chassis). In 1930, it produced its first all-metal school bus body (on a Mack chassis), with a 43-passenger capacity. In 1929, Aircraft Division of the Crown Carriage Co. licensed the Kinner Airster airframe and it was manufactured as
5929-418: Was the Detroit Diesel 6V92 . To accommodate the engine in the rear of the Crown Supercoach, substantial revisions were required for the chassis and rear bodywork. As the 6V92 V6 was wider than previous inline engines, the rear body panels were widened aft of the rear axle, creating a new rear roofline (with a vertical rear window). To match the modified rear bodywork, the front body was also revised, including
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