Cutaway van chassis
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Cutaway van chassis are used by second stage manufacturers for a wide range of completed motor vehicles, primarily small trucks, school buses, ambulances, and recreational vehicles.
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[edit] History
Following the initial popularity of Volkswagen's imported minibuses, vans made by the domestic manufacturers were developed and became popular in the United States in the 1960s. By the early 1970s, Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors were all manufacturing many models of passenger vans. The Dodge passengers vans of Chrysler had a maximum seating capacity of 14 persons plus the driver, and came to be commonly known as 15 passenger vans, joined by similar sized models by the other manufacturers years later.
Conversions for personal motor homes became very popular, drawing the interest of recreational vehicle manufacturers. Based upon that, cutaway van chassis were developed in the early 1970s to accommodate demand for conversions which were heavier and wider than the standard production vans completed by the major auto and truck manufacturers (i.e. Chevrolet-GM, Dodge, and Ford]). As they began working on bigger models of their popular light-duty van products, they developed cutaway van chassis solely for use by second stage manufacturers.
Second stage manufacturers, known in the industry as "body-builders," build such products as bus and truck bodies, motor homes, and other specialized vehicles. Neither their product, nor the first stage portion, called an incomplete motor vehicle, are fully compliant with requirements for a complete motor vehicle. Neither portion can be licensed or operated lawfully without the other.
Featuring a van front end and cab design, the body ended immediately behind the driver and front passenger seats, and usually was covered by temporary plywood or heavy cardboard material for shipment to the various second stage manufacturers. It was soon known by the name "cutaway van chassis" in recognition of this feature.
Many cutaway chassis are equipped with dual rear wheels and can handle greater weight loads than the basic vans upon which they were based.
[edit] Busette: first of the cutaway school buses
Busette, developed by Wayne Corporation in 1972, was the first successful small school bus to be based on a cutaway van chassis with dual rear wheels. With a low center of gravity and the dual rear wheels, Busette provided an exceptional combination of increased seating capacity and handling stability over conventional vans and van conversions.
By the early 1980s, all five of the major school bus body companies in the United States had developed competing products built on the cutaway van chassis. These manufacturers were joined by several others which specialized in small school buses. In the early 1990s, Mid Bus, an Ohio manufacturer specializing in small school buses, purchased the tooling and product rights to build the Busette from Wayne Corporation.
In modern times, more small school buses are based upon cutaway van chassis than any other type.
