Flxible New Look bus

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Unitrans 1975 Flxible 45102-8-1 #4127 in Davis, CA.
Unitrans 1975 Flxible 45102-8-1 #4127 in Davis, CA.
NYCTA 1964 Flxible F2D6V-401-1 #5117 at the Circle Line dock in New York, NY.
NYCTA 1964 Flxible F2D6V-401-1 #5117 at the Circle Line dock in New York, NY.
Unitrans 1973 Flxible 111CC-D6-1 #4916 in Davis, CA.
Unitrans 1973 Flxible 111CC-D6-1 #4916 in Davis, CA.
NYC Transit Authority 1973 Flxible 53102-6-1 #7340 at the Circle Line dock in New York, NY.
NYC Transit Authority 1973 Flxible 53102-6-1 #7340 at the Circle Line dock in New York, NY.

The Flxible New Look bus was a transit bus introduced in 1960 by The Flxible Company. Regular production began in 1961 and continued until 1978 when the New Look was replaced by the "870" Advanced Design Bus. Over its 17 year production run 13,121 Flxible New Look buses were manufactured.

Contents

[edit] Design

The Flxible New Look bus shares many design features with the GM New Look bus that was introduced in 1959. Both buses featured large 6-piece "fishbowl" windshields, forward-slanting side windows, fluted aluminum siding, and slide/glide front passenger doors. Both buses were also equipped with the same engine: the Detroit Diesel 6V-71 (6-cylinder) / 8V-71 (8-cylinder) diesel engine (however, 150 propane fueled Flxible New Looks were built for the Chicago Transit Authority in the mid-1960s, Detroit Diesel 4-71 (4-cylinder) diesel engines were available for some models in the mid-1960s, and Cummins 165-285 and 903 8-cylinder diesel engines were available until 1973 as an alternative to the Detroit Diesel engines). Originally, the Flxible New Look was only available in lengths of 35 and 40 feet and widths of 96 or 102 inches, however 31 and 33-foot models later became available. Until 1963, these buses carried both the Flxible and the Twin nameplates, with the Twin name located in a small oval beneath the Flxible shield on the front of the buses (Twin Coach had been a manufacturer of transit buses as early as 1927 and sold its transit bus product line to Flxible in 1953). In 1964 and 1965 Flxible produced a suburban model meant for longer distance highway routes, and these buses were equipped with all forward-facing high-backed seats and overhead luggage racks, but lacked a rear exit door and standee windows. Air conditioning was an available option on all models, and in most cases was identifiable by a bulge above the rear window where the roof-mounted condenser and cooling fan were located (some buses were built with under-floor air conditioning). Air-ride suspension was standard on all models.

[edit] Manufacture

At the start of production all New Looks were built at the Flxible factory in Loudonville, OH, and a majority of the New Looks continued to be built here during the life of the New Look's production run.

In 1963, Flxible started building a line of shorter buses at the former Southern Coach factory in Evergreen, AL. These buses came in lengths of 31, 33, and 35 feet, and were all 96 inches wide. The buses built in Evergreen where generally identical in appearance to those built in Loudonville, except that the Evergreen buses had only two headlights, while the Loudonville buses had four. The Evergreen buses were available with either the 4-71 (4-cylinder) or 6V-71 (6-cylinder) Detroit Diesel engine. Production in Evergreen stopped in 1966.

In 1965, Flxible licensed their New Look design to Canadair Ltd., an aircraft manufacturer in Ville St-Laurent, Quebec. All were 40 feet long and 102 inches wide, and carried both the Flxible and Canadair nameplates. The intent of this licensing venture was to enter the Canadian bus market, however production stopped in 1966.

In 1970, Flxible was purchased by Rohr Industries, and in 1974 a new factory and corporate headquarters were opened in Delaware, OH. Final assembly of all New Looks was moved to Delaware, with the Loudonville factory still being used for the manufacture of sub-assemblies and parts. Also in 1974, a 31-foot long, 96-inch wide model became available and was built in Loudonville/Delaware. It was only available with the 6V-71 (6-cylinder) Detroit Diesel engine.

[edit] Competition with General Motors

During the 1960s, Flxible was the only large-production competitor to General Motors in the American transit bus market, although it was still a distant second with GM building more than twice as many buses. The Flxible New Look bus bears a close resemblance to the GM New Look bus, and in fact Flxible New Looks were commonly equipped with GM engines. This was due largely to the consent decree resulting from the 1956 anti-trust case United States v. General Motors Corp. which mandated that GM's bus components, engines, and transmissions be made available for sale to other manufacturers, free of royalties. However, it should also be noted that prior to the consent decree a small number of earlier model (pre-New Look) Flxible buses were built with GM engines, at the same time that GM vice president Charles F. Kettering was also chairman of the board at Flxible. It has been suggested that prior to the consent decree GM may have made its diesel engines available to Flxible in order to reduce the criticisms of GM's business practices that some felt were monopolistic[1]

Another area of competition between the two manufacturers, but where Flxible had an advantage, was the market for 35-foot long buses equipped with 8-cylinder diesel engines. In 1966 GM began offering its Detroit Diesel 8V-71 8-cylinder diesel engine on its 40-foot New Look transit buses; however GM would not equip its 35-foot models with anything larger than the 6V-71 6-cylinder diesel engine. In response to the desire by some transit agencies for a shorter bus with a larger engine (mainly for hilly routes, freeway driving, or to provide extra power for air conditioning equipped buses), Flxible offered its 35-foot New Look with the Detroit Diesel 8V-71, the Cummins 165-285, and the Cummins 903 8-cylinder diesel engines.

[edit] Model designations

Several different variations of model designations were used for Flxible New Look buses, with changes being made over time and between the various manufacturing locations. The letters and numbers gave a basic description of the type of bus as follows:

[edit] First Generation (1960-1969)

Model designations consisted of a series of numbers and letters that gave a basic description of the type of bus as follows:

  • (F) denoting a bus manufactured by Flxible (this dates back to when Flxible purchased the Twin Coach's transit bus line).
  • (2) denoting a 102-inch wide bus (this was omitted for 96-inch wide models).
  • (D) denoting a diesel engine, or (P) denoting a propane engine.
  • (47) denoting a Detroit Diesel 4-71 engine, (6V) denoting a Detroit Diesel 6V-71 engine, (6V5) denoting a 6V-71 engine and a bus manufactured in Evergreen, AL, (6VT) denoting a 6V-71 engine with a T-drive transmission, or (V8C) denoting a Cummins 165-285 engine (this was omitted for propane fueled buses).
  • (-31) denoting a 31-foot long bus, (-33) denoting a 33-foot long bus, (-35) denoting a 35-foot long bus, or (-40) denoting a 40-foot long bus.
  • (1) denoting a transversely mounted engine.
  • (-1) denoting a transit bus, or (-7) denoting a suburban bus.
  • (-UL) denoting under-floor luggage storage (this was omitted for buses lacking this feature).
  • (-AC) denoting air conditioning (this was omitted for buses lacking this feature).

Two typical bus model designations are F2D6V-401-1 (pictured earlier in this article) and FD6V-401-7-UL-AC.

[edit] Second Generation (1966-1973)

Model designations consisted of a series of numbers and letters that gave a basic description of the type of bus as follows:

  • (1) denoting a bus manufactured in Loudonville, OH, or (4) denoting a bus manufactured in Evergreen, AL (however 15 buses built in Loudonville in 1967 have model designations starting with a (4) because they were built using the design of buses built in Evergreen).
  • (11) denoting a transit bus with a transversely mounted engine.
  • (C) denoting a 40-foot long bus, (D) denoting a 35-foot long bus, (G) denoting a 33-foot long bus, or (H) denoting a 31-foot long bus.
  • (C) denoting a 102-inch wide bus, or (D) denoting a 96-inch wide bus.
  • (-C1) denoting a Cummins 165-285 engine, (-C3) denoting a Cummins 903 engine, (-D1) denoting a Detroit Diesel 4-71 engine, (-D4) denoting a Detroit Diesel 6V-71 engine, (-D5) denoting a Detroit Diesel 6V-71 engine with a V-drive transmission, or (-D6) denoting a Detroit Diesel 8V-71 engine.
  • (-1) denoting air conditioning (this was omitted for buses lacking this feature).

Two typical bus model designations are 111CC-C3-1 and 111DD-D5-1.

[edit] Third Generation (1973-1978)

Model designations consisted of a series of numbers that gave a basic description of the type of bus as follows:

  • (35) denoting a 31-foot long bus with a nominal seating capacity of 35 passengers, (45) denoting a 35-foot long bus with a nominal seating capacity of 45 passengers, or (53) denoting a 40-foot long bus with a nominal seating capacity of 53 passengers.
  • (096) denoting a 96-inch wide bus, or (102) denoting a 102-inch wide bus.
  • (-6) denoting a Detroit Diesel 6V-71 engine, or (-8) denoting a Detroit Diesel 8V-71 engine.
  • (-0) denoting a bus not equipped with air conditioning, or (-1) denoting air conditioning.

Two typical bus model designations are 45096-6-0 and 53102-8-1.

[edit] Canadair Ltd. (1965-1966)

All buses manufactured by Canadair Ltd. carried the model designation of "C-F CL-218". They were 40 feet long, 102 inches wide, and powered by transversely mounted Detroit Diesel 6V-71 engines.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ McKane, John H. & Squier, Gerald L. (2006). Welcome Aboard the GM New Look Bus, Hudson, WI: Iconografix, 17. ISBN 1-58388-167-0.

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
  • Stauss, Ed (1988). The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses, Woodland Hills, CA: Stauss Publications. ISBN 0-9619830-0-0
  • Luke, William A. & Metler, Linda L. (2005). City Transit Buses of the 20th Century, Hudson, WI: Iconografix. ISBN 1-58388-146-8
  • McKane, John (2001). Flxible Transit Buses - 1953-1995 Photo Archive, Hudson, WI: Iconografix. ISBN 1-58388-053-4
  • McKane, John H. & Squier, Gerald L. (2006). Welcome Aboard the GM New Look Bus, Hudson, WI: Iconografix. ISBN 1-58388-167-0