Gillig Transit Coach School Bus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Gillig Transit Coach School Bus was a long running series of transit-style (rear-engined or mid-engined) school buses produced by the Gillig Corporation in Hayward, CA. The Transit Coach was first introduced in 1940 and was produced until 1982, by which time Gillig had entered the transit bus market with the introduction of the Phantom. Gillig introduced the Phantom School Bus (based on the Phantom transit bus) in 1986 but stopped production in 1993, at which time Gillig exited the school bus market altogether. The Transit Coach was one of the first transit-style school buses produced, and the C-Series models (the C-160, C-180, and C-190) were the first diesel-powered transit style school buses on the market when they were introduced in 1959.[1] When it was introduced in 1967, the model 855-D was the highest capacity school bus ever produced, with seating for 97 pupils. Gillig Transit Coaches were frequently found in school bus fleets throughout the western United States, and some still remain in use today.

Contents

[edit] Production

Model Length (ft) Picture Introduced Ended Notes
501 28, 30, 35 late-1940's early-1960s Rear-engined bus powered by a 501 cubic-inch International "Red Diamond" RD-501 6-cylinder gasoline engine.
590D 28, 30, 35 1950 early-1960s Rear-engined bus powered by a 590 cubic-inch Hall-Scott 6-cylinder gasoline engine.
534D 30, 35 1958 mid-1970s Rear-engined bus powered by a 534 cubic-inch Ford Super Duty 8-cylinder gasoline engine.
C-160D 30, 35 1959 1974 Rear-engined bus powered by a Cummins C160 diesel engine.
C-180D 30, 35 1959 1976 Rear-engined bus powered by a Cummins C180 diesel engine.
C-190D 30, 35 1959 1976 Rear-engined bus powered by a Cummins C190 diesel engine.
743-D 30, 35, 37, 40 1959 1973 Mid-engined bus powered by a 743 cubic-inch Cummins NHH220 or NHHTC262 diesel engine.
636-D 35, 37, 40 1970 1982 Rear-engined bus powered by a 636 cubic-inch Caterpillar 1160 or 3208 V-8 diesel engine.
318-D 30, 35, 1971 1977 Rear-engined bus powered by a 318 cubic-inch Detroit Diesel 6V53 engine.
855-DT 30, 35, 37, 40 1973 1982 Mid-engined single or tandem-axle bus powered by an 855 cubic-inch Cummins NHH250 or NHHTC290 diesel engine.
VTF555-D 30, 35, 40 1975 1982 Rear-engined bus powered by a 555-cubic inch Cummins VTF-555 diesel engine.
426-D 30, 35, 37, 40 1976 1982 Mid-engined bus powered by a 426 cubic-inch Detroit Diesel 6N71 engine.

[edit] See also

  • Crown Coach Corporation - former competing school bus manufacturer
  • Kenworth - former competing school bus manufacturer (Kenworth sold the school bus division to Gillig, and began focusing solely on semi trucks)

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The Gillig Story... Then and Now, gillig.com, retrieved on 2008-01-21

[edit] External links