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The Flxible Co. (pronounced "''flexible''") was an American manufacturer of motorcycle
sidecar A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...
s, funeral cars,
ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...
s, intercity coaches and
transit bus Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
es, based in the U.S. state of
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. It was founded in 1913 and closed in 1996. The company's production transitioned from highway coaches and other products to transit buses over the period 1953–1970, and during the years that followed, Flxible was one of the largest transit-bus manufacturers in North America.


History

In 1913, Hugo H. Young and Carl F. Dudte founded the Flexible Side Car Company in
Loudonville, Ohio Loudonville is a village in Ashland and Holmes counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 2,641 at the 2010 census. Loudonville is nicknamed the "Canoe Capital of Ohio" for the many canoe liveries along the Mohican River. It is also ...
, to manufacture motorcycle sidecars with a flexible mounting to the
motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
. The flexible mounting allowed the sidecar to lean on corners along with the motorcycle, and was based on a design patented by Young. In 1919, the company dropped the first "E" in "flexible" and changed its name to The Flxible Company as the business looked for new opportunities to expand. After low-priced
automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...
became available in the 1920s, the motorcycle sidecar demand dropped and in 1924, Flxible turned to production of funeral cars (hearses), and
ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...
s, which were primarily manufactured on
Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...
chassis, but also occasionally on
Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...
,
Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
and REO chassis, and
intercity buses InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at ma ...
, initially (1930s and early 1940s) built on GMC truck chassis, and powered with Buick Straight 8 engines.


Charles Kettering and General Motors

Charles Kettering Charles Franklin Kettering (August 29, 1876 – November 25, 1958) sometimes known as Charles Fredrick Kettering was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents. For the list of patents issued to Kettering, see, Le ...
, a Loudonville, Ohio native and vice president of
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
, was closely associated with Flxible for almost the entire first half of the company's existence. In 1914, Flxible was incorporated with the help of Kettering, who then became president of the company and joined the board of directors. Kettering provided significant funding for the company in its early years, particularly after 1916, when Kettering sold his firm, the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco), to GM for $2.5 million. Kettering continued to serve as president of Flxible, until he became chairman of the board in 1940, a position he held until his death in 1958. After selling Delco to GM in 1916, Kettering organized and ran a research laboratory at GM, and by the 1950s, held the position of vice president at GM. As a result of Kettering's close relationship with both GM and Flxible, many GM parts were used in the production of Flxible vehicles, particularly prior to GM's 1943 purchase of
Yellow Coach The Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company (informally Yellow Coach) was an early manufacturer of passenger buses in the United States. Between 1923 and 1943, Yellow Coach built transit buses, electric-powered trolley buses, and parlor coaches. Fou ...
(a competing bus manufacturer, of which GM had been a majority owner since 1925). For example, most Flxible
ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...
s,
hearse A hearse is a large vehicle, originally a horse carriage but later with the introduction of motor vehicles, a car, used to carry the body of a deceased person in a coffin at a funeral, wake, or memorial service. They range from deliberately a ...
s, and buses from the mid-1920s to the early 1940s were built on
Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...
chassis, and Flxible's "Airway" model buses of the mid-1930s were built on a
Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
chassis. In 1958, and as a result of the consent decree from the 1956 anti-trust case, ''United States v. General Motors Corp.'', GM was mandated to sell their bus components, engines, and transmissions to other manufacturers, free of royalties. However, in the early 1950s and prior to the consent decree, Flxible built a small number of buses with GM
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
s while Kettering still served on the board. It has been postulated that GM may have made its diesel engines available to Flxible to reduce the criticisms of GM's business practices that some felt were
monopolistic A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a spec ...
.McKane, John H. & Squier, Gerald L. (2006), 17. The same has been said about GM's decision in the 1960s and 1970s not to produce a "New Look" transit bus with an 8-cylinder engine. However, it is also possible that GM chose not to enter this market because the potential sales did not warrant the added costs of engineering and production.McKane, John H. & Squier, Gerald L. (2006), 58. Another result of the consent decree (which was not settled in its entirety until 1965) was that GM was barred from having any of its officers or directors serve as an officer or director for any other bus manufacturing company. This provision would have applied to Kettering, had he not died in 1958.


Bus manufacturing

In 1953, Flxible absorbed the
bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
-manufacturing portion of the
Fageol Fageol Motors was a United States manufacturer of buses, trucks and farm tractors. History The company was founded in 1916, in Oakland, California, by Rollie, William, Frank and Claude Fageol, to manufacture motor trucks, farm tractors and au ...
Twin Coach Twin Coach was an American vehicle manufacturing company from 1927 to 1955, located in Kent, Ohio, and a maker of marine engines and airplane parts until the 1960s. It was formed by brothers Frank and William Fageol when they left the Fageol Mo ...
Company, and accepted its first order for transit buses from the
Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , o ...
. In 1964, Flxible purchased Southern Coach Manufacturing Co. of Evergreen, Alabama, and built small
transit bus Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
es at the former Southern Coach factory until 1976. Flxible was purchased by
Rohr Industries Rohr, Inc. is an aerospace manufacturing company based in Chula Vista, California, south of San Diego. It is a wholly owned unit of the Collins Aerospace division of Raytheon Technologies; it was founded in 1940 by Frederick H. Rohr as Rohr Air ...
in 1970, and a new
factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...
and corporate headquarters were built in
Delaware, Ohio Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County, Ohio, United States. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio m ...
, in 1974, with the original factory in Loudonville, Ohio, being used to manufacture parts and sub-assemblies. Flxible was sold to
Grumman Corporation The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...
in 1978 and became known as Grumman Flxible. The name reverted to Flxible when Grumman sold the company in 1983 to General Automotive Corporation. In 1996, Flxible declared
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
and its assets were auctioned. The last Flxible vehicles were produced in 1995.


870 "A" frame problems

In the mid-1980s, several
Grumman 870 The Flxible Metro is a transit bus that was assembled and manufactured by the Flxible Corporation from 1983 until 1995. From 1978 until early-1983, when Flxible was owned by Grumman, the model was known as the Grumman 870, with a Grumman nameplate ...
buses operated by the
New York City Transit Authority The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York that operates public transportation in New York City. P ...
(NYCTA) developed cracks in their "A" shaped underframes. This prompted NYCTA President David Gunn to remove the entire fleet from service. Soon, several other companies reported cracked 870 "A" frames. However, the frame issues primarily affected NYCTA 870s and not the 870s owned by the franchisees of the
New York City Department of Transportation The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure. Ydanis Rodriguez is the Commissioner of the Departm ...
, which were the first buses built with the problem rectified the following year. NYCTA attempted to get the remainder of its pending order for new buses transferred to GM, but was barred from doing so unless they could prove that the 870s were flawed and unsafe. The buses were eventually returned to Flxible, and were rebuilt and resold to
Queen City Metro The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is the public transport agency serving Cincinnati and its Ohio suburbs. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, SORTA operates fixed-route buses, bus rapid transit, microtransit, and paratransit ...
and
New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
. Grumman blamed the problems with the NYCTA 870s on NYCTA's poor maintenance practices at the time, despite the fact that transit operations in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
Connecticut Transit CTtransit (styled as CT ''transit'') is a bus system serving much of the U.S. state of Connecticut and is a division of that state's Connecticut Department of Transportation, Department of Transportation. CTtransit provides bus service vi ...
,
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and
Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
had also reported problems with their 870s. Regardless, NYCTA ordered fifty Metros in 1995, but Flxible closed its doors before the order was produced, and NYCTA obtained the remaining new buses from Orion instead.


Last transit buses in service

By the mid-2010s, very few transit systems were still operating any Flxible buses.
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
's
TriMet TriMet, formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Created in 1969 ...
retired its last Flxible buses in May 2015, after which the only known continued use of Flxible buses in service was by Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) in
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
, and by Metro Transit in
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
. However, Omaha ordered replacement buses in summer 2018 and retired its last Flxible buses before the end of that year. Subsequently, CARTA retired its last Flxible buses in October 2019.


Engineering Program

Flxible implemented a CAD program "CATIA" in the late 1990s to support production design. They were one of the first customers of IBM/Dassault.


Production outside the United States

Flxible's intercity buses were popular in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and in
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
n countries. However, high import duties into these countries limited sales. In the early 1960s, Flxible began licensing a producer in Mexico,
DINA S.A. DINA (''Diesel Nacional, S.A. de C.V'', in English: ''National Diesel'') is a Mexican bus and truck manufacturer based in Ciudad Sahagún, Hidalgo, Mexico. It was created by the federal government of Mexico in 1951 as Diesel Nacional, S.A., and ...
(Diesel Nacional), to manufacture Flxible-designed intercity coaches, and this continued until the late 1980s. In 1965 and 1966, Flxible also licensed its "New Look" transit bus design to
Canadair Ltd. Canadair Ltd. was a civil and military aircraft manufacturer in Canada. In 1986, its assets were acquired by Bombardier Aerospace, the aviation division of Canadian transport conglomerate Bombardier Inc. Canadair's origins lie in the establishm ...
, an
aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...
manufacturer in Ville St-Laurent, Quebec. In 1994, Flxible's parent company, General Automotive Corporation, and three other American companies
Roger Penske Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, t ...
, Mark IV Industries, and Carrierentered into a joint venture with
Changzhou Changjiang Bus Changzhou Changjiang Bus was a bus manufacturer based in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China. Changzhou Changjiang was reported to be the largest bus builder in China. Buses are manufactured under the ''Changjiang'' brand. It was reported in 2007 that Li ...
, a
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
manufacturer located in
Changzhou Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...
,
Jiangsu province Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...
, to produce buses based on the
Flxible Metro The Flxible Metro is a transit bus that was assembled and manufactured by the Flxible Corporation from 1983 until 1995. From 1978 until early-1983, when Flxible was owned by Grumman, the model was known as the Grumman 870, with a Grumman namepl ...
design and with the Flxible name. The resulting company, China Flxible Auto Corporation, manufactured buses in a variety of lengths, from to . These buses, which include both front- and rear-
engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
designs, and share only their general exterior appearance with the American-built Flxibles, were sold to many transit operators in major Chinese cities, including
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
. A
trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
version was manufactured for only one operator, the
Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...
trolleybus system, which bought 77 units between the late 1990s and 2001. For these vehicles, Changzhou Changjiang supplied the chassis and Metro-style bodies to the Hangzhou Changjiang Bus Company (in Hangzhou), and that company equipped them as trolleybuses.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 283 (January–February 2009), p. 15. National Trolleybus Association (UK).


Products

*Motorcycle sidecar (1913-early 1920s) *Intercity coach (1924–1932) *Funeral car (1925–1942, 1946–1952, 1959–1964) *Ambulance (1925–1952, 1946–1952, 1959–1964) *"Airway" intercity coach (1932–1936) *"Clipper" intercity coach (1937–1942, 1944–1950) *Parts for
Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...
s, M4 tanks,
F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contract ...
fighter aircraft, and Goodyear "L" type
blimps A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hyd ...
(1942–1945) *"Airporter" intercity coach (1946–1950) *"C-1" intercity coach (1950) *"VisiCoach" intercity coach (1950–1958) *FL "Fageoliner" transit bus (1953–1954) *FT "Flxible Twin" transit bus (1953–1959) *VL-100 "VistaLiner" two-level intercity coach (1954–1959) *"StarLiner" intercity coach (1957–1967) *"Hi-Level" intercity coach (1959–1962) * "New Look" transit bus (1960–1978) *"FlxLiner" intercity coach (1963–1969) *"Flxette" light duty transit bus (1964–1976) *"Flxible" Cruiser Motor Home (1967–1969) * 870 "Advanced Design Bus" transit bus (1978–1982) * METRO "Advanced Design Bus" (1983–1996); METRO "A" (1983–1987), METRO "B" (1988–1991), METRO "C" (1992), METRO "D" (1993–1994) and METRO "E" (1995–1996)


Buick conversions

File:Buick Flxible Bus IAA 2016 (1) Travelarz.JPG, 1927 motorbus File:Summit New Jersey car show Sept 2013 9 Ambulance.JPG, 1940 ambulance File:2016 Northeast Texas Buick and Classic Car Show 14 (1960 Buick Flxible Premier Combination).jpg, 1960 hearse File:Buick Flxible Hearse.jpg, 1963 hearse


Flxible Owners International

Flxible Owners International (see external link) was founded in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the
Family Motor Coach Association The Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) is an international organization of families who own and enjoy the use of recreational vehicles. Since 1963, FMCA has issued more than 500,000 membershipsFMCA's Official website"About Us" page/ref> to famili ...
, and is dedicated to the preservation of buses and coaches produced by Flxible. The organization holds a rally in Loudonville biannually, in even-numbered years and normally in mid-July, where many preserved Flxible coaches and buses may be seen. The majority of vehicles owned by members are of the Clipper series (Clipper, Visicoach, Starliner) that were produced from the 1930s until 1967. However, there are also quite a few "non-clipper" Flxible coaches that are owned, maintained, and operated by proud Flxible owners. This includes the Starliner, VL100 (VistaLiner), Hi Level, and Flxliner as well as some of the more modern transit buses. Most of these vehicles have been converted to
motor homes A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camper ...
; however, there are still a few examples of seated coaches belonging to members.


See also

*
RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...
, a line of buses that competed with Flxible's last line of buses, the Flxible Metro *
New Flyer Industries New Flyer is a Canadian multinational bus manufacturer, specializing in the production of transit buses. New Flyer is owned by the NFI Group, a holding company for several bus manufacturers. New Flyer has several manufacturing facilities in Can ...
, a bus manufacturer that has replaced Flxible in terms of dominance


References


Further reading

* * Georgano, G.N., Editor (1978). ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles''. Krause Publications. . *Ebert, Robert R. (2001). ''Flxible: A History of the Bus and the Company'', Yellow Springs, OH: Antique Power, Inc. . *Luke, William A. (2003). ''Flxible Intercity Buses: 1924–1970 Photo Archive'', Hudson, WI: Iconografix. . *Luke, William A. & Metler, Linda L. (2005). ''City Transit Buses of the 20th Century'', Hudson, WI: Iconografix. . *Luke, William A. & Metler, Linda L. (2004). ''Highway Buses of the 20th Century'', Hudson, WI: Iconografix. . *McKane, John (2001). ''Flxible Transit Buses: 1953–1995 Photo Archive'', Hudson, WI: Iconografix. . *McKane, John H. & Squier, Gerald L. (2006). ''Welcome Aboard the GM New Look Bus'', Hudson, WI: Iconografix. McPherson, Thomas A. (1993) "Flxible Professional Vehicles: The Complete History" Toronto, Ontario, Specialty Vehicle Press, ISBN * *Stauss, Ed (1988). ''The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses'', Woodland Hills, CA: Stauss Publications. .
History and Analysis of the Flxible Company
''bw.edu'', retrieved on 2007-02-07.
Ohio Museum of Transportation
''omot.org'', retrieved on 2007-02-04.

''omot.org'', archived on 2005-08-28 on ''archive.org'', retrieved on 2007-02-04.


External links


The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum, the official repository of the Flxible Company Archives

Images of Flxible buses in busexplorer.com
(Dead link, Feb 10, 2017)
Flxible Owners International, an organization dedicated to the preservation of Flxible buses and coaches
{{North American bus builders Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1913 Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Ohio Defunct bus manufacturers of the United States Cab over vehicles Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1996 1996 disestablishments in Ohio 1913 establishments in Ohio Charles F. Kettering