![Seattle Flxible bus 552 on Alaskan Way in 1985](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Seattle_Flxible_bus_552_on_Alaskan_Way_in_1985.jpg)
The Flxible New Look bus was a very popular
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 ...
introduced in 1959 by
The Flxible Company, and produced from 1960 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.
Design
The Flxible New Look bus shares many design features with the
GM New Look bus
The GM New Look bus is a municipal transit bus that was introduced in 1959 by the Truck and Coach Division of General Motors to replace the company's previous coach, retroactively known as the GM "old-look" transit bus.
Also commonly known by ...
that was introduced in 1959, however the Flxible New look bus was somewhat more rugged and solid. 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
Detroit Diesel Corporation (DDC) is an American diesel engine manufacturer headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is a subsidiary of Daimler Truck North America, which is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of the mulitinational Da ...
6V-71 (6-cylinder) / 8V-71 (8-cylinder) 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 ...
(however, 150
propane
Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used a ...
-fueled Flxible New Looks were built for 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 the mid-1960s, Detroit Diesel 4-71 (4-cylinder) diesel engines were available for some models in the mid-1960s, and
Cummins
Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...
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 and widths of , however 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
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 ...
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
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
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.
Manufacture
At the start of production all New Looks were built at the Flxible factory 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 ...
, and a majority of the New Looks continued to be built here during the life of the New Look's production run.
![NYC Transit Authority Flxible New Look 4727](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/NYC_Transit_Authority_Flxible_New_Look_4727.jpg)
In 1963, Flxible started building a line of shorter buses at the former Southern Coach factory in
Evergreen, Alabama. These buses came in lengths of , and , and were all wide. The buses built in Evergreen were 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.
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 manufacturer in
Ville St-Laurent, Quebec. All were long and 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 after just one order for Montreal (50 buses for
Montreal Transportation Commission
Prior to 1959, Montreal, Quebec, Canada had an extensive streetcar system. The streetcar network had its beginnings with the horsecar era of the Montreal City Passenger Railway in 1861. The initial line was along Rue Notre Dame (Notre Dame St) ...
).
In 1970, 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 ...
,
and in 1974 a new factory and corporate headquarters were opened 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 ...
. 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 , model became available and was built in Loudonville/Delaware. It was only available with the 6V-71 (6-cylinder) Detroit Diesel engine.
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
The GM New Look bus is a municipal transit bus that was introduced in 1959 by the Truck and Coach Division of General Motors to replace the company's previous coach, retroactively known as the GM "old-look" transit bus.
Also commonly known by ...
, 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
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 ...
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
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). ''Welcome Aboard the GM New Look Bus'', Hudson, WI: Iconografix, 17. .]
![1971 Flxible New Look bus - TriMet 469 (ex-628) in 1984](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/1971_Flxible_New_Look_bus_-_TriMet_469_%28ex-628%29_in_1984.jpg)
Another area of competition between the two manufacturers, but where Flxible had an advantage, was the market for long buses equipped with 8-cylinder diesel engines. In 1966 GM began offering its Detroit Diesel 8V-71 8-cylinder diesel engine on its New Look transit buses; however GM would not equip its 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 New Look with the Detroit Diesel 8V-71, the Cummins 165-285, and the Cummins 903 8-cylinder diesel engines.
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:
*Two typical bus model designations of first-generation Flxible New Looks are F2D6V-401-1 and FD6V-401-7-UL-AC.
*Two typical bus model designations of second-generation Flxible New Looks are 111CC-C3-1 and 111DD-D5-1.
*Two typical bus model designations of third-generation Flxible New Looks are 45096-6-0 and 53102-8-1.
See also
*
GM New Look bus
The GM New Look bus is a municipal transit bus that was introduced in 1959 by the Truck and Coach Division of General Motors to replace the company's previous coach, retroactively known as the GM "old-look" transit bus.
Also commonly known by ...
– competing bus built by General Motors
*
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 ...
– originally the Grumman 870, the succeeding model
*
Flyer Industries D700A – bus shell design similar to the Flxible New Looks and marketed mostly in Canada
*
List of buses
Year refers to the first year introduced. A range of years is the period the bus was manufactured.
#
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
...
References
*Stauss, Ed (1988). ''The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses'', Woodland Hills, CA: Stauss Publications.
* Ebert, Robert R. (2001). ''Flxible: A History of the Bus and the Company'', Yellow Springs, OH: Antique Power, Inc. .
*Luke, William A. & Metler, Linda L. (2005). ''City Transit 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.
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
''flxibleowners.org'', retrieved on 2007-02-04
''library.kent.edu'', retrieved on 2007-02-04
''coachinfo.com'', retrieved on 2007-02-04
*
External links
{{commons category, Flxible New Look buses, position=left
Buses of the United States
Vehicles introduced in 1960
Full-size buses