Crown Coach Corporation
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Crown Coach Corporation (1914 - 1991) was a school bus manufacturer based in Los Angeles, California; eventually moving factory operations to Chino, California in San Bernadino County. Both factories were torn down. The property in LA has been built up into a commercial manufacturing center, the Chino property has only the office and paint shed still standing. (updated: the old office and paint shed was recently torn down) GE supposedly still own this site. Fortunately, not far down the road, seekers of Crown parts can visit West Coach, a company started by Crown employees.
Crown Coach was the creator of the original large, flat nose (transit style), high capacity school bus. Their first example appeared in 1932. That actual vehicle still exists. Beginning as an early motorized truck builder, Crown expanded its product line towards passenger vehicles and quit building trucks. Working with Tanner Grey Line of LA, Crown designed the well known art-deco 'twinkie' shaped coach that eventually bred the tank-strong school coach utilizing a unibody construction, mid-ship underfloor-mounted heavy duty commercial truck engines and off the shelf parts, making the operation of these coaches economical. Beginning with conventional steel skins, Crown decided to reduce rust, they would switch to aluminum panels.
As new regulations were put into place, the coach evolved into one of the safest, most reliable school coaches built. So well built that one of the contributing factors that forced Crown to shut down, is their product's extremely long life. They built themselves out of business. Districts would have their aging Crowns sent in, rebuilt, painted, etc. and come back nearly new looking. The average school bus's service life is approximately ten years. There are many twenty plus year in school service Crowns still roaming the roads of California and in personal possession as converted coaches. Many classic Crowns "retired" by school districts in the U.S. continue to see service in Mexico as local or neighborhood transit buses, private charters, and even cross-country tour coaches, often repainted in bright primary colors.
From 1951 to 1985, it was also a manufacturer of fire apparatus under the Firecoach brand.
Products
- Motorcoach/Tourcoach
- Transit Coach
- School Coach
- Specialty Vehicles
- Firecoach
See also
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