914Driver
914Driver MegaDork
11/27/23 9:14 a.m.
SV reX
SV reX MegaDork
11/27/23 9:27 a.m.

I like that. Can't right now. 

SV reX
SV reX MegaDork
11/27/23 9:30 a.m.

I've never seen a mid engine bus before. 

 

I wonder how it autocrosses...

Appleseed
Appleseed MegaDork
11/27/23 9:38 a.m.

In reply to SV reX :

matthewmcl
matthewmcl Dork
11/27/23 9:40 a.m.

In reply to SV reX :

All the busses I went to school in were 60's and 70's Crown Supercoaches: Mid-engine, Aluminum double stressed skin unibody with 90ksi steel subframes, turbocharged supercharged 2-stroke diesels. Both rear axles driven and airbag suspension.

rustybugkiller
rustybugkiller Dork
11/27/23 9:44 a.m.

For some reason I want to call it the Partridge Family bus

classicJackets (FS)
classicJackets (FS) SuperDork
11/27/23 10:13 a.m.

First bus I've seen and wanted to convert to #vanlife

Toyman!
Toyman! GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/27/23 10:15 a.m.

IIRC, those were also available with a Cummins lying on its side under the floor. 

 

03Panther
03Panther PowerDork
11/29/23 2:53 p.m.

In reply to Toyman! :

The Crown Bus did. I've wanted one for years. Not familiar with the Brill, but I think I like it better 

03Panther
03Panther PowerDork
11/29/23 2:57 p.m.

In reply to matthewmcl :

I read along the way that a lot of the Crown coaches were used by the CA schools. Being a S. E. guy, I've never seen one in the wild. 
At half that price, I still couldn't afford it - but I'd be mad about it cheeky 

At 10K, although it's probably worth it, I'd of never been able to. crying

matthewmcl
matthewmcl Dork
11/29/23 3:11 p.m.

In reply to 03Panther :

Crown was a company that was southern California and did not want to expand to other places in the country. They did fire engines that didn't wear out. 95% of LA county was Crowns. They needed a new market, so they made school buses. Same thing happened. They had huge market share and still went out of business because all their customers were satisfied with existing Crown products that still ran great.

03Panther
03Panther PowerDork
11/29/23 8:22 p.m.

In reply to matthewmcl :

Yep. Before the days of "planed obsolescence " cheeky

Had not heard of Crowns, either , till I started researching bus conversion potential, (years) before we settled on our "Big Boy" Class 8. But superb build quality. 

matthewmcl
matthewmcl Dork
11/29/23 9:16 p.m.

In reply to 03Panther :

A lot of people would convert Crowns because they were cheap, but they are not a great choice. They have 6' ceilings in the center of the aisle, and it goes down towards the sides from there.

People would raise them, but that has the same structural effect as raising a cabin roof on an airplane. The likelihood of someone with the skill and understanding to do it correctly actually deciding to do that is pretty slim.

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