Best known for as a manufacturer of school busesthe company has also manufactured a wide variety of other bus types, including transit busesmotorhomesand specialty vehicles such as mobile libraries and mobile police command centers.
Currently, Blue Bird concentrates its product lineup on school and activity buses and specialty vehicle derivatives. After company founder A. Luce produced a steel-panel school bus in his auto dealership inhe started production of bus bodies exclusively litecoin value 2015 fordfounding Blue Bird Body Company in Fort Valley, Georgia.
As the second quarter of the 20th century began, Albert Luce Sr. InLuce had litecoin value 2015 ford a customer a Ford Model T with a wooden bus body; the customer sought to use the bus to transport his workers. Due to a combination of unsatisfactory construction quality of the bus body and the rough conditions of the rural Georgia roads, the wooden bus body started to disintegrate before the customer had finished paying for the vehicle. While buses would initially remain a side project for Luce with only 9 bus bodies produced between and [5]the onset of the Great Depression would make a change in his company forever.
The early use of farm wagons on a part-time basis soon evolved into purpose-built school bus products, each with economy and function as major priorities.
Inthe company began production of full-steel bus bodies, an innovation which soon replaced the wooden bodies which were then in common use around the United States. During World War II, bus production was largely diverted to the armed forces, with Blue Bird producing buses and mobile ambulances.
Due to rationing of steel, company engineers were forced to re-engineer several body assemblies to minimize use of steel. In rural communities, school districts transitioned away from schoolhouses towards centralized schools sharing the graded class structures of litecoin value 2015 ford schools while urban populations moved into suburbs. Depending on location, the previous practice of walking to school had become increasingly impractical, particularly as students progressed into high school.
In both rural and suburban school districts, the addition of the baby-boom generation lead to a new demand for school transportation. Near the end ofBlue Bird litecoin value 2015 ford see its factory in Fort Valley, Georgia destroyed by fire, forcing the company to build a new facility.
Though the factory building was destroyed, a significant amount of equipment was litecoin value 2015 ford, allowing bus production to resume shortly afterward. During the late s, the leadership of Blue Bird changed. Luce retired, handing over operations to his three sons. Blue Bird founder Albert Luce Sr. Two years later, Blue Bird Body Company introduced their own transit-style design which evolved into the Blue Bird All Americanoften pointed to as one of the pioneer litecoin value 2015 ford designs to gain widespread acceptance litecoin value 2015 ford school buses in North America, along with Wayne CorporationGillig Corporation and Crown Litecoin value 2015 ford Corporation whose "Supercoach" dated to InBlue Bird became the first school bus manufacturer to produce its own chassis litecoin value 2015 ford than rely on outside suppliers for the Litecoin value 2015 ford American; today, Blue Litecoin value 2015 ford builds the chassis for every full-size bus produced.
As the s became the s, Blue Bird grew rapidly, becoming the fourth-largest manufacturer of school buses. To lower production and maintenance costs, while the Conventional and All American bodies were produced, they were built on locally sourced chassis from Mercedes-Benz, Hino, Litecoin value 2015 ford Diesel, and Toyota. Luce died in Shortly after, the three Luce sons sought to diversify the company product line, fearing that the school bus industry, whose litecoin value 2015 ford was influenced by the baby boom generationwould eventually drop off as students completed their education.
At the beginning of the decade, the Blue Bird company logo made its debut, painted on the roofline of many of its buses. Inthe first major Blue Bird venture outside of school buses made its litecoin value 2015 ford. Using the heavy-duty frame and all-steel body to litecoin value 2015 ford advantage, the vehicle was marketed as higher-quality than other RVs of the time; the interior was largely built to order.
Based on the All American for over 25 years, the Wanderlodge developed a loyal following, including celebrities and heads of state among their owners. In the s, Blue Bird developed a bus for a much wider audience. Named the City Bird, it was a variant of the All American litecoin value 2015 ford for the mass-transit segment.
A short-wheelbase rear-engine bus, the City Bird was intended for smaller cities and routes with cul-de-sac ends, providing better maneuverability, and more efficient costs than larger vehicles.
During the s, with the use of small school buses increasing, Blue Bird found a way to diversify its school bus line. While school buses based on cutaway vans were not invented by the company, Blue Bird found ways to gain significant market share. Largely similar to the Wayne Busettethe Micro Bird distinguished itself by featuring a full-height school bus door and additional windows forward of the entry door to aid loading-zone visibility.
Inthe small-bus lineup was expanded to two with the debut of the Mini Birdbased on the GM P stepvan chassis. The late s and early s were a time of turmoil for school bus manufacturers; many of the predictions of the Luce brothers had largely come true. As the baby-boom generation completed their secondary education by the end of the s, student populations, a key factor in school bus sales for nearly three decades, began to decline.
Coupled with the fragile economy of the time, three litecoin value 2015 ford the six largest school bus manufacturers Carpenter, Litecoin value 2015 ford, and Ward would file for bankruptcy in the early s, with Superior exiting school bus production entirely.
The recession of the early s cut deeply into profits, leading to the re-organization or closure of several manufacturers. Blue Bird fared better than most competitors, becoming the largest manufacturer in terms of sales; by the mids, one out of every three new school buses was a Blue Bird. A key factor to the sales expansion was the renewal of the Blue Bird product line at the end of the decade. Inthe company made two product introductions that would change the company.
Litecoin value 2015 ford to increasing demand, the company began in-house production of rear-engine chassis for the All American for the first time; previously, it was outsourced to other manufacturers. However, unlike competitors, it was also designed with an in-house chassis like the All American. Introduced during production, Blue Bird made its first major changes to the All American since Along with major exterior updates, there was litecoin value 2015 ford all-new powertrain lineup and a redesigned drivers compartment.
While Blue Bird had enjoyed major success during the s with litecoin value 2015 ford buses, the company had mixed results with its mass-transit products, discontinuing the City Bird in after 10 years of production.
InBlue Bird launched the Q-Bus, a 96" wide bus transit and charter applications. In the early s, the Wanderlodge began to transition away from its school bus origins. While still a heavy-duty coach built largely to order, the Wanderlodge was redesigned to allow it to be built with a " wide body. While the width was illegal for a school bus, it had been allowed in motorcoaches and some competing motorhomes for some time.
Additionally, the change allowed Blue Bird to modernize the looks of vehicle. InBlue Bird introduced its first passenger motorcoach, the LTC; it became the donor platform for the Wanderlodge from onwards. The s were also a period that the company explored the use of alternative power sources for school buses. InBlue Bird developed a battery-powered school bus in an effort with Westinghouse Electronic Systems for a school district in California.
In[11] the Envirobus concept made its debut; based loosely on the Q-Bus, it served as a testbed for both safety-related technology as well as the viability of compressed natural gas school buses.
From its foundation untilBlue Bird was run entirely by the Luce family, either by Albert Sr or by his three sons. Inthe board of directors hired Paul Glaske, president of Marathon LeTourneau, a Texas-based heavy equipment manufacturer. During the s and early s, declining demand for school buses and changes in world markets would lead to a number of changes at the company, leading to several ownership changes. After redesigning its medium-duty truck line litecoin value 2015 fordGeneral Motors entered into an year supply agreement with Blue Bird, starting with production.
The CV was produced until While the late s were calmer than the late s for the school bus industry, it still remained a time of relative turmoil for school bus manufacturers; this would carry into the s. Several school bus manufacturers underwent acquisition or changed hands AmTran and Thomas Built Buses ; byseveral others Crown Coach, Carpenter, Gillig, Wayne would end school bus production forever. Instead of being family-run companies, school bus manufacturers were now owned by larger companies with ties to truck manufacturing.
For Blue Bird, a large stake of the company was owned by the Volvo Group, the largest bus manufacturer in the world. However, during the early s, due to financial difficulties litecoin value 2015 ford its other parent company, Blue Bird was sold from Henlys in As the number of full-size school bus litecoin value 2015 ford had been cut from seven to three from toBlue Bird began on making its school bus products more competitive during the early part of the decade.
However, the largest change came inas Blue Bird sought to replace the CV While initially developed to use the Ford F Super Duty chassis, the Vision underwent a major change before its release. In a major break from precedent, Blue Bird did not use an existing truck manufacturer for the chassis, instead developing its own version from the ground up.
While the Litecoin value 2015 ford used the same bus body as the long-running Conventional, engineering changes were made to optimize forward visibility. As part of its acquisition by Cerberus, Blue Bird gradually saw itself positioned exclusively into yellow school bus production, its largest market. In litecoin value 2015 ford controversial move, the rights to the Wanderlodge luxury motorhome were sold to Complete Coach Works; production ended in In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the construction the first Blue Bird bus and the centennial of the Model T Ford, the Luce family donated the restored vehicle to The Henry Ford Museum in With resources dedicated solely towards school bus production, the Vision saw a major update for In addition to litecoin value 2015 ford new dashboard, it received a new cowl with litecoin value 2015 ford headlights and grille.
Forthe company expanded alternative-fuel options as it introduced a propane-fuel variant of the Vision; it was powered by a General Motors 8. Forthe All American was given a complete update, marking some of the largest changes to the Blue Bird body design in over 50 years; along with a complete redesign of the roof, windshield, and rear entry, the interior received a ground-up redesign.
With the streamlining of bus production, the number of production facilities utilized by the company has been reduced. In OctoberBlue Bird further streamlined its bus production as it entered into a second joint venture with Canadian school bus manufacturer Girardin Minibus.
Following the consolidation of Blue Bird litecoin value 2015 ford to the Vision and All American school buses and vehicles derived litecoin value 2015 ford themduring the s, a number of changes were phased in. In lateBlue Bird unveiled a redesigned All American series code-named the T3 Serieswhich would replace versions introduced in and produced concurrently. Distinguished by a redesigned rounder roof, the new All American has increased parts commonality with the Vision.
In Octoberthe Vision was introduced. Along with clear-lens headlights and a new grille, propane-fueled versions gained the option of an extended-range gallon fuel tank. In Septemberthe ownership of Blue Bird underwent another transition. ByBlue Bird ranked as the leading provider of propane autogas powered school buses through a partnership with ROUSH CleanTech, which provides propane autogas fuel systems for the buses.
In SeptemberBlue Bird further expanded its non-diesel fuel offerings as the company introduced a gasoline-fueled variant of the Vision, starting with production [25] The first gasoline-fueled full-size school bus since the discontinuation of the Blue Bird CV, it is powered by the same Ford V10 used by the propane-fueled variant of the Vision.
These electric buses is set to commerce production for In addition to school, activity, and commercial applications, Blue Bird buses have been custom-built for unique applications such as bloodmobilesmobile librariesand public safety command centers. The CV was the last full-sized C school bus prior to available with a gasoline engine. Blue Bird have litecoin value 2015 ford built a number of buses for the United Kingdom market, with 62 Blue Bird buses being exported to the UK between and Various local councils, such as Staffordshire County Council and West Litecoin value 2015 ford County Councilimported a large number of Blue Bird school buses for their own school routes; FirstGroup were the largest private customer in the United Kingdom, ordering eighteen All Americans in Several features of these prototypes were integrated into the Vision introduced in Traditionally, school buses such as those produced by Blue Bird consist of components purchased from various outside suppliers and parts which are manufactured in-house to the company's specifications.
These two categories of parts are then typically assembled litecoin value 2015 ford bodies which can be mounted onto chassis which have often been variations of those used in a myriad of truck applications. Production-wise, the large "home" plant complex in Fort Valley, Georgia served as both a part manufacturing plant for the entire organization as well as one of the six locations where bodies were assembled from in house and purchased components.
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