Cool Video / Singer Gets Vintage Bus to Tour (But What Kind is It?)

BusCrazyinFL · June 04, 2015, 06:18:17 PM

My wife has been following this singer for a little while now, and we just learned that she got a vintage bus to tour in. Can't figure out exactly what kind of bus it is though. I'm thinking a "Crown" or "Flxible"? What do you think? Watch the whole video there are different segments. Shows their re-do of the interior.

http://www.ulive.com/video/restoring-the-bus-with-modern-vintage-flare

luvrbus · June 04, 2015, 06:36:32 PM

Kinda looks like a Brill

gumpy · June 04, 2015, 06:56:20 PM

I'm thinking Crown.

One of the videos said it's a 1978, but no make. I think Crown.

luvrbus · June 04, 2015, 07:12:00 PM

Her page says 1979 Crown

Iceni John · June 04, 2015, 09:42:13 PM

It's a Crown high-level tour bus, such as the Atomics that were built for the AEC in Idaho. They usually had a rear 8V71 and Spicer 5-speed, and they all have huge underfloor storage bays, underfloor A/C, and even also a Webasto there. Unusually for a three-axle Crown it has only one driven axle, but it does have excellent air suspension. There's very little in common with Crown school buses apart from a superficial resemblance. One member of our Crown group has a genuine ex-Atomic from Idaho, and it's an impressive bus.

John

kwidd · June 04, 2015, 09:56:15 PM

It is a Crown. Looks like one from Idaho. From INEL. nuke lab

luvrbus · June 05, 2015, 06:07:10 AM

Boomer just sold his Atomic Crown wonder if that was his ?

RJ · June 05, 2015, 07:54:12 AM

Quote from: luvrbus on June 05, 2015, 06:07:10 AM
Boomer just sold his Atomic Crown wonder if that was his?

Clifford -

No, it wasn't Mark's Crown.

FWIW & HTH. . .

HB of CJ · June 05, 2015, 02:30:49 PM

Crown curved windshields and wiper assembly. Crown front bumper. Crown inside floor twin engine hatches. Crown front dash assembly. Crown steering wheel. But ... but ... but ...

Where is the side left mounted radiator behind the driver? Duhh? Sounded like a DDV8 with an automatic. Tag axle three axle chassis. Very strange looking Crown Supercoach.

Thank you very much. I did enjoy the video. Made me think of what could have been with my 1974 10 wheeler VIN 37317. I imagine it turned out to be a very nice Bus Conversion.

Where did she find it? Dunno. HB of CJ (old coot) Crowns forever!

gumpy · June 05, 2015, 02:40:28 PM

Quote from: HB of CJ on June 05, 2015, 02:30:49 PM
Crown curved windshields and wiper assembly. Crown front bumper. Crown inside floor twin engine hatches. Crown front dash assembly. Crown steering wheel. But ... but ... but ...

Where is the side left mounted radiator behind the driver? Duhh? Sounded like a DDV8 with an automatic. Tag axle three axle chassis. Very strange looking Crown Supercoach.

Thank you very much. I did enjoy the video. Made me think of what could have been with my 1974 10 wheeler VIN 37317. I imagine it turned out to be a very nice Bus Conversion.

Where did she find it? Dunno. HB of CJ (old coot) Crowns forever!

One of the videos says she found it near Phoenix. Possibly Yuma area, but don't remember for sure. There's a couple shots of the previous owner delivering it to their home in Utah.

bevans6 · June 05, 2015, 05:23:20 PM

I liked the shot of the guy in the bay using a wood chisel as a screwdriver...

Brian

gumpy · June 05, 2015, 06:53:48 PM

Quote from: bevans6 on June 05, 2015, 05:23:20 PM
I liked the shot of the guy in the bay using a wood chisel as a screwdriver...

Brian

I saw that, too, but I look at it as a tool. It worked for what he needed it for. And considering the result of the work, I don't think I'd be too hard on him for it.

Iceni John · June 05, 2015, 08:33:56 PM

Quote from: HB of CJ on June 05, 2015, 02:30:49 PM
Where is the side left mounted radiator behind the driver? Duhh? Sounded like a DDV8 with an automatic. Tag axle three axle chassis. Very strange looking Crown Supercoach.

Atomics like this one have rear engines, so no side radiator behind the left front wheel. Strictly speaking it's not a Supercoach - the tour buses were so different from the school buses (e.g. 24V electrics, no lower bodyside tumblehome, no Dry Wall construction, etc.) that they were considered a different design altogether. Crown built a lot more than school buses - tour buses (high- or low-floor, mid- or rear engine, 30' to 40' long, even some dual-level like a Scenicruiser), fire trucks and fire buses, drawbar-trailer box trucks, Highway Post Offices for the USPS, outside-broadcast TV studios, mobile demonstration labs for Hewlett-Packard, combination freight and passenger buses ("Brucks"), prison buses, articulated mid-engine transit buses, even a roofless bus for an oil company! They were a true custom builder, and they would make almost anything the customer wanted. The Atomics were just one facet of their business.

Yup, Crowns forever! They were a lot more than just The Royalty Of Pupil Transportation. Some school districts still prefer their 30-year-old Crowns over their newer disposabuses, especially for arduous mountain or dirt-road routes - you just can't beat heavy-duty drivetrains, huge brakes and the durability of a Class 8 truck.

John

HB of CJ · June 05, 2015, 09:18:22 PM

Years ago my old fire department had a 1968 Crown triple combination fire engine. Big big Hall Scott gasoline engine at about 2 miles per gallon. Waterous fire pump. It was a pleasure to drive as it was much faster than the rest of the Seagrave V12s and American LaFrance DDV8 Detroits, handled much better and stopped on a dime and gave you change.

What was cool was before I got the fire department job I was driving Crown Supercoach school buses while pretending to go to junior college part time. Bakersfield CA. The Crown fire engine "felt" like a Crown school bus when driving it, but a whole lot quicker and faster. The City only bought one. I think they were too expensive even back then. HB of CJ (old coot)

Oh ... this is nick picking ... but the Crown front emblem badge said Crown Supercoach, then said I think L.A CA.. Same about badge as the school buses, but even the badges varied depending upon the model year. We toured the factory once in LA in about 1972. Very cool place. Very old school custom manufacturing. All the workers "seemed" to be old. Strange that sticks with me.

Dave5Cs · June 07, 2015, 03:52:22 PM

There are still 2 crown's 3 axles in the Sacramento Delta area school district along the Sacramento River that take the kids to school every day and up and down the levies and across the Ferries to the different Islands. They are beasts but the ladies who drive them say they have tried to get them newer ones but have refused because they love these buses. They are pretty high off the ground also.